Tag: consumers

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Noisy SunChips bag

SunChips 100% compostable bagIt took biochemists four years to develop the compostable bag for SunChips, distributed by US snack manufacturer Frito-Lay. And it took consumers a few short months to reject the invention, taking their gripe—that the bags are “too darn loud”—to the internet and that all-important sounding board, Facebook. The packaging is a marvel of molecular technology, made entirely from plant material. Despite its brittle texture the bag is remarkably strong. After the launch, I tested the packaging myself while dining at a local sandwich shop. True, the bag does crackle, not unlike the sound of glass breaking. But to remove it from the market because the bag doesn’t “make the right sound” seems a knee jerk reaction to fussy consumer focus groups and grumblers. However, the Wall Street Journal reports that sales of SunChips declined every month since the introduction of the new bags. American capitalists demand a quiet, yet compostable, snack bag.

One would hope given half a chance, snackers would become accustomed to its sound and feel, and who knows, perhaps other chips would follow suit. How many plastic chip bags clog up the nation’s landfills each year? I do not have those numbers handy, but I’d guess in the millions, and at 100 years per bag to degrade, that’s a lot of waste.

My solution is groundbreaking: empty the chips from the bag into a bowl, plate, or napkin, and discard the bag… (And concessionaires should avoid selling SunChips at concert venues or movie theaters!)

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The logo is (not) in the bag

Bottega Veneta handbagAre you a patrician, parvenu, poseur, or prole? Old money or new money? A recent study by the USC Marshall School of Business examines levels of wealth, social status, and wealthy consumers’ desire to associate with those in their own caste. After studying preferences of luxury goods, the authors sorted consumers into four categories according to the subjects’ affinity for “loud” goods or “quiet” goods. The categories are:

  • Patricians — wealthy consumers who prefer quiet goods that only other wealthy can recognize. (The $2,000 Bottega Veneta handbag shown above is an example; the logo appears only on the inside.)
  • Parvenus — wealthy consumers who desire status and flaunt loud luxury goods in the face of the less affluent. (Many Gucci products sport screaming logos, as do Louis Vuitton’s.)
  • Poseurs — consumers who can’t afford luxury goods, yet buy counterfeit luxury goods to “emulate those who they recognize to be wealthy” (e.g., that “Rolex” watch offered for sale by the man on the sidewalk.)
  • Proletarians — those “not driven to consume for status’ sake”

These findings will present challenges for marketers of luxury goods. USC’s study reveals that shrieking designer logos may actually reflect a lower price point than their more subtle counterparts. The authors call upon manufacturers to develop subtle cues to distinguish the brand, such as Gucci’s use of bamboo rather than its insignia. Also, ubiquity may in fact tarnish the brand and promote loss in value. And finally, the study recommends marketers resist the “pyramid” approach to luxury and to consider marketing to all consumers.