A friend comes up to you with a big smile on their face.

“I’ve got a business idea that’s going to make me loads of money!” they announce, rubbing their hands in glee.

“Oh, yes?” you say, “What is it?”

They produce a little box from behind their back and carefully open it. Inside the box is a little velvet cushion with a single strawberry on it.

“STRAWBERRIES!”, they cry.

At this, you’d probably raise an eyebrow, right?

I mean, strawberries are just strawberries.

They’re not rare.

They’re not exotic.

They’re not the latest superfood.

And they’re by no means there a.

They’ve been cultivated for at least 2,000 years and there are billions of them right now across the planet… growing in fields and greenhouses…. sitting in fridges and pantries… adorning pavlovas and American pancakes.

You could show one to a toddler in any country and they’d probably recognise it.

So you could reasonably tell your unhinged friend: “Strawberries have been done, mate.”

And yet…

Let me take you across the waters of the Atlantic and over to the west coast of the USA.

There, in Los Angeles you’ll find a supermarket called Erewhon, a favoured hangout for celebrities, wealthy locals, and intrigued tourists.

Now you might recall this supermarket from my email on the 11th June, which was all about the social media hoo-ha over Erewhon’s £60 bottle of water-with-ice..

Well, that’s not the only premium priced everyday product they stock!

This year, they also sold a SINGLE STRAWBERRY for $19.99.

Yep, that’s just under $20 (about £15.00) for a single berry.

It wasn’t wrapped in gold leaf.

It hadn’t been touched by Taylor Swift.

It had no special antioxidant powers.

It possessed no psychedelic side effects.

It was JUST A STRAWBERRY – albeit one from a batch that had been imported from Japan (more about that in a moment).

As you can imagine, this was catnip to social media influencers.

The $20 strawberry quickly went viral.

TikTok influencers lined up to buy it and say “wow” or “whaaaaaaaat!”

ABC news anchors tasted it live on air.

Comedians made spoof videos about it.

Even scholars of the Roman Empire were dragged into the story to debate whether or not this $20 dollar strawberry signalled the decline of Western civilisation.

A Guardian article ran with this headline: “I tried the viral $20 strawberry. It tasted like the end of the American empire.”

Blimey!

All this buzz for a strawberry.

Which makes for a pretty compelling lesson for anyone who wants to succeed in a business, but worries that they haven’t invented something new, rare or special.

Because I know a lot of subscribers worry about this – for example…

“There are other people selling this same item that I’ve created.”

“I keep seeing digital courses about the subject I want to pursue.”

“I don’t know why anyone would pay me £27 for an eBook.”

“Surely there are so many digital planners for sale that nobody will want mine?”

“Email newsletters are old hat.”

“There’s no money to be made on Amazon, it’s all been done.”

Yet the $20 strawberry suggests that even the most commonplace, everyday product could potentially become transformed into a viral marketing sensation.

So what happened?

The Luxury Fruit Trend

The Japanese have a thing for luxury fruit, which can attain the same kind of status as champagne or certain brands of perfume over here in the west.

They’re grown with extreme care in carefully-controlled conditions and often used as ceremonial gifts at weddings, business events and other special occasions.

And they can fetch really high prices…

Melons can sell for hundreds of dollars, while a bunch of Ruby Roman grapes was once sold for over a million yen (that’s around £270 per grape!)

In this case, the $20 strawberry was grown in Japan using specialised techniques, then hand-checked for colour, firmness, and flavour, with at least two separate quality inspections.

Only the most perfect specimens were allowed through, while the rest were rejected.

Finally, the strawberries were flown over to the USA, especially for Erewhon, which – as we already know – has an aspirational status which allows it to command high prices for its wealthy clientele.

The cost of this entire operation, getting the fruit from the farm to the shelf of a posh celebrity supermarket, is what therefore ‘justifies’ the price.

And Erewhon is not the only business jumping on the luxury Japanese fruit trend.

Other companies like Ikigai Fruits are importing even rarer specimens, like ‘Bijinhime’ strawberries at $258 per box and ‘Pearl White’ berries at $128.

But even though the logistics for the international operation might justify the high price, why would people still choose the $20 strawberry?

Well, it’s the story.

Magical Marketing Alchemy

Erewhon and the company who produce this strawberry both make sure that they tell the full tale of what it means when somebody buys that little fruit.

And it’s not only about the costly, complex and time-consuming process of getting it to the supermarket shelf.

They point out that many Japanese farmers are ageing out of the profession – 80% of them are now over 60 – and the industry struggles to attract younger workers.

So the aim of their business is to support struggling farms by turning fruit into luxury exports.

Which means now we have an added emotional ingredient – the struggles of elderly Japanese farmers – which people can sympathise with.

So there is a lot to say about what is, effectively, a single strawberry.

Which is where the alchemy happens.

Because a strawberry might just be a strawberry…

But when it comes with a compelling story, it becomes MORE than a humble piece of fruit.

It transcends its physical form to become something immense that flourishes in the imagination of potential customers.

They’re not just thinking about the dimensions of the fruit, its colour, or even its taste…

Instead, they’re imagining Japanese farmers using sophisticated growing techniques…

Ancient Japanese ceremonies with people exchanging luxury fruits…

Teams of experts sifting through the fruits to find only the most perfect specimens…

And they’re thinking about how rare and precious it is to partake in this Eastern cultural phenomenon in a supermarket in LA.

So really, it’s not about the berry, it’s about CONTENT.

This is how it can end up being written about in The Guardian, reported on in TV news segments, and shared across global social media.

And herein lies the lesson…

How Stories Create Value

Even a basic, low-cost, everyday product with lots of competition can become a red hot seller and generate online buzz.

That is, as long as you focus on the story.

Whether you’re selling a PDF guide, a digital planner, an eBook, a mug, an online course, or a set of email templates, it doesn’t matter…

A compelling story can make any product stand out from the crowd because it brings a unique quality to it that can elevate its perceived value.

Here are some angles to consider:

• The Origin – Where and how was it created? Was it born out of a moment of struggle, frustration, or obsession? Why does it exist?
• The Maker’s Journey – What led you to create this? How did your life, mistakes, or insights shape it?
• The Mission – Does it help a specific group of people overcome something unfair, difficult, or overlooked?
• The Process – What makes your method, framework, style or system different? How is it better, faster, easier?
• The Exclusivity – Is this a ‘first’, a ‘best’, a ‘secret’, or something not easily found elsewhere?
• The Impact – Who has it helped already? What transformation or breakthrough did they experience?
• The Ritual – How is it used? Can you turn using it into an experience, a habit, a routine people want to talk about?
• The Values – Does it support a community, help the planet, preserve a skill, honour a tradition, or promote a way of life?
• The Uniqueness – How is this different from anything else out there?

Any of these – or all of them combined – can make a product seem more desirable and valuable to a customer.

Which, of course, raises the price tag you can put on it.

Because remember… people don’t buy simply a ‘thing’, they also buy how the thing makes them feel.

For a few, that makes a strawberry worth $20.

So what do you think?

Could you potentially add an intriguing story to a product you’re developing or considering?