"Buy the Way…" Insights on Integrated Marketing Communication

Walt Disney once said of Disneyland, “What this country really needs is an amusement park where families can take their children to” (O’Leary, 2008). With the creation of Disneyland, and Florida’s Walt Disney World Resort, Walt Disney lived up to this ideal. Six Disney theme parks hold the top six spots for U.S. theme park attendance and its top two parks (The Magic Kingdom in Orlando, Florida and Disneyland in Anaheim, California) attracted over  20 million and 17 million visitors last year (respectively) (Barnes, 2017).

It is no secret that Disney Theme Parks, both domestic and international, have cornered the market on magic, and keep visitors coming back again and again. Salesforce has even identified the main ingredients to Disney’s theme park success which most notably includes the “balance between accessibility and exclusivity” (Wesson, 2014). Meaning, aside from the baseline of experiences that come with a basic theme park ticket, Disney offers more “magical experiences” at a higher cost. Think of it as the more you pay, the more pixie dust comes your way (see Salesforce’s take below).

Where is the bad news in all of this? Attendance at all Disney theme parks was down at fourteen Disney theme parks in 2016 (Barnes, 2017). Disneyland Paris also saw a dramatic attendance dip of 14 percent (Barnes, 2017). According to the Orlando Sentinel, a week at Disney costs a family of four $5,000 on average and a ticket to the Magic Kingdom now costs $1o5 a day (a figure that has doubled within the past decade) (Barnes, 2017). Moreover, The Washington Post estimates that the average Disney-bound family makes over $93,000 a year (a figure way above most middle-class family incomes) (Harwell, 2015).

Naturally, theme park attendance fluctuates from year to year and is based on a number of factors. With Disney’s latest acquisitions of Marvel and Lucasfilm, it is unlikely that Disney will not see more visitors in the near future. However, with Disney park tickets at an all-time high, and with wealthy families experiencing most of the magic, it will be interesting to see if Disney is changing its overall marketing strategy when it comes to its theme parks. Does Disney really want to create an amusement enterprise where all families can “take their children to”? Or, is Disney eyeing families who can stay longer and spend more? One thing is for sure, Disney magic comes with a hefty price tag, and it will be interesting to see if Disney adapts its marketing strategies as ticket prices soar. Will Disney halt the rise of its theme park tickets to keep up with attendance? Is attendance no longer a factor in Disney’s model of success and profit? Or will attendance transcend ticket prices as Disney introduces new key players with Marvel and Lucasfilm? It certainly makes for one “wild ride.”

References

Barnes, B. (2017, May 31). Attendance drops at Disney parks worldwide as prices rise. Retrieved on June 25, 2017 from https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/01/business/media/disney-theme-parks-universal-attendance.html

Harwell, D. (2015, June 12). How theme parks like Disney World left the middle class behind. Retrieved on June 25, 2017 from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/business/wp/2015/06/12/how-theme-parks-like-disney-world-left-the-middle-class-behind/?utm_term=.3e680dd68fdd

Maxwell, S. (2015, Nov 07). OPINION: Yes, disney prices out many families. why? because it can. TCA Regional News Retrieved from http://libproxy.usc.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com.libproxy1.usc.edu/docview/1731600561?accountid=14749

O’Leary, C. (2008). Walt Disney’s Worlds. Retrieved June 25, 2017, from http://www.chrisoleary.com/projects/TheParadoxOfPain/Book/Profile_WaltDisney.html

Wesson, M. (2014, Sept 02). 5 pieces of marketing magic from Disneyland. Retrieved on June 25 2017 from https://www.marketingcloud.com/blog/5-pieces-of-marketing-magic-from-disneyland/

In the mist of the social media driven world of beauty that encourages unrealistic #bodygoals, flawless contoured make-up, 22- inch lace front wigs,  and a morning cup of the ever so popular “flat tummy tea”, one of America’s most beloved toy makers, Mattel Inc, is attempting to provide some sort of balance to the youth by offering a new line of trendy-yet-realistic “fashionista” Barbie and Ken dolls that are more diverse and offer a selection of more curvier, taller and petite Barbies with a wider range of skin tones, hair textures and hair colors.

