I read an interesting guest column from Maria Landon, an affiliate professor in the marketing department at Grand Valley State University. She talked about hamburgers from McDonald's, Burger King and Wendy's, from Smashburger and Bagger Dave's, to rice burgers in East Asian countries, chicken burgers in India, or sliced pork burgers in China. Then in part, she said:
Each semester, I ask my students "Is a hamburger a hamburger?" Their response is normally "no." I then state it is merely ground beef and the marketer has tweaked customers' perception to think there is a big difference. Then I ask, "If a marketer can differentiate ground beef, do you think they can also do so with jewelry, clothing, cars, beverages, Etc.? I get them thinking, and that's the point. The starting step is to know your target market and its expectations. What is most important to them? The quality of the meat? The cut? The size of the hamburger? The taste? The grade of beef? Toppings? Price? The environment where it is sold?
"The next step is finding a benefit that other marketers do not promote. This really plays on the customers' perceptions. No matter which burger is your favorite, rest assured it is good business to take a low-tech product, position it as a cut above the rest and make a major killing. I'll let you decide if a hamburger is a hamburger. Meanwhile, please pass the ketchup."
Good lesson for all marketers to consider over your next cup of coffee.
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