The $32m Rock

Leveraging exclusivity in the B2B world

About a year ago in the sprawling Fura mine in Mozambique Balbir, the master sorter was on to something. After the sorting and sifting of hundreds of tons of earth and ore, a small red golf ball sized rock stood out. It was destined to become the world’s most expensive ruby. After the cutters and polishers had finished with it, the now thumbnail sized ruby was put up for auction by Sotheby’s in New York. Being unique, it even has its own name: the Estrela de Fura.  

The buyers for these one-of-a-kind products are not driven by utility or functionality but rather the pride of ownership. Pride of ownership is highly influenced by exclusivity. 

In the B2B world, we often overlook exclusivity power in everyday products and services. Lee Valley Tools is famous for their compelling product descriptions that highlight exclusivity “Made similar to the Cheney Nailer that went out of production many years ago”, or  “Made to our own specifications" or “this Rybička (“little fish”) knife is as iconic in the Czech/Slovak market as slöjd knives are in Sweden”  (after all, who doesn’t know how iconic the slöjd knives are!). 

While the traditional ‘feature advantage benefit’ story is still relevant for the left brain, don’t forget the exclusivity story for the right brain. Try adding a phrase or two to each of your product or service descriptions. 

Clearly the middle eastern buyer of the Estrela de Fura was relying on their right brain to make the winning bid of US$32m for a thumbnail sized red rock. What do you do to promote the exclusivity of your products?  

See you next time, 

Andrew