Week 9: “Where art meets science is where brands and pricing come together”

The title statement was said by Bruce Buchanan, the former CEO of Jetstar, in an interview I conducted with him this week.

Hello and welcome back to my blog!

When I began my research project, I was set in my opinion that ethically, dynamic pricing was a negative thing, that despite what I would learn over the term of this project would change my mind. But the past couple of weeks, and especially with the two interviews I conducted this week, I’ve really been able to see the benefits of its usage, not only on the producers who are able to gain a greater revenue but also on the consumer. 

Conducting my interview with Bruce this week was very informative, and I gained a lot of new insight from it. He explained more in-depth how dynamic pricing is used in general but particularly in the airline industry. But, the thing that stood out to me the most though was when he said “Pricing is both an art form and a science, most people think it’s just like science, I just have to price things to get the supply-demand curve working. That actually misses a key piece of the puzzle, a key piece of the puzzle is you need to bring consumers along. And that’s the art piece, you need to educate them, make them inspired by the brand, understand if they do something different from a behaviour perspective, they get a benefit. And so, where art meets science is where brands and pricing come together” (Bruce Buchanan) 

This stood out to me because it highlights the often-overlooked human element in pricing strategies. Dynamic pricing isn’t just about algorithms and data, it’s about understanding consumer behaviour and effectively communicating the value proposition to them. This approach emphasises the importance of consumer education and engagement, ensuring that they see the benefits of dynamic pricing rather than just the fluctuating costs.

Bruce’s insight underscores the necessity of balancing technical precision with creative marketing. For instance, in the airline industry, dynamic pricing must account for factors like seasonality, demand spikes, and competition. However, to truly succeed, airlines also need to foster brand loyalty and educate their customers about how dynamic pricing can work in their favour, such as booking flights during off-peak times for better rates.

This interview has made me appreciate the complexity behind dynamic pricing and its implementation. It requires a strategic blend of analytical skills and creative communication to align pricing strategies with consumer expectations and behaviours. This holistic approach can ultimately lead to more sustainable and positive outcomes for both businesses and their customers.

Additionally to conducting my interview with Bruce this week, I also conducted it with Andres Fabris, the founder and CEO of Traxo. Overall, the interview was very successful and I gained a lot from it. This week I plan to go back through the transcript of our meeting and will share more with you next week. Additionally, at the end of our meeting, he offered to connect me to another person he knows who could potentially have really interesting insight into my project.

This week I also officially closed my survey, so thank you to everyone who filled it out! I got a total of 215 responses. I have asked a family member who is familiar with doing this sort of thing to help me finish analysing the data.

I also spent a lot of my time this week working on writing my final deliverable. With my outline completed, I wrote the introduction, some of the conclusion, and bits and pieces of different paragraphs as I continue to figure out how I want the articles that I have read to fit into my essay.

Thank you for continuing to read my blog and I look forward to updating you next week!