“We are redefining what Barbie or Ken doll looks like to this generation”, said Lisa McKnight, senior vice-president and general manager for Barbie (Lisi, 2017). Barbie’s new makeover is apart of Mattel’s new marketing campaign #TheDollEvolves, which launched in January of 2016 (Kirkpatrick, 2016). The release includes three new body shapes that are aimed to encourage body positivity amongst young girls and to also help shift Barbie’s long standing history of promoting unrealistic body standards (Kirkpatrick, 2016).

Of course, it would be foolish to believe that Barbie and Ken’s new makeover is solely motivated by Mattel’s new found understanding of the importance of body positivity amongst young girls, and not heavily influenced by their declining sales. According to Time, “in 2012, Barbie global sales dropped 3%. They dropped another 6% in 2013 and 16% in 2014.” (Kirkpatrick, 2016). However, since introducing their new #TheDollEvolves marketing campaign, Barbie has seen a spike in sales and “sales rose 7% from the previous year, to $972 million. That accounted for 18% of Mattel’s total worldwide net sales of $5.46 billion.” (Tschorn, 2017).

Earlier this week, Mattel introduced 15 new diverse Ken dolls which include two body types and six skin tones and hairstyles (Frey, 2017). It appears that Barbie’s new marketing campaign is working really well for them and is contributing to their their spike in sales. What do you think of Barbie and Ken’s new look? Do you think Mattel will continue to see a rise in sales with their #TheDollEvolves marketing campaign? Is it too gimicky? Let me know in the comments below! 

References:

Frey, K. (2017, June 20). Barbie Launches 15 New Diverse Ken Dolls. Retrieved from http://people.com/style/new-diverse-ken-doll-launch/

Kirkpatrick, E. (2016, January 28). Barbie Just Got A Very Body Positive Makeover. Retrieved from http://people.com/style/barbie-just-got-a-very-body-positive-makeover-she-now-comes-in-curvy-petite-and-tall/

Lisi, B. (2017, June 21). Mattel introduces new looks for Barbie’s boyfriend Ken – NY Daily News. Retrieved from http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/mattel-introduces-new-barbie-boyfriend-ken-article-1.3262886

Tschorn, A. (2017, June 20). Barbie, are you ready for man-bun or Dad-bod Ken? – LA Times. Retrieved from http://www.latimes.com/fashion/la-ig-ken-body-style-20170620-story.html

As summer approached my online shopping hit a new high.  I found myself purchasing bathing suits I found on Instagram from sponsored advertisers and utilizing shoe websites such as Just Fab.  The ability for me to find all my shopping needs in one place and with my card already connected to my Samsung S8, the convenience was too easy to pass up.  Millennials are finding themselves shopping online more than ever before (Gasca, 2015) and 47% said their purchasing decisions are directly influenced by social media (Rohampton, 2017).  Millennials lives are completely integrated into the online and social media world and more so than previous generations (Rohampton, 2017) and use online reviews from peers, celebrities, and friends when determining which products to purchase.  A study showed that consumers that use social media as part of their shopping process are four times more likely to spend more money on purchases and 29% more likely to make a purchase that day (Rohampton, 2017).  When hearing these figures, it made sense to me, being the typical Millennial that I am, my online shopping has increased throughout the years and my time spent in stores has dropped.

