We’re always looking for topical blog content at Nae Bother,
and we feel that the subject of shrinking consumer products is worth
discussing, and it’s not only well-known branded products that are getting
smaller, with no corresponding reduction in price. From the smaller portions of
battered cod offered by our local fish and chips shop, to food manufacturers that
offer less product, it seems to be getting more prevalent. It may seem
like the ideal way to maintain profit margins with ever-increasing costs, but most consumers are not daft and don’t like being taken for a ride.
An article in the Financial Times from April 2013 highlights
the problem: “Big name brands are shrinking
products by up to a quarter, but the prices aren’t dropping,” Which? says in this
month’s issue of its magazine. “We asked the makers of these products why they
had shrunk them, and were generally told that in the face of rising costs they
chose to shrink products rather than increase prices.” In addition, the survey
by Which? discovered packs of Birds Eye beef burgers that have shrunk from 16
to 12 patties; Pledge Clean & Dust furniture polish cans with 50ml, or 17
per cent, less; and a 10 per cent reduction in the number of Superfluity Blue
& Black Nestlé Shredded Wheat in a 525g package (http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/d660c704-9272-11e2-851f-00144feabdc0.html?siteedition=uk&siteedition=uk#axzz2hPY9oLLg).
Both product
and pricing are integral parts of the marketing mix, and by ‘tinkering’ with
these key elements has the potential to destroy brands’ hard-earned brand
equity. Consumers’ brand loyalty will be sorely tested if they feel that
someone is trying to trick them, particularly when there’s usually an
alternative product on offer, which is more appealing from a value standpoint.
Once consumers get familiar with a product size and its pricing, it’s really
treating consumers and potential brand advocates with complete contempt to
reduce the offering whilst maintaining the pricing. According to the FT
article, just 3 per cent of Britons think it’s fine for companies to sneakily
shrink product sizes without commensurate price cuts.
What makes
this marketing strategy particularly questionable is the fact that brands,
through channels such as social media, are very keen to establish deeper
connections with their customers. Surely this spirit of closer engagement and
trust from brands is not compatible with trying to deceive people and is a bit
hypocritical; furthermore, we think consumers would be far more receptive if
brands were more honest and explained why they had to raise prices instead of
underhand tactics.
