Posts by: Tim J. Smith, PhD

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Pricing Note: BISR

By Tim J. Smith, PhD March 6, 2014

A BISR analysis differs from standard CPC (cost per customer) and ROI (return on investment) calculations to reveal the true ROMI (return on marketing investment) after accounting for the fact that many of the purchases related to an advertisement or coupon would have occurred in the absence of the promotion.

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Top 6 – February 2014

By Tim J. Smith, PhD February 5, 2014

“I don’t subscribe to the notion that companies exist to create value strictly for their shareholders. I think they are there to…

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Netflix Goes to the Pricing and Branding Trough Once Again

By Tim J. Smith, PhD February 5, 2014

In 2011, Netflix’s pricing and branding shuffle enraged customers. After taking a few back steps, Netflix is at it again for 2014. What makes Reed Hastings, CEO of Netflix, Inc. think he will succeed this time, given that customers and shareholders alike ranted hyperbolic disapproval at his earlier moves?

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Top 6 – January 2014

By Tim J. Smith, PhD January 7, 2014

Welcome to 2014. May you have a punk year: Hope => Vision => Action => Perseverance => Luck Hope is a choice.…

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Kenichi Ohmae and Pricing Strategy

By Tim J. Smith, PhD January 7, 2014

In his classic 1982 text “The Mind of the Strategist”, Kenichi Ohmae fathered the 3 C’s model of corporate strategy. What can a veteran strategy book tell us about contemporary pricing strategy? Surprisingly, quite a lot.

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Top 6 – December 2013

By Tim J. Smith, PhD December 27, 2013

Desperation to Euphoria in two letters: Aaaahhh, Aah. Ah. … Aha! Strategic success in business develops from differentiation. For some business activities,…

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Equifinality and Organizational Design for Improving Pricing Decisions

By Tim J. Smith, PhD December 3, 2013

What decisions should the pricing function be making? Where should a corporation position the pricing function? How should the pricing function be structured? We have been asking this question for past two decades but still don’t have a definitive answer nor a standard template. Why? What is so odd about pricing decisions that makes organizational design choices regarding the pricing function difficult?

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Top 6 – November 2013

By Tim J. Smith, PhD November 4, 2013

Tragedy to laughter in one word (read aloud with increasing speed): Yuck. Yuck yuck. …. Yuck yuck yuck yuck yuck yuck yuck…

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Pricing for Consumption Economics

By Tim J. Smith, PhD November 4, 2013

SaaS, DaaS, IaaS, and other “X-as-a-Service” business models are proven market disruptors in information technology industries. Executives at enterprise IT solution providers are creating, adapting, or adjusting to competitors’ XaaS business models. But successfully implementing an XaaS business model requires a new approach to both pricing and revenue capture for IT services. What is that new approach?

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Pricing Strategy Reviewed in JRPM

By Tim J. Smith, PhD November 4, 2013

Pricing Strategy: Setting Price Levels, Managing Price Discounts, and Establishing Price Structures by Tim J. Smith, PhD has been reviewed in September 2013 issue of the Journal of Revenue and Pricing Management by Sarah Keast, Lecturer in Economics, Plymouth Graduate School of Management and Plymouth Business School, UK. In her words, “Tim Smith successfully combines the theories and methods from marketing, economics, strategy, and decision making in one very accessible text on the strategies and methods of price setting.” Thank you Sarah Keast and JRPM. It is an honor.

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About The Author

timjsmith
Tim J. Smith, PhD, is the founder and CEO of Wiglaf Pricing, an Adjunct Professor of Marketing and Economics at DePaul University, and the author of Pricing Done Right (Wiley 2016) and Pricing Strategy (Cengage 2012). At Wiglaf Pricing, Tim leads client engagements. Smith’s popular business book, Pricing Done Right: The Pricing Framework Proven Successful by the World’s Most Profitable Companies, was noted by Dennis Stone, CEO of Overhead Door Corp, as "Essential reading… While many books cover the concepts of pricing, Pricing Done Right goes the additional step of applying the concepts in the real world." Tim’s textbook, Pricing Strategy: Setting Price Levels, Managing Price Discounts, & Establishing Price Structures, has been described by independent reviewers as “the most comprehensive pricing strategy book” on the market. As well as serving as the Academic Advisor to the Professional Pricing Society’s Certified Pricing Professional program, Tim is a member of the American Marketing Association and American Physical Society. He holds a BS in Physics and Chemistry from Southern Methodist University, a BA in Mathematics from Southern Methodist University, a PhD in Physical Chemistry from the University of Chicago, and an MBA with high honors in Strategy and Marketing from the University of Chicago GSB.