However, the ability to still purchase brand names online with services like Amazon and almost any retailer that utilizes an easy to use app has given me and other Millennials the ability to remove the drive to the department store or mall and have everything shipped within 5-7 business days.  Brands more than ever before need to utilize integrated online marketing strategies, specifically social media, to ensure they are not missing out on the Millennial generation’s purchasing habits.  Specifically, Instagram offers users the ability to see posts from brands such as Michael Khor’s, Tilly’s, and Target while they scroll through their daily news feeds.  Instagram will link the brand’s website in the post so Millennials have the ability of shopping with literally one click.  Researchers are also recommending that brands promote their products by creating special hashtags and utilizing advertisement that feels user-generated that appeals more to the Millennial generation (Rohampton, 2017).

While experts recommend for brands to utilize social media more than before, they also caution brands to be conscious of negative reviews and remarks.  Studies have found that Millennials tend to pay more attention to negative comments and reviews and this has a direct impact on purchasing decisions (Rohampton, 2017).  While one of my bathing suit purchases was not as satisfying as the rest, I found myself actually making a comment on one of the pictures displaying my purchase and letting other consumers know the image and the product were not the same and my satisfaction level was low. This connectivity between Millennial social media users can alter other users purchasing decisions even if the two consumers do not know one another.  In fact, a study found that Millennials are 3 times more likely to turn to social media when making purchasing decisions (Rohampton, 2017).

So, for brands looking to really capture and grab that Millennials attention online and increase their e-commerce business Forbes and Rohampton (2017) have found a few special bullet points for small and large businesses to implement in their online marketing strategies:

1. Build genuine relationships with online Millennial shoppers
2. Encourage public reviews
3. Increase conversation between users
4. Be price sensitive
5. User multiple platforms
6. Millennials care about causes, utilize this tool.

Next time you find yourself purchasing something online see if the brand correctly utilizes the previous recommendations and determine if they are specifically targeting Millennials and how successful were they?  Did you fall into the trap like myself and purchase 3 bathing suits and 3 pairs of shoes in one day?

Gasca, P. (2015, December 07). 8 Shopping Habits of Millennials All Retailers Need to Know About. Retrieved June 18, 2017, from https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/253582

Rohampton, J. (2017, May 08). How Does Social Media Influence Millennials’ Shopping Decisions? Retrieved June 19, 2017, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/jimmyrohampton/2017/05/03/does-social-media-influence-millennials-shopping-decisions/#19b34dbe4cf3

As you’re scrolling through your Instagram or Twitter feed, skimming the new images, videos, or posts by the people you follow, you pause at one. Is this new content? Is this a recommendation from a trusted source? Or is this simply an ad?

These days, it’s hard to tell the difference. Brands are integrating their marketing communications so seamlessly on social media that consumers can’t even tell if they’re being sold something. Often these communications come in the form of posts by “influencers” who review and recommend the product to their followers, or create content around the product. However, they usually don’t preface these posts as ads or #sponsoredpost, leading to the blurred line between content and advertising. These so-called “influencers” on these platforms have landed in hot water recently with the Federal Trade Commission (O’Brien, 2017). The FTC recently sent letters to “influencers and marketers” detailing that they need to be upfront when they are being paid to endorse products (O’Brien, 2017).

It’s an interesting conundrum in today’s world, where brands try to leverage the power of social media to make an impact on their brand. Word of mouth trust has now extended to trusting those you follow on social media sites. Brands are of course highly interested in getting their products into the hands of those coveted influencers who can motivate their followers to buy. But is it ethical for brands and companies to take advantage of this relationship? When consumers don’t know they are being sold something or that their trusted poster is actually being paid to write about a product, how can they make a decision about the content? Does their trust in someone they follow decrease if they know they are being paid? If the consumer does not see an influencer as authentic, genuine, or truthful anymore, does that reduce the power of sponsored posts that are clearly labeled as such?

In response to the FTC cracking down on murky endorsement relationships, Instagram has created a new feature that will help users clearly label their posts as paid endorsements (O’Brien, 2017). It will be interesting to see if other sites follow suit. Of course, enforcing the FTC rules and labeling is another issue when the social media landscape is ever-changing. New platforms and new updates to existing platforms create a nebulous situation where marketers are keen to capitalize on the popularity of a social media site but consumers can be left in the dark.

