A company recently was granted permission to pump up to 170 million gallons of fresh water a year out of the aquifer near where I live. People will be glad to pay more than a dollar a bottle to drink the same water I drink for practically nothing. Why is that?

Because the company will likely create a story about their water that will make it uniquely different from anything the consumer could possibly enjoy any other way. It will describe in vivid word pictures how Florida’s sandy soil acts as a natural filter, resulting in fresh-tasting water that will leave them uniquely satisfied. In other words, the company will create value through the stories it tells.

Forty years ago, while stationed with the Air Force in Colorado, I remember driving past the Coors brewery in Golden, Colorado. Now Coors, which only sold its beer in a few western states at the time, loved to talk about the fact that its beverage was made with pure Rocky Mountain spring water. And the thing I remember about that brewery was that there was a gushing stream of water that encircled the facility like a moat. That stream reinforced the image of all that pure water giving Coors its refreshing, cool taste.

A wonderful image, and not entirely deceitful since the water used to make the beer likely comes from the mountains. But I’ll bet the brewery pumps its water from the city’s municipal system just like every other business in Golden.

But isn’t that what every good marketer does? Whether it’s selling shoes, hamburgers or airline service to distant cities, companies create stories that demonstrate the value of their product by pointing out the differences. And the greater the stories, the more demand they create for those products and enhanced value they can promote to charge their customers more.

What stories are you telling about your institution? And how do those stories help to create value in the minds of your current and prospective students?

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