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Once again, the morning after a major holiday is littered with early wake-ups and demonstrations of mass consumerism at its worst.  As a marketer I should be excited that so many people are buying in to my industry’s messaging.  In reality, though, I’ve never quite understood or respected the post-holiday purchasing bender.

Once upon a time I worked in retail.  Actually, it was twice, but let’s not get into that.  I worked in a retail store over the holidays, starting just before Halloween and staying on well in to the end of January.  I saw all sorts of fall sales, holiday discounts, and post-holiday rushes.  And I never quite got any of them.  The best thing that came from this experience was my solemn vow never to fall into that habit myself.

Let’s face it.  I spend my hours trying to craft stellar brand positions that justify the price premium my clients place on their goods.  Why should I be excited that people line up at 6am to buy the same goods for 50-75% off the retail price when I’ve put so much effort into justifying that price in the first place?  Gross discounts destroy brands by telling consumers that the product isn’t really worth the face value that early adopters paid.

Like everyone else, I like the idea of buying an X-Box for $199 when it was originally priced at $400.  It saves me money, gives me the freedom to buy more accessories, and builds up the false sense of accomplishment that comes with thinking I got the better of the salesman.  In reality, though, it perpetuates the longstanding misconception that all marketers are liars.

In product development, some of our most important customers are our first ones.  They’re the guys who are the most lenient on the brand when a knob falls off or the fresh paint starts to peel.  They’re the proud women and men who provide feedback so we can improve our product and make it perform at a higher standard for the next guy.  Offering massive discounts around the holidays says one thing loud and clear – these first customers got cheated.

The first ones to line up at the Apple store when the iPhone 3GS came out paid full price.  I can get the same phone tomorrow for half of what they paid … and it would be my first Apple purchase to their 2 existing iPhones, iMacs, and numerous iPods.  Businesses need to value their early adopters – mass discounts for the hold outs and bargain shoppers destroy premium brands by directly disrespecting these early adopters.

I know, I’m repeating myself now.  But that’s because I can’t stress this enough – post-holiday price gauging destroys brands! If you ever want to sell your products based on brand equity alone, avoid this practice with a fervor.  Otherwise you’ll fall into the obscurity that surrounds store-brand labels and volume-sale knockoffs of your previously premium product.