Burt's Bees Company Case

Burt’s Bees: Willfully Overpriced

Company Case 9

Brant Embry

University of Mary Hardin-Baylor

Author Note

This paper is prepared for Principles of Marketing (BMKT 1311 02), taught by Professor Merriman.

Does Burt’s Bees pricing strategy truly differentiate it from the competition?

Yes I do believe that their pricing strategy does make them different from the rest of the competition. After reading that they use almost all natural resources makes them far ahead of other lip balm companies such as ChapStick. When your buying any product of Burt’s Bees, you are going to get quality and that’s the reason for the willfully overpricing. Also the book stated, “ higher prices can also peak customer curiosity”, which is very true in my opinion (Armstrong & Kotler, 13). If people are going to pay a higher price for something the are going to read why it’s higher than the rest. For Burt’s Bees, this is genius due to the fact that people buy this product after reading about all the natural substances they used to make this quality product.

Has Burt’s Bees executed value-based pricing, cost-based pricing, or competition-based pricing?

Burt’s Bees has best executed the value-based pricing, considering that they are pricing their products based on true value. With focusing on this strategy, Burt’s is trying to create value for their product, and obviously it has been working for them. They are promoting that their lip balm is made from actual bee honey and lot of other natural substances, which catches many people eye, just like it did mine when it came out. For example the books states, “ It’s standard shampoos and conditioners run $7.99 for a 12-ounce bottle, whereas you can pick up a same-size bottle with Pantene label on it for only 3.99” (Armstrong & Kotler, 13). This just shows how confident Burt’s Bees is with their quality products. Unlike most companies who try...