The Sole Purpose of Marketing.
Regardless of what we say, we all enjoy the finer things in life. We may not necessarily enjoy the price we must pay to enjoy such things, but when offered to us for cheaper or for free, it would be rather rare of us to pass up the opportunity to enjoy such luxuries. But for those who have the money, more often than not they will pay as much as necessary for higher end items.
Payless recently set up a fake luxury store they called “Palessi” and invited fashion influencers to the event so that they could look at the selection of shoes in the store. The shoes were described as “elegant” and “sophisticated” with some stating they could “tell [the shoes] were made with high quality material.” They were sold at high prices, even reaching $600 for a single pair of boots.
But interestingly, as the video tells the audience, these shoes are available at Payless in stores for $20. Payless has apparently returned the money they made from the social experiment and allowed people to keep the shoes, but with the holidays coming up this was the most interesting way for them to market and promote their products.
When it comes to content marketing, Jonah Berger says in the book Contagious: Why Things Catch On that things go viral often have six factors. They have social currency, provide triggers, noticeable publicity, provide practical value, can be shared through stories, and most importantly in this case, they entail that you have an strong emotional response to it. The shocking discovery that people were willing to pay over ten times the actual price for these shoes that are so easily accessible to everyone, is one of the reasons the story is catching wind and being discussed. This shock factor prompts a series of events to happen that will make the story of “Palessi" go viral. The shock makes people continue to share the story with those around them, giving Payless publicity through word of mouth. As if word of mouth was not enough, there are also news outlets discussing the story on various platforms as well.
Payless recently set up a fake luxury store they called “Palessi” and invited fashion influencers to the event so that they could look at the selection of shoes in the store. The shoes were described as “elegant” and “sophisticated” with some stating they could “tell [the shoes] were made with high quality material.” They were sold at high prices, even reaching $600 for a single pair of boots.
But interestingly, as the video tells the audience, these shoes are available at Payless in stores for $20. Payless has apparently returned the money they made from the social experiment and allowed people to keep the shoes, but with the holidays coming up this was the most interesting way for them to market and promote their products.
When it comes to content marketing, Jonah Berger says in the book Contagious: Why Things Catch On that things go viral often have six factors. They have social currency, provide triggers, noticeable publicity, provide practical value, can be shared through stories, and most importantly in this case, they entail that you have an strong emotional response to it. The shocking discovery that people were willing to pay over ten times the actual price for these shoes that are so easily accessible to everyone, is one of the reasons the story is catching wind and being discussed. This shock factor prompts a series of events to happen that will make the story of “Palessi" go viral. The shock makes people continue to share the story with those around them, giving Payless publicity through word of mouth. As if word of mouth was not enough, there are also news outlets discussing the story on various platforms as well.
As I stated earlier, the holiday season is quickly approaching so running this social experiment at the present moment could not have been more perfect. Not only are people going to spend the entirety of December shopping for their families, but when they get together for various holiday parties they may also look for shoes for the special occasions. Family and friends may ask about where they got their shoes and Payless may come up in these conversations as well. And they can be assured that the shoes they're purchasing are of quality materials because not only have their friends and family mentioned so, but so too have fashion influencers who may have a say in what products these people are willing to buy. After all, if there were people who believed those boots were worth investing $600 in, then surely paying only a tenth of that price would be worthwile.Payless fools influencers into paying over $600 for shoes that cost less than $40 https://t.co/l4GzjAtZgh pic.twitter.com/O3k7fI9PfK— CBS News (@CBSNews) November 30, 2018
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