Situation
"We're about to launch, and the price is cost plus margin."
Launch teams often set price from cost and a target margin because the value to the customer, and to the rest of the value chain, has never been quantified. Innovation premiums are lost on day one and are very hard to recover later.
If two or more of these sound familiar, this page is for you.
Paraphrased and anonymized from recent conversations with marketing and commercial leaders.
“Since our pricing lead left, no one is really doing value pricing for new launches.”
“We need the full framework: true value in the customer's eyes, the market price, and how to sell it through the value chain.”
“We're not sure whether we want you to do the analysis or show our people how to do it. Probably both.”
Value has to be quantified for each stakeholder in the value chain, from the user to the buyer to the payer, and compared with their next-best alternative. A price set too low at launch is very hard to raise later, and a product with no direct competitor still has one: the way customers solve the problem today.
Clinical, operational or economic value against the next-best alternative.
Who benefits along the chain, and who decides.
Value Maps and scenarios for competitor response.
A value story sales can defend with customers.
Typical phases. Every engagement is scoped with you, and many clients start with one phase.
| Phase | Typical timing | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Kick-off | Half a day | A working session with the launch team: product, business development, sales, marketing and innovation. |
| Quantify value | 2–3 weeks | Value creation by stakeholder, against the next-best alternative. |
| Set the price | 1 week | Value Maps, price position and scenarios for competitor and customer response. |
| Sell it | Before launch | A value story and playbook the team can use through the value chain. |
A focused project for a launch that's coming up, done with your team.
Start here →Two days applying Value Creation, Value Maps and Price Change Analysis.
Start here →Talk through your launch with a senior pricing consultant.
Start here →Life Sciences · Delivery devices
Recent work · 2025–2026
A business unit was about to price a new drug-delivery device at cost plus, with no view of its value to the value chain. The opportunity was significant.
Read the case →Medical Devices · Implant
[Result]
A minimally invasive implant offered a new option for high-risk patients. The business needed to show its value before launch.
Read the case →Paper & Pulp · Polymer chemistry
[Result]
A polymer chemistry leader had a capacity-constrained technology for paper mills that could cannibalize its existing sales.
Read the case →Academy program
Two days applying Value Creation, Value Maps, Price Change Analysis and Transactional Pricing to an agreed pricing challenge in your business.
$1,950 per person · Next: [Dates] Nov 2026
See dates →Value pricing starts from what the customer gains compared with their next-best alternative. Market pricing starts from competitor prices. Value pricing tells you how much room you have; market pricing tells you where competitors sit within it.
Compare it with how customers solve the problem today, including doing nothing or doing it themselves. That alternative sets the reference value.
A focused project for one product often takes about a month, starting with a kick-off session with the launch team.
Either or both. Many clients ask us to lead the first launch with their team so they can repeat the framework on the next ones.
"We've been sales and rebate led for years."
Your strategy now depends on selling on value, but the sales force, pricing and segmentation were built for volume.
How we help →"I've just taken over marketing, and we don't have standard tools."
A new marketing leader in a lean organization needs a team, a process and early results, fast.
How we help →"We're a new company with a parent company's marketing habits."
A new owner or independent company means new growth targets with marketing infrastructure that was left behind.
How we help →Book a 20–30 minute sounding board conversation with a senior consultant who has sat in your seat. No cost, no commitment.