Summer Sales & Marketing Summer Series: Part 6

When the Brand Story Meets Price Pressure

The buyer recognizes your brand, likes the product, but still chooses a cheaper option.

This situation is frustrating and brings up a fair question: If building the brand doesn’t protect your price, what is it actually doing?

The truth is, building a brand in a commodity-centric industry won’t get rid of price pressure. But it does shift the price conversation in important ways over time.

Here’s what strong brand marketing actually does in a sales context. It shortens the distance between recognizing a brand and trusting it. Buyers who have seen your consumer campaigns, who have watched your company show up consistently online, through your website, store locators, and social media presence, start from a different place than buyers who are seeing you for the first time. They’re not automatically paying more, but they’re asking different questions. What’s driving demand for this? What are consumers saying? Those questions are an opening.

In many produce categories, the cheaper product next to yours is often a private label. Retailers invest in their own brands, and private label usually comes with a lower price and just enough quality to make shoppers think twice. But the real competition isn’t about price; it’s about trust. Private labels rarely have a story, loyal customers, or a proven track record. That’s what your brand can offer, as long as marketing and sales know how to show it.

Marketing can help sales make a case without focusing only on price. Things like consumer demand data, social media engagement, retail volume, and media coverage all help explain why your product is worth its price, whether you’re up against a cheaper brand or a store label. When sales teams bring this evidence, the conversation moves from why buyers should pay more to what they’re getting for the price, beyond a quality product that’s already the baseline expectation. That’s a better conversation to be in.

Leaders shouldn’t step back when price competition gets difficult. It’s natural to want to cut brand investment when margins shrink, but that’s exactly when competitors, including private labels, gain ground.

There will always be some tension between your brand story and price in this industry. The aim isn’t to get rid of that tension, but to make sure marketing gives sales enough support so price is just one part of the decision, not the whole thing.

How well have you equipped your sales team with your brand’s key messaging, so they feel ready to expand the conversation beyond price and availability, including when the competition is a store’s own label?

Summer Sales & Marketing Series: