Now let’s say this person tells you that whatever you pay for the shirt will go to a reputable charity. Maybe you’d shell out a few bucks because you’re a nice person, but you still wouldn’t touch the thing with a ten foot pole---literally.

Okay, what if you knew that this David Ortiz jersey was actually buried in concrete at the Yankee Stadium by a construction worker and “diehard Red Sox fan” who wanted to “curse the Yankees”? And when the Yankees found out, they had the jersey dug up and given to The Jimmy Fund and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute to be auctioned off on eBay. Now how much would this shirt be worth? Try $72,200 at the time of this post---and that’s with three days of the auction to go.

So what do great brands and this jersey have in common? A unique and authentic story that engages the consumer and convinces them to pay a premium for the product. Key words here: unique, authentic (as in believable) and engaging.