Source:

O’Brien, S.A. (2017). Instagram wants influencers to label sponsored posts. CNNtech. Retrieved from: http://money.cnn.com/2017/06/14/technology/business/instagram-celebrity-ads-label/index.html

It was a hot day today, like most people I found myself contemplating ways to stay cool and keep my little ones busy. Although, I didn’t have much time. I found time to take in the new Pixar Cars 3 with my family. My son knew the release date and has been asking for the past few days. Being that I am a Disney fan, I was also curious to watch the film as I’m a fan of their movies. As I began watching the film, I remembered a conversation I had earlier in the week with a friend who said she had used Waze in her commute in to work and had Lightning McQueen, star car from Cars guide navigate her into work that morning. She said that it was a fun experience and couldn’t wait to use the application with her children in the car and see the movie.
If you’re not familiar with Waze it’s a community-based traffic and navigation application that shares real-time traffic and road conditions information. The company is owned by Google (Waze, 2017). The information is shared with all and helps save many people time. Waze is pretty helpful and very easy to use. Waze offers advertisers different types of advertising opportunities, just recently they partnered with Pixar for the launch of their new movie, Cars 3. The partnership allows Waze users to change the image of their car on the app to Lightning McQueen main character of Cars and or Jackson Storm, his rival from the movie.
This is the first time the application allows full integration in the character experience. What that means is the voice navigating you will be the voice of the character, your vehicle will also have a picture of the vehicle you selected. Waze had a similar campaign for the summer Olympics where users were able to change their flags only. However, Waze says this partnership with Pixar is different as they’re helping provide the “full character experience” (Kaplan, 2017). For the first time the brand is fully integrating the experience and is also creating a value for their consumers as they cannot get this type of experience anywhere else. Pixar is behind the project as they hope to drive engagement and also want to create a fun brand experience for its audience (Kaplan, 2017). For those that are users of the application regular the partnerships introduce them to their application and the characters of the movie, hopefully engaging them to want to go and take in the film. As for those that are fans of the movie, this campaign creates an opportunity to create a buzz around the film. If you are not a fan or familiar with the film, just seeing it on the application may stimulate your curiosity into wanting to learn more about it. Using technology like this is innovative and also demonstrates how traditional media is shifting gears and how technology is now a major component of media. I’m really interested in learning more and have begun to see full integrated campaigns across all platforms much more since beginning the course.
As for the film, it was a success with my two kids. My daughter who originally didn’t want to see the film, came out with a new perspective of the film. She even walked out with a new favorite character. My son was just as excited. The one thing they enjoyed most was listening to Lightning McQueen navigate us home. They were so excited and couldn’t get enough of the application.

Kaplan, D. (2017) Waze promotes Disney pixr’s cars 3 with character vices and custom images. Retrieved from http://www.geomarketing.com/waze-promotes-disney-pixars-cars-3-with-character-voices-and-custom-images

Waze (n.d) 2017 retrieved from Waze.com

A few years ago I would never consider purchasing an Adidas shoe, but my last two athletic shoe purchases were Adidas and I find myself drawn to the new Adidas shoes whenever I go to the store. I remember wearing the Superstar Adidas as a kid in the 90’s, sometimes with my matching Adidas track pants, but over the years I feel like the brand grew stale. Like many others, I became a loyal Nike follower. Adidas began to be a faded memory. The German-based company relied heavily on European style which didn’t translate well in the US market (Green, 2016).

To help with the revival, Adidas partnered with Kanye West and other celebrities to actively engage its target market of 14-24-year-olds (Baker, 2017). Adidas also placed significant effort on social media, knowing that’s where they would find their target audience and also that social media influencers could help elevate the brand. Part of Adidas marketing strategy was to mix the sport and hip-culture (Ricadela, 2016). Celebrities wearing Adidas helped with the “cool factor” and created buzz for the brand. Through social media, Adidas encouraged their target audience to engage wit with the brand through contests asking them to upload pictures of themselves wearing Adidas (Baker, 2017).  Additional Adidas reevaluated their sponsorships by sponsoring individual players who could be influencers and moving away from team sponsorships.  Adidas not only got these kids to start buying their new shoes but they made retro chic cool and the kids are buying shoes their parents used to wear.

