Payless didn’t “trick” anyone as this headline reads:
“Payless tricked ‘influencers’ into paying $600 for $20 shoes at fake ‘Palessi’ store”
Nor did they troll anyone as this one reads:
“Payless trolls shoe snobs with fake luxury ‘Palessi’ store
Palessi created a different value prop with a different target audience than Payless.
This happens everywhere, everyday. No one is getting tricked.
These shoes are real. But, the experience was vastly different.
Luxury brands rarely sell anything of different quality. They make us feel something. Consumers have been proven to pay more for feelings. How does Apple make you feel and how much do you pay that?
Make people feel something and charge more for it. (invite-only, swanky store)
Make the user/buyer experience better and they’ll pay more for it.
Make the product good, but don’t sell features. Sell the experience.
Will the Payless investment into Palessi drive more Payless sales? It’s certainly created them TONS of earned media. I think yes, not because of selling fancy shoes, but because Payless just said to the millennial crowd, “we’re not as lame as you think. We can do cool marketing stuff too. #fancyshoesdonthavetobefancy”
If you didn’t see what they did, check it out here.
