Permission, Please?
Sometimes all you need is to
offer a little permission...
If you’ve ever
congratulated yourself for choosing the Berry Cobbler instead of the Double
Chocolate Brownie, you know firsthand the power of “permissiveness.”
It’s the tiniest bit of encouragement – for example, fruit in our
dessert—that allows us to feel good about eating something versus other
more decadent choices. There’s no better way to assure success than
offering consumers a serving of
permissiveness.
I am
in no way advocating that marketers offer “smoke and mirrors”
nutrition. But we must realize that consumers are not going to switch overnight
from indulgence to healthfulness. It’s just not going to happen. So, if
we can help consumers get there—with baby steps in the right
direction—that’s a good thing.
So, are the salads
at McDonalds really better for you than the burgers? A bacon ranch salad with
dressing, croutons and crispy chicken has 570 calories and 32 grams of fat. A
cheeseburger with french fries has 540 calories and 23 grams of fat. The salad
offers a multitude of vitamins and minerals that the burger does not. And it
works much-needed fiber into the diet. The salad offers permission. Burgers
and fries do not.
If
anyone has doubt why the low carb diet was such a phenomenon, think about the
permissiveness it offered. By allowing consumers to eat as much butter, bacon,
and steak as they wanted, they didn’t have to sacrifice flavor for health.
It was perhaps the first and only diet that gave consumers the green light to
eat more of the foods they like
best.
Are Fruit
Roll-Ups and other “fruit snacks” really better for your kids than
candy? They’re made from real fruit, right? Is Juicy Juice better for
your kids than soda? It’s 100% juice, right? The very word
“fruit” is all the permission that many moms need to buy these
products. But the difference between many of these permissive fruit products
and candy or soda isn’t all that
great.
Sunchips are
multigrain snack chips. Yet they have an almost identical nutritional profile
(in terms of fat and calories) per serving as Tostitos fried tortilla chips.
It’s Sunchips’ multigrain positioning that gives consumers
permission.
For
perhaps the biggest and best example of consumers trading their consumption
patterns from guilt-ridden foods to permissive options, look no further than US
per capita consumption of beef and chicken. While beef consumption has fallen
over the past 15-20 years, the consumption of chicken—largely considered
healthier-- has nearly doubled.
Permissiveness does
not always equal a better choice. But as a food marketer, remember that
perception is reality. Think about consumers’ decision-making process in
these terms. Have you given them options in your category? Have you offered
them the permission (they so want and desire!) to choose you over the
competition?
Posted: Mon - March 21, 2005 at 09:59 PM