With these new marketing efforts and some new designs, Adidas made a comeback and took the #2 spot from Under Armour (Baker, 2017). While Nike is still #1 by a longshot, Nike has lost market share and their stock price fell after they missed forecast expectations.

What are some other examples of brands making a comeback? How about reinventing product lines of a brand? For example, Nike’s new campaign for the Cortez shoe with the tagline, Since day one. Nike embraced the culture of the Cortez while getting the public to see that it adapts to changing styles.  Share an example you’ve seen.

Baker, J. (2017, February 25). Old feels new as Adidas makes American comeback. Retrieved from http://www.baltimoresun.com/business/bs-bz-adidas-20170224-story.html 

Green, D. (2016, October 26). Adidas has just hit a huge milestone in its American comeback. Retrieved from http://www.businessinsider.com/adidas-has-just-hit-a-huge-milestone-in-its-american-comeback-2016-10 

Ricadela, A. (2016, September 29). How Adidas got its game back. Retrieved from https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-09-29/how-adidas-got-back-in-the-game 

This story begins with a boy named Carter and a girl named Wendy. Carter had a craving for some chicken nuggets and decided to ask Wendy out. He starts off by saying “Yo Wendy…how many retweets for a year of free chicken nuggets?” Wendy, a cute redhead who likes to wear her hair in pigtails replied in her quirky but sassy voice: “18 million.” Carter in all his teenage bravado confidently responds, “Consider it done.” However, this isn’t quite the boy meets girl story you are expecting. In fact, Wendy isn’t even a girl at all, but a multimillion dollar chain restaurant brand and Carter is your average 16 year old teen who just wants to eat some free chicken nuggets.

Wendy’s is one of the many brands that has made responding and engaging with their followers on social media a part of their marketing communications strategy. Wendy’s has crafted a tone and brand voice to respond to their fans and haters, and in return, they are able to create an incredible amount of buzz for the brand. So much to the point, they are now mentioned in the most retweeted tweet (over 3.6 million and counting) of all time (cue Kanye West). For reference on how monumental that is, Ellen previously held the record with her Oscar selfie that included Meryl Streep, Bradley Cooper, Julia Roberts, and BRAD PITT! Did I mention Brad Pitt was in it?

So how did Wendy’s and 16 year old Carter upstage the most A-list selfie of all time? Human touch.

Wendy’s clever response to Carter was more of a dialogue between two friends than tweeting at a brand. This conversation set Twitter ablaze and should be a lesson to all marketers the power in engaging with the average fan. According to Jepp Christensen, SVP of content and social media at Text 100, brands are shifting from a “broadcast model to a stimulus-response model where brands and customers can have conversations with each other”(Daniels, 2017). Brands must start to recognize the importance of generating dialogue with their customers because if they listen and respond to them it can create positive buzz for the brand.

Since the exchange, Carter has made many media appearances from Ellen, USA Today, to People magazine and has become pseudo-famous. Twitter even verified his account with the coveted checkmark. Carter has used his new found fame as a way to also give back as he has started a fundraising website for Wendy’s Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption. Carter is only a teenager, but he is teaching brands the power in interfacing with the average customer pays off. Wendy’s impressions skyrocketed and the free media and positive buzz for the brand was the icing on the cake or should we say frosty.  Google, Apple, and Amazon are a few of the brands that showed support to his campaign to get to 18 million retweets for the free year of chicken nuggets. Even direct competitor, Burger King joined in on the fun with the retweets and maybe to hopefully ride in on the coattails of media impressions.

