The brand pronunciation was the “wrong message” that everybody drew from the Grey Poupon advertisement. Grey Poupon’s banned parody commercial was supposed to advertise the Dijon mustard product. Consumers misunderstood the purpose of the advertisement because of the way the word Poupon was pronounced. As a result, the product was outlawed in the country. This is significant in the hospitality industry because it emphasizes the value of selecting the correct brand name, one that is not insulting and can be pronounced differently to convey various meanings. It’s also important to devote more time to advertising to create a commercial that appeals to customers without being offensive.
Malcolm’s hero was Howard Moskowitz who made a breakthrough in the reinvention of spaghetti sauce. After conducting experiments to determine the right one, Moskowitz found that there was no perfect spaghetti sauce but the ideal ones (Gladwell, 2004). Moskowitz was able to recognize the value of providing customers with a range of goods. Marketers had previously believed that customers sought the “best” cup of coffee or sauce. However, according to Moskowitz’s study, various customers fall into different categories.
Howard Moskowitz uncovered horizontal segmentation and how extending a product line could improve revenue and satisfy more consumers than the ideal segment. Moskowitz explained that in the perfect hierarchy of products when a customer selects a more costly commodity, businesses think that they consider themselves to be higher up in the food chain and hence likely to buy more. The discovery demonstrated that survey research is critical to any company because it depicts consumers’ desires. The finding also shows the importance of developing a range of goods to meet the needs of clients based on their financial resources. Hospitality managers need to understand that the food industry has changed from universal cooking/products to the understanding of variability.
Reference
Gladwell, M. (2004). Choice, happiness and spaghetti sauce [Video]. TED: Ideas worth spreading. Web.