Reverse Status Symbols

Given the title "Retailers Are Trying to Stand Out With Lower Prices and Better Value" an article in USA Today caught my eye during a trip to New York last week. 

Later on within it, designer Eric Gustavsen said "How smart you shop has become the new status symbol," a reflection I concur with...so much so that it was a key part of the "Business Stupidity" tactic, one of the nine outlined and examined in my upcoming Pow! book.

The following is a direct quote from myself...so perhaps the folks at Wiley will tell me who to send the royalties to:

A good starting point in exploiting Business Stupidity is reversing common sense.  Take the following “tell me something I don’t know” gem I read in Brandweek:

“Simply put, Americans either like to flaunt their thrift or wealth.”

It made me laugh, because I had just lived through the two extremes.  I was on a business trip that took me through Orlando, Florida and Aspen, Colorado.

In the Sunshine State, I picked up a Ralph Lauren RRL jacket. What makes the jacket special is not just the intricate, obtuse patchworking, but the price; it had originally listed at $3000, was marked down to $600, and I picked it up for 75% off that (that’s $150 for those of you mathematically-challenged). 

This deal was so great, I still haven't removed the price tag from inside the jacket.  It’s become part of the story I tell each time someone comments on it.  Most times, I even lift my arm to show the tag itself. 

This got me to thinking that retailers should think of a way to “reverse-psychologize” the flaunting system.  On the wealth side, we are happy to show off our designer names and logos loudly, but on the thrift side, the killer bargains remain stealthily anonymous…unless you’re a widemouth like yours truly (Stupid Idea: Make Super-Sale Tags Highly-Visible and Indestructible).  Maybe “75%-off” is the new Gucci...