NOISE OUTWEIGHS ENVIRONMENT!

Posted by TJ at 3:20 PM

In today's world of the greener a product is the better, was clearly shut down when involving one of consumers favorite snack foods. When Frito-lay came out with its new 100% compostable chip bag last year, the idea of being environmentally proactive must have seemed like a sure fire success. After numerous complaints over the past year they have decided to go back to their original bag. Clearly none of the scientists have ever eaten a bag of chips during a college lecture or in a corporate office. This is a prime example of very intelligent people creating a great product, but forgetting to acknowledge a very obvious flaw with the functionality. Bob Stolmeier, business development manager for Zip-Pak, which creates a lot of packing for new products said it best, "There is no reason to offer solutions that the market would not accept." If you could choose would you prefer a bag that was environmentally friendly, or quieter and more convenient?

Here is a LINK to a full report of this new product fiasco.

 

3 comments:

  1. Aric Rindfleisch said... October 6, 2010 at 10:16 PM

    Another great example of a new product failure due to poor sensing of customer needs and wants. Frito Lay appears to have assumed that consumers valued the environment over convenience. Even if consumers express these types of global concerns, most people act on local concerns such as value, quality or convenience. For an cool look at the difference between what consumers say vs. what they do, I highly recommend the book Rubbish!

    www.amazon.com/Rubbish-Archaeology-Garbage-William-Rathje/dp/0816521433  

  2. Patrick Lueck said... October 10, 2010 at 8:29 PM

    I think this is also an example of how the 'corporate machine' tends to over think a great deal of issues because they get locked into one train of thought or spend so much money on something that they are too stubborn to back out. It also makes user-submitted innovation seem even more appealing because they costs of generating ideas are much less and, likewise, the costs of reversal are also much less. In my opinion, every corporate board room needs a group of 15 year olds who should be consulted before any product related decisions are made - they will keep it simple and let you know if your 'new, brilliant' idea is actually less cool than you thought.  

  3. Rosie said... October 18, 2010 at 4:49 PM

    I sometimes wonder why products like this even pass internal tests and make their way into the market. These chip bags may be environmentally friendly, but they make heinous noise. I don't necessarily think user-innovation could have saved this from happening. It seems like an idea that many users may suggest but don't think about the side effects. This is a mistake that Frito-Lay product testing should have weeded out early on.  

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)
 

Est. 2008 | Aric Rindfleisch | Wisconsin School of Business | Banner Image by Bruce Fritz