Tue 18 Dec 2007
Imagine you are the head of a big company like Colgate or Persil or something like that.
You have one product, toothpaste or washing powder in their case, but then someone in your employ comes up with something a bit better - in the same line of product but it’s a toothpaste that helps prevent cavities better than the original did, or it’s a washing powder that helps prevent your colours fading better than the original.
What to do - do you simply replace your existing product with the new one? Or do you keep making the old one, and simply put the new version on the shelves alongside it?
Judging from the wide array of toothpaste and washing powders on display at Tesco, etc the latter option seems to be the way to go.
And I can’t understand why!
Why would people continue to buy the older, inferior, product? Is this move to simply pacify those who don’t like change, or is there another reason?
Personally if I was in charge of Colgate and someone informed me that we had developed a new toothpaste that would prevent cavities, destroy plaque, promote whiter teeth and decrease bad breath then I would be throwing the formula for the old paste in the bin and cranking up production of the new stuff.
This kind of thing doesn’t happen with products like dog food - you don’t see different versions of Pedigree Chum for example (apart from different flavours obviously), they simply update it by saying it has a “new and improved recipe”.
Fair enough, make toothpaste with as many different flavours as you want, but please change buying a tube from the ten minute decision making process it is now and get back to there being one kind of Colgate, one Aquafresh etc.
I don’t want to have to choose between a toothpaste which will give me 24 hour plaque prevention, a nice flavour, whiter teeth or whatever - just stick it all in the one tube!
December 18th, 2007 at 1:16 pm
It is ridiculous sometimes isn’t it!? But from a business angle, offering more variants on a product helps gain market share. You are offering more to the customers (as you say, not always a good thing), but because you have more you can also vary your price. Let’s say new-and-improved Colgate is considered a premium product, they will charge more. For last seasons toothpaste, they can charge less and hopefully gain entry into the lower-end market - those who can’t afford the premium product.
As annoying as it is, I get the impression it all comes down to money.
December 18th, 2007 at 1:43 pm
As with everything Ollie!
It’s just annoying - they are even doing it with food, you can buy a really cheap tin of beans or whatever, or a medium priced tin of Heinz beans or pay a small fortune for Tesco Finest beans! Just give me a tin of beans!
Healthcare products seem to be the worst though - everything from toothpaste to shampoo has to come in a couple of dozen different varieties for each producer!
And don’t get me started on vitamins, the array of combinations is simply mind boggling and must confuse anyone who buys those things.
December 18th, 2007 at 2:52 pm
I think Ollie is along the right lines here. A lot of this sort of thing is really to ’scare’ people into buying the more expensive product. They make one look like a really bog-standard product, even though it does pretty much the same job. Then they make the other one sound like it’s much better and whack the price up!
My favourite example of this sort of thing is the short cappuccino.
December 18th, 2007 at 8:11 pm
Good to see you’re working that resolution. Yes, it’s all about money and marketing and demographics. These companies have done in depth and costly studies to see what will make us buy more.
Crest in a pump with a neon cap is the gotta have item worth 60 cents more than Crest in the old tube. So the kids get a neon cap and mom Gran gets the plain vanilla tube because her mum taught her how to squeeze from the bottom for economy. How many mom’s buy both? Oh, plenty.
I have to disagree about the pet food, though. On the dry shelf alone for my cat food, there is “sensitive stomach” “dental care” “indoor” “overweight”"hairball” “glossy coat” and that’s only one brand. They know we go ga ga about the fuzzy ones and they’re right on top of our wallets.
December 18th, 2007 at 11:33 pm
You think you have too many choices in the UK? You should try walking into an American supermarket!
But it can backfire (unless I am unique in feeling the way I am about to explain to your lucky readers). Even though I have been in the States for four years now, I have never entered a Starbucks - and I like coffee. The reason is that there is so much choice and I would not have the faintest where to start.
So I end up with three choices instead of the multiple suggestions of Starbucks: I can either go in, start asking what each type is and annoy everyone by keeping them waiting, or I can go in and order the first thing I notice (and probably hate it), or I can ignore the whole problem by never going anywhere near a Starbucks.
Okay, I know it’s cowardly, but I choose the last option. And that makes choice a bad marketing strategy in this case at least.
December 19th, 2007 at 8:05 pm
Clive, I definitely agree with you on the coffee shop thing! More often than not I avoid the opportunity to make a prick of myself by just not going. Once I went to a coffee shop with a friend though and ordered an espresso thinking it was just a black coffee. Imagine my surprise when a slither of sludge in a thimble-sized cup was presented to me!
Mind you, I am quite lucky because I am a black coffee drinker. Usually just asking for a black coffee gets me exactly what I want.
But speaking of coffee, here is an excellent guide to the different kinds.
Sorry. Coffee is my drug of choice.
December 19th, 2007 at 10:42 pm
That is very helpful, even if they are all variations on the espresso theme. Thanks! I like the idea of just ordering a black coffee too - that’s what I do at Dunkin Donuts…
December 19th, 2007 at 11:09 pm
Sorry, but Starbucks is the exception to my rule - I don’t mind that there is a choice in there as each different kind tastes different unlike all the different toothpastes etc!