Use of the word value or recession

Do you think the use of either of those word is a good thing or a bad thing in your marketing/advertising? Do they just remind our prospective resident that we are living in tough times?

Hey Mike, I think we *should* be using the word value and avoiding words like 'luxury' in times like this. Guess which word is skyrocketing in usage on search engines these days? You guessed it: Cheap! Now, I am not sure if we want to go with 'cheap apartments' but I am all for value messaging these days. Penny pinching consumers are looking for ways to conserve, not splurge, so why not use the word?

Value is EVERYTHING in the market right now. Pillsbury's talking about 25 cent biscuits and Jello's talking about stretching your milk money.

Play the value card proudly. In fact, make it tangible with a great coupon that you can either use via e-show or clip'n'save! Lisa, you had some GREAT coupon tips in your blog post last week that can help to facilitate this with ease.

People respond to something they can hold in their hands.

I am struggling with the whole value play - it seems to me that we inadvertently keeping the bad news alive in the minds of the consumer.

Hey Mike,

VALUE
Pronunciation: \ˈval-(ˌ)yü\
Function: noun
1: a fair return or equivalent in goods, services, or money for something exchanged

I was just thinking about this today as I drove by a billboard for a local home builder that said "Wow! Save Big!". While I completely see your argument as everyone is doing it and it may keep a bad image in people's minds, maybe it's just the way we define the word "value" in our minds. I actually thought to myself after seeing the billboard that they could have said, "Amazing Value!" or "Great Value!" instead and they would not have cheapened their brand. In my mind using the word "Value" is much better than "Sale", "Cheap", "Special", "Discount", "Save", "Free", or "Bargain". All these terms talk about price and $, while "value" (to me) does not specify price or $. I think someone could use the term "value" in any economic climate when placed right. I feel the word speaks to the whole package and not just a price. In today's economic times it may be interpreted as "less money", but that's still not what it says nor what people are buying when they buy "value".

RECESSION
Pronunciation: \ri-ˈse-shən\
Function: noun

3 : a period of reduced economic activity

As for recession, if you use that in your marketing that is a #fail!

Use of the word recession in marketing = EPIC FAIL!

Mark

Thank you for the always thoughtful comments - I admire the time you take to fully think through your content. I really like the stuff on the word value - especially the piece that speaks to the whole package.

I wonder however, what the average consumer [prospect] thinks of the word value? I think it gets misused not unlike the word luxury. I think of businesses like Value Village and Value Mart - they are not about the whole package - they are playing on the $ in the use of value. Interesting stuff -

Have a compelling day -

Good point Mike. Value can be used in a way that does stress price. What cheapens the word in these cases are Mart and Village. I think it really depends on how you use the word and how you use it to describe what you want. For example, if you were to hang a banner that says "Affordable Value" then you would be linking "value" to price. That shouldn't be the goal.

However, I think phrases like "Great Value", "Amazing Value", "Outstanding Value", & "Incredible Value" could be acceptable. While they do insinuate a cheaper price, the real message is that the price we ask is a good value for what the customer gets in return. If we feel compelled to use terms for economic popularity I would say this would be as far as I go as it doesn't take away from the brand. However, the last time we were in a challenging market we ran a campaign that stressed why "We don't rent to ...". And that's a completely different story for another time.

Enjoy your day and thanks for the topic!