In a recent episode of Your Advantage Play Podcast, I sat down with Joel Block for an insightful conversation about the nuances of pricing strategies in today’s digital landscape. Joel and I explored the strategies employed by industry leaders like Netflix, discussed the undeniable impacts of COVID-19, and highlighted the significance of packaging and value perception. Along the way, we tackled some common pricing myths and emphasized understanding what customers genuinely value and are willing to pay.
Key topics we covered in this episode:
- Pricing digital media subscriptions
- Disentangling pricing problems from strategy problems
- Value difference between movie theater experience and watching movies at home
- The Sasquatch in B2B Pricing
Timestamped Outline
05:31 Airplane seat pricing disparity frustrations.
13:08 Movie experience vs. watching at home – Where’s the value?
18:24 Netflix pricing.
23:15 Building price based on customer value and willingness to pay.
Potent Quotables
The Future of Digital Media Subscriptions:
“We have achieved the Nirvana that everyone wanted, which is we disintegrated the cable bundle, and instead, now we have 1,000,000 paid services that we have to pay for individually.”
— Dan Balcauski
The Value of the Movie Theater Experience:
“There’s a whole ceremony of waiting in line for the popcorn and the smells and the memories that come up, and there’s going into the theater and watching the previews… It’s not just the movie… It’s like, what is it that you’re really buying when you describe all of that versus what is it when you’re sitting on your couch… you’re really engaging in 2 fundamentally different experiences that have different value to you.”
— Dan Balcauski
Pricing Challenges in B2B Companies:
“The demand curve is like the Sasquatch, many have heard of it, but it’s rarely seen in the wild. Applying price elasticity is difficult for SaaS leaders.”
— Dan Balcauski