The question still remains if Carter makes it to 18 million tweets, will Wendy’s finally give him his free nuggets for a year? Because having the most retweeted tweet of all time just isn’t enough.

References

Daniels, C. (2017). Don’t ignore the little guy, and other lessons from #NuggsforCarter. Retrieved from http://www.prweek.com/article/1430634/dont-ignore-little-guy-lessons-nuggsforcarter

Liffreing, I. (2017). Apple and Microsoft join Wendy’s Twitter challenge to help teen win a year’s worth of chicken nuggets. Retrieved from http://www.campaignlive.com/article/apple-microsoft-join-wendys-twitter-challenge-help-teen-win-years-worth-chicken-nuggets/1430175#XYyXM2proBqWgf4H.99

A few hours after Amazon announced their acquisition of Whole Foods, Walmart revealed their purchase of Bonobos, the high end e-commerce retail company for $310 million dollars. Walmart’s move shows that they are definitely serious in staying competitive with Amazon.

Many are asking the questions, “Why Bonobos?” and “What are some reasons why Bonobos agreed to the acquisition?” There have been rumors that consumers of Bonobos are unhappy about the purchase because they are afraid that it may dilute the brand and decrease brand equity.

To answer the first question, “Why Bonobos?” we have to look at Amazon’s stunning performance as an online retail giant. There is not doubt about it that Amazon has dominated the e-commerce industry, capturing 53% of all e-commerce sales in the US. These numbers are tremendous as the industry is seeing a growth of 20 million online shoppers in just one year. As the market grows, Amazon’s success grows with it. The rapidly growing world of online shopping are hurting brick and mortar stores . Walmart, one of the largest brick and mortar stores, along with Target, are slowly losing customers. In order to fight back, Walmart acquired Bonobos, not just for branding purposes, but for industry insight. Walmart plans to work with Andy Dunn, cofounder and CEO of Bonobos, in Walmart’s digital operations sector.  As a successful online brand, the company is hoping to play the game with online retail and fight back.

The second question, “What are some reasons why Bonobos agreed to the acquisition?” can be answered by what Bonobos was lacking: “economies of scale.” They simply just need the financial backing and platform for their products – something Walmart could easily provide for their brand. The acquisition route allows Dunn to commit his company on providing clothing to his audience, without sacrificing quality, as fixed costs remain sustainable.

With Amazon attempting to dethrone Walmart as US’ largest grocery provider, Walmart is fighting back by acquiring several strong, formidable e-commerce channels to stand their ground. The real question is, who will win?

REFERENCES:

1. BI Intelligence. (February, 2017). Amazon accounts for 43% of US online retail sales. Retrieved from http://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-accounts-for-43-of-us-online-retail-sales-2017-2
2. Lunden, I. (June, 2017). Walmart to buy  Bonobos for $310M as it doubles down on Fashion. Retrieved from https://techcrunch.com/2017/06/16/walmart-to-buy-bonobos-for-310m-in-its-bigger-push-into-fashion-retail/?ncid=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+techcrunch%2Ffundings-exits+%28TechCrunch+%C2%BB+Fundings+%26+Exits%29
3. Merced, Mi. (June, 2017). Walmart bo Buy Bonobos, Men’s Wear Company, for $310 Million. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/16/business/walmart-bonobos-merger.html?smid=pl-share
4.  Sanders, S. (June, 2017). Wal-Mart to Buy Bonobos In Challenge to Amazong. Retrieved from http://www.npr.org/2017/06/18/533402821/wal-mart-to-buy-bonobos-in-challenge-to-amazon

Last week, Amazon announced that they were going to acquire Whole Foods for $13.7 billion. Amazon is currently the largest retailer online, but their purchase of Whole Foods will allow the company to grow in the grocery delivery business after years of many failed attempts to succeed in the grocery industry.

Amazon first entered the grocery delivery business back in 2007 when they started testing their Amazon Fresh service to specific neighborhