The One Person Startup

Amado

“Discounts hurt your brand”

“Discounts devalue your product”

Are statements like this actually true?

Are discounts limiting your business growth?

Does discounting your products actually hurt your brand?

What if the real value of your business is not just in the products?

I mean, anyone else can make something similar to your products.

So, you have to figure, what is going to set you apart from the rest.

We need to examine the history of discounts to discover the truth. If discounts are not a good thing for building a business.

Since discounts seem to have a bad reputation for building a business, so much so, that other businesses vilify this strategy.

Why?

Because why would you sell your hard work at a discounted price?

It’s a good question

It’s the same question that Asa Candler of Coca-Cola considered in 1888

Candler had just acquired Coca-Cola after its second year in business. He decided to mail out thousands of coupon tickets in a marketing campaign by giving away free bottles of Coke

Over 20 years, the company gave away a total of 8.5 million drinks for free!

He mailed out coupons for people to redeem at soda bottle dispensers

This was only two years after the company was created

Why did Candler do this?

His objective: build product awareness

Candler’s strategy to give away his products with redeemable coupons was the first ever documented

What was the outcome of Candler’s free product marketing campaign?

Well, according to Forbes, Coca-Cola was ranked sixth on the Forbes list of the World’s Most Valuable Brands in 2020.

Coca-Cola has a market cap of $264 billion as of February 2024, making it the 38th most valuable company in the world by market cap.

Interesting fact

Coca-Cola started as a stress and pain reliever medicine

So, not only did Candler’s discount strategy succeed, but the company also flourished.

Candler used one discount strategy to market his product. By giving it away.

This marketing campaign is one example of many that have found success through discounting strategies.

Not everyone can give away free products.

What makes this strategy powerful is realizing that this is a business with repeat customers.

By giving out free Coke coupons, it opened the door to new customers. Candler built his brand first and hooked his customers in.

As the customer base expanded, the company and its revenue also grew.

The rest is history.

If you’re interested in learning more discount strategies to build your business Sign up for to my upcoming “Mastering Discount Strategy Course”

More details once you sign up https://courses.theonepersonstartup.com/discount-strategies

I have been doing e-commerce for several years and use many platforms. If you need help to start your own online business, send me a message to see how I can help. DM me on X (Twitter)