SASKATOON – Sometimes, image is everything in the business world.
Customer perception often counts more than a product’s quality, consultant Christine Mykota told a meeting of the Saskatchewan Food Processors Association She cited the U.S. brewing company Schlitz, which in 1947 was the top beer sold in the U.S.
But by the 1970s Schlitz was trying to promote itself as the common man’s drink. In 1979 it lost $70 million and began a campaign switching back to a quality image.
Mykota urged businesses to survey their customers frequently to find out what they want and how the competition compares.
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The meeting also heard a panel of food industry workers explain how they worked towards quality in different ways.
Intercontinental Packers, based in Saskatoon, created an entire new line of high-quality meat products and conducts market surveys in its quest for quality.
“People were turning away from meat, tired of the fillers,” said the plant’s quality assurance manager Brev Chesky. Intercon produced a new high-quality deli meat line and set standards and surveyed the market to make it happen.
Prairie Malt, a brewing company, deals in an international market, so to find a niche, it spent money and time at customers’ doors talking and providing trial products, said Gordon Laycock. For the international market, the important factors are to get salespeople with international experience and to tailor the malt to the individual client’s preference, he said.
Ambitious people wanted
For David Powell, chef of the Ramada Hotel in Saskatoon, quality is more minute to minute. When it comes to food, the most expensive item isn’t necessarily the best quality, “it’s the one that the customer perceives as best to meet his needs.”
Powell sets standards high – the only deviation allowed from the recipe is when there is an improvement. Standards are maintained by hiring people who are ambitious, who have pride in themselves and who work as a team, Powell said.
Guiding principles to market nirvana
Perception is not everything – but almost – according to marketing consultant Christine Mykota. Marketing a product as quality is tricky, says Mykota. Here are her four basic rules:
- Price – Don’t use discounts, coupons or odd numbers in the price.
- Promotion – The theme must consistently be quality.
- Packaging – The packaging or the shopping or eating environment must be upscale, not cheap looking.
- Product/Service – Ensure it truly is quality or customers will think the business has lied.
