BookNook, a US-based company that develops and sells reading education software to schools, will be implementing an equity-based pricing model in August. BookNook will be providing discounts for school districts where over 50% of students are eligible to receive a free or reduced lunch (determined using government data). Every 1% over 50% will translate to a discount; if 60% of a school’s student body is part of the National School Lunch Program, the school will receive 10% off BookNook’s licensing fees. The initiative kicked off in response to the pandemic, which BookNook CEO Mike Lombardo said “disproportionately affects low-income learners and communities of color.”
The truth is, many of the consumers who really need your services the most are also the ones who have the most difficulty accessing them. Such is the case with the low-income school districts BookNook serves, where literacy programs play an essential role in securing a better future for students. And as Lombardo also explained: “This is the time for companies who are working with underserved communities to look back and see how their work reflects their missions.” We couldn’t agree more.
One way to do that? Make like BookNook and see if you can offer SYMPATHETIC PRICING: Discounts or pricing schemes infused with care, that take specific groups’ challenging circumstances into account. Meditation app Headspace offered free subscriptions to some of the most-stressed consumers right now – NHS workers in the UK and the newly unemployed. Uber offered 10 million free rides to vulnerable groups, like the elderly. Or, rather than discounting what you already offer, consider what special services you can launch. A group of ad agency workers, even though they were furloughed themselves, created agency Not Fur’Long to help struggling small businesses for free.
How can your brand prove it truly cares by switching up a visible, straightforward and truly meaningful target: its pricing?
Stay healthy,
The TrendWatching content team
