Don’t Touch My Acme
Product Stability in a Consumer-Driven World
Attention all manufacturers: Don’t mess with my favorite products!
As I stare up at the grocery store shelves plastered with promotional stickers labeling everything as “New and Improved,” I decide that Lynn Johnston said it best in her well-known syndicated comic strip For Better or for Worse: “Whatever happened to old and unchanged?”
I’m sure I mutter that same statement under my breath at least once a month while shopping at the market or pharmacy.
Why do companies always feel the need to improve their products? Some products do not need to be improved. There are some things in life that should be left just the way they are. Many shoppers feel the same way, and yet we are constantly bombarded with new products, new formulas, and new features. And all of these changes are broadcast in bright neon colors, with sappy music, and promoted by an obnoxious spokesguy with a bad haircut who talks through his nose.
I understand that companies want to give their consumers as many choices as possible. They adhere to the logic that the consumer is more likely to remain loyal if all their needs are met by one brand. There is, however, such a thing as too many choices.
I used to like Corn Flakes, and I still do. My other favorite was Cheerios. But then Cheerios came out with a Honey Nut version and that was better. And another company created a cereal that looked and tasted like Corn Flakes, but also contained nuts and fruit, and that was better, too. Then more companies jumped on the bandwagon creating cereals that were low in sugar, high in fiber, low in fat, contained added minerals, vitamins and calcium, lowered cholesterol, raised metabolism, and so on and so on.
One Saturday morning about a year ago, my favorite Acme cereal mysteriously disappeared from the grocery shelf. I needed a new cereal, so I spent more than an hour and a half in the cereal aisle reading all the ingredient labels attempting to decipher which was the most nutritional value for my dollar. By the time I got from one end of the aisle to the other, my blood sugar had dropped to an unrecoverable low. I grabbed a box of the new and improved, low fat, vitamin-enhanced, high fiber, sugarless chocolate-frosted cocoa bombs and went home. They tasted like ass.
I guess new and improved is matter of opinion.
Most people would not have wasted that much time only to come to the conclusion that they just need to get on with it and pick something different. The fact is, there are just too many options to choose from. Shoppers, faced with the brightly colored sale tags, banners, posters and media advertisements, feel compelled to buy the new and improved product. What other choice is there? They have already removed the old and unchanged from the shelves.
Take toothpaste, for example. You can no longer buy plain white paste. Toothpaste can now whiten, brighten, de-sensitize, freshen your breath, and strengthen your teeth, all while entertaining you with sparkles that look like little pieces of shredded tinfoil embedded in it. I don’t want to look like a super-model with a new set of caps. I just want to remove the spinach wedged between my teeth so that I don’t look like a moron. And as an afterthought, I might want to prevent cavities as well.
Shampoo is now available for oily hair, curly hair, straight hair, dry hair, colour-treated hair, permed hair, heat-damaged hair, frizzy hair, and fine hair. It can prevent tears, split ends, static, and dandruff. It smells like fruit, a rainforest, a designer perfume, or a sexy man. You can even purchase it in a trial size or a jumbo family size. There are bottles that you can hang on your shower head and ones that you pump. No matter which one you choose, no sexy underwear model will ever run his hands through your hair and say “Gee, your hair smells terrific.” And if you tell two friends and they tell two friends … well, you just need to get a life.
With all of this marketing overload, consumers have begun to voice their disapproval. We have wasted too many of our hard-earned wages on promises of fewer calories, fresher smelling laundry,
and enhanced flavors. There may be fewer calories, but I’ll probably just eat twice as much and still end up looking like a hippo with water retention. The laundry may smell fresher and stay wrinkle-free longer, but now my 300 thread count feels like 80 grit sandpaper. And as for enhanced flavor, you be the judge.
So why do manufacturers insist on constantly upgrading their products? Do they realize what they are doing to us? There is no worse disappointment than to go shopping for your favorite product only to find that it has gone MIA. That might account for the increased number of women throwing fits in the lipstick aisle, and men causing chaos in the automotive department.
Consumers need stability. They need the reassurance that they will not end up wasting precious time or money and that the one product that they can count on will always be there. If a product is good and consumers invest in it, manufacturers should not mess with the one thing that keeps those customers coming back for more. Some companies already know that and some have learned the lesson the hard way.
There are products that have been around for centuries without new formulas or cosmetic makeovers. The producers of these products realized that they had created something that the people loved. They knew it because the consumers purchased it and continued to do so without the product being changed.
Ivory soap was created in 1879 and has not been changed in 125 years. It is still a favorite among loyal consumers. Ten years earlier, a fruit farmer and an icebox maker created the Campbell’s Soup Company, and it has been “Mmm Mmm Good” ever since. By that time, women had already known for 6 years, that popping a couple of Bayer Aspirin could get them out of their “wifely” duties for a night. The Guinness Brewery, covering 64 acres of land, has been the world’s largest producer of stout since 1759. These companies are proof that a proven and established formula are the key to success. Not only have these companies been around for as many as 250 years, but their popularity still tops the charts.
Then there are manufacturers who had to learn the hard way. Someone in the company, with all their infinite wisdom, decided that the formula of Coca-Cola needed to be changed. It is still hotly debated whether or not New Coke was just a media stunt designed to stir up the passions of Coca-Cola drinkers. No matter what you believe, Coke is a perfect example of just how badly the consumer can turn against you if you mess with their favorite product. It all turned out okay in the end, but if Coca-Cola executives had not handled the situation just right, we would probably all be drinking Pepsi right now.
It is not enough to give your clients what they want, you need to continue giving them what they have come to expect. Whether you are the CEO of a major corporation, or the sole proprietor of Bertha’s greasy spoon diner, it is customer satisfaction that can make or break your business. Success is not built on one-time disposable customers. Success comes from creating a stable, loyal client base that continually invests in what you have to offer. And what the business has to offer should not just be a quality product or service, but a predictable one.
You don’t have to be an executive with Procter and Gamble to know the value of what the consumer wants. What we want, is what we probably already have. Just leave it alone. If we want you to change something, well, we are pretty good at letting the manufacturers know.
When Coca-Cola altered the recipe for the world’s number one soft drink, one thing became crystal clear. Consumers wanted their old Coke back. Fans of the old product — who were also opponents of New Coke — made their feelings known. The backlash of protest and the demand for change is a historical fact. There was no mistaking exactly what it was that the people wanted. Coca-Cola execs recognized the error of their ways and reacted quickly to what could easily have become an all-out riot.
Except where beauty products and car parts are involved, there probably won’t be too many adults having tantrums while they shop. The reaction is quieter and more subtle. But, yes, consumers do get angry and when they get angry, they tend to go away and never come back. The Coca-Cola Company now knows that and so one of our favorite products has not changed since the disaster of 1985.
Maybe the problem with those company bigwigs, is that they don’t actually shop. Many a lesson could be learned if they did. A television show has been produced based on this same premise. The reality TV program Undercover Boss, takes the owners and CEO’s of major corporations out into the big wide world of the consumer. They see firsthand what it is like to be down at our level. The TV program is actually more about employee relations, but in many cases these corporate office dwellers are also forced to deal with customers and clients.
If more corporate execs witnessed the frustrations of a housewife with a cranky toddler along for the ride as she’s desperately trying to locate her usual Acme Brand fabric softener (which has been repackaged as “New and Improved Ultra Fluff”), maybe they would realize how much shopping affects our daily lives and their profit margin.
So all you CEO’s, corporate president’s, and small business owners listen up. Take a piece of advice from the humble housewives and regular Joes: leave it alone, don’t fix what ain’t broke, and for heaven sake …
Don’t touch my acme!
