Special price-demand curve for branded products.

An effectively branded product is characterized by its metavalue (which includes the brand value), but only the limited population aware of the product/brand well enough is able to embrace its metavalue. Not all of them value the product/brand alike; and only those valuing it the highest in this moment buy it in this very moment. It would be assumed that this population, the audience, takes the form of a normal distribution. Consequently the price-demand curve would take the shape of the integral of this normal distribution. But, as the (meta-) value of the product/brand also is a function of its price (i.e. status value), a continuous price-demand curve is only hypothetical. A discussion about the dynamics of the price/value/demand relations of branded products can be found as an appendix to my General Theory of Marketing.

The Metaproduct – more than the brand

Metaproduct means “the product outside the product”. The tangible product is what you can feel and measure, but you may experience it as much more. Time offers two reasons for it. One is what you are carrying from the past: memories, experiences. The other is your expectations: how will it taste, will it offer you status. All of this adds up to give you a total impression of the product. This added intangible aspect of the product, the meta-product is mostly decisive for your buying. It is to be observed, though, that the metaproduct often is much more than the brand. If you observe a beautiful object before knowing its brand, it already may appear valuable. Non-branded provisions too, like oysters and diamonds, may give the impression of luxury, and display a considerable metaproduct, without the need of any brand. Anyhow, marketing must be regarded as the discipline of metaproducts. Metaproducts being a prime object for every function involved in the development of the values of branded products: product development, design, marketing, service, etc. The form of the term Metaproduct follows the scientific norm, and Metavalue should, consequently, be seen as the more scientific term for intangible values. The term was first coined and published in 1985, just in the dawn of the great brand hype. You can read more about it in my General Theory of Marketing.

This makes Value the core of Evolutionary Marketing

The core of evolutionary marketing is value, being the factor deciding the buyer's (customer's) buying decision. And the buyer's valuing is a consequence of a complex of conscious and subconscious processes best explained and analyzed by evolutionary psychology. My marketing theory is founded on this notion of value and the different aspects of it. Any theory of branded products (as this is) has to offer an analysis from every angle of how the buyers' subjective valuing affect transactions. Consequently, my Transaction Equation is the pivotal model, and the Dynamics of the Evaluating Audience is a very specific concept demonstrating changes of value as a consequence of changes of price and communication – unique of evolutionary marketing. Learn more from my General Theory of Marketing.