Marketing Lessons from the Snack Industry

Cookie manufacturers have turned America’s obesity crisis into a cash cow.

Rather than decreasing sugar and fat in cookies, crackers, and snacks, they’re re-packaging these products in 100-calorie packs. I didn’t know these new packs existed until my daughter brought it home. She’s trim and still makes buying decisions that let her enjoy snacks while practicing portion control.

Today’s snack manufacturers believe that consumers will continue buying into this trend, according to “Candy Adapts to Health Issues” in The Wall Street Journal’s September 26th edition.

“Candy makers also were jumping on the bandwagon of ‘portion control,’ packaging candy and cookies in 100- to 150 calorie packs, a trend that is likely to stick around. ‘The problem with that, though, is that you end up with about three pieces of candy,’ said Necco Products Chief Executive Domenic Antonellis. ‘But people really like it.’ “

If you’ve yet to make small or extensive changes to meet consumers’ needs, your turn is just around the corner. For me, changes include checking links on downloadable products and making sure companies still exist before mailing informational CDs.

When it’s done, I update my marketing to say, “New and improved” or another phrase that tells customers why the product or service is uniquely tailored for them.

Your updates may occur because of internal changes or due to reports uncovered by the news media (the bottled water backlash, product recalls, etc.). Create a plan to handle the changes step by step, and move forward to keep customers happy and the cash register ringing.

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