Value is not price. Value is something very personal. Each of us sees things very differently. There are those of us who look at a diamond and simply say, “well, a diamond is a diamond.” Then there are others who believe in paying the so-called blue box tax that comes with a Tiffany diamond. Simply put, they value a Tiffany branded diamond more than any other diamond from any other jewelry store.

We see the concept of value every time we observe an eBay auction. Auctions are one of the purest forms for determining value. Someone is selling something and all potential buyers have a price in mind. Often we spend more than the “retail value” for the item. Why? Why, would we spend more than what the retail value of an item is? Simple. We value it more. Perhaps the item holds “sentimental value.” Or perhaps the buyer finds value in getting the item before anyone else could.

One of the most interesting things I’ve seen in a while was Radiohead’s approach for distributing their album, In Rainbows. They made the album available for digital download and allowed consumers to pick a price they wanted to pay for it.  Think about that. You could pay $0.00 for the album. You could pay $100.00 for the album. You, the consumer was allowed to determine the value. The pessimistic person might argue, who would pay anything more than $0.00 for the album. Well, based on real data, most consumers actually paid the normal retail price. At first, I was surprised. But, when you consider Radiohead’s strong following, it makes sense. Their fans…their consumers wanted to engage in a true mutual exchange. They didn’t want to take advantage of the band. Why? Well I think it’s because the band continually put out great music. Most Radiohead fans will tell you, there’s never been a bad album. The band has always delivered the goods. Perhaps, because the band had always provided value, the fans wanted to pay a fair price.

I imagine if Southwest and Delta let customers name their price for flights, most consumers would take advantage of Delta because of how many times Delta took advantage of them. I’d also imagine the opposite would be true of Southwest.

What would happen if you made your product or service available to consumers via a “name the price” model? Would your consumers pay retail? Would they pay more? Would they take advantage? If the majority of consumers elected to pay $0.00, what would it say about your brand or product?

A few weeks ago I shared with you a list of 5 brands that were succeeding without an investment in social media. This week, I want to share with you a list of 5 brands that are doing poorly despite their investment in social media.  The following is being written with sarcasm – please take it as such.

Delta Airlines

Let’s hope the merger with Northwest helps things. A recent Airline Quality Rating Report has Delta ranked 12th. Ouch. The stock price is hovering just over $7.00..sad when you compare it to the $20.00 + it was at 1.5 years ago. But, hey they’re on twitter, YouTube, and have a blog so that should ease the concerns of analysts and shareholders…right?

Target

Sales were down 6.3% in March…but that exceeded analyst expectations. When doing bad is perceived to be “good” you know things are bad. The 2008 holiday season didn’t pull them into the black and they recently had a few rounds of layoffs. But, don’t worry, they’re on Facebook.

Segway

A shining of example of hyperbole. Inventor Dean Kamen lauded Segway, “will be to the car what the car was to the horse and buggy.” Only 30,000 Segways were sold between 2001 and 2007. Considering Segway thought they’d sell between 50,000 and 100,000 in the first 13 months, that’s pretty bad. They still aren’t profitable, but they do have their own community network, a blog, Facebook page, and twitter account.

Starbucks

They have a site dedicated to consumer ideas and engage consumers on twitter, yet they continue to close stores left and right. 3 years ago the stock traded above $35, but today it sits at $12. New leadership, new decor, and a new menu haven’t helped. Maybe a blog could be the answer

Home Depot

As you’d expect, a soft housing market and declining economy haven’t helped them grow. Their stock has decreased nearly 40% in the last 3 years which isn’t surprising when you consider that both revenue and profit are both down significantly. But, maybe their YouTube page will be the tactic that turns that tide.

The sarcasm above is with good reason. Social Media seems to be the recommended solution for all companies. The reality is it takes more than an investment into Social Media to make a business work. Social Media isn’t for every company and even the companies that it’s right for need more than a presence on twitter to be successful.

I hope this dose of reality was helpful.