Okay, we all know it’s a lousy economy. We all know you have to cut costs wherever you can. But when you get caught pinching pennies at your customer’s expense, the exposure can be pretty harmful. Take the case in point as illustrated in an article in Advertising Age. The article depicts Ben and Jerry’s dumping on rival Haagen Daz because the latter is reducing its “pint” by two ounces. That’s right, instead of a sixteen ounce actual pint, the customer pays the same money for a 14 ounce pint.
Now it goes without saying that a 14 ounce pint isn’t really a pint. It also goes without saying that Dreyers, who owns Haagen Daz, is excusing the diminished pint do to rising expenses for natural ingredients. So it costs more to produce real ice cream, free of all the additives and chemicals. But then that is what Haagen Daz is supposed to be–one of the natural guys on the block. That is the branding for Haagen Daz. Like most other products, you live or die by your branding.
In fairness another company, as the article says, with a funny European sounding name, is thinking of downsizing its pint as well. Surely, they are yielding to pressure form retailers to keep the costs down in this horrible economy, but they are diluting branding as they shrink the size of their products. Meanwhile, Ben and Jerry’s is having a field day with this whole notion, utilizing its website and other venues to pronounce its righteous indignation.
Sooner or later, we get down to that age old question–does size matter? Or does quality? Or do you keep the size and raise the prices. Damn the retailers, full speed ahead. It’s a tough call. but in this tough economy, with so many layoffs and so many people out of work, Americans will console themselves with their favorite flavor, either in a dish, on a cone, or right out of the carton.
Give the times, you may review your marketing campaigns and production costs. You may even beef up your staff, so they can best market to and address the issues concerning customers during a recession. Like money and size. Be sure to run the kind of background checks that enable you to hire the right employees. and then go over their cost cutting measures very carefully. There is the short run and the long run. What you gain int he short run you can lose in multiples over the long haul. You could look like a real skinflint. And when it comes to certain products, like ice cream, the customer has a long memory.
Cehck them out before you hire.
