The A to Z of Things To Watch

The A to Z of Things to Watch: C is for Crisps/Chips

Watching the world of crisps (chips for our American friends) is a microcosom of the marketing world. Once upon a time in the Old World of Work you could have any crips you liked so long as they were in a small bag, plain potato and you added your own salt. Breakthroughs came at a slow rate. Ready-salted crips (gasp!). Cheese and onion, salt and vinegar.....bigger bags...enormous bags...multi bags...weird flavours. But the interesting thing? As always, Pareto holds. Plain crisps are by far the bulk of all sales. As is vanilla ice-cream despite the delights of Ben & Jerry's. As is the grande latte at Starbucks. You see we want to know there is choice, but only a few of us actually exercise it that much...

Lessons for us as marketeers? Learn rapidly what the Pareto contributors are in your business and do them brilliantly. By all means support that with plenty of options, but do remember that every extra choice is a strain on our logistics and a potential distraction as we try and get it to work. Is there an easy answer? Of course not; that'd be no fun would it?

You missed letter A? That's here.
And letter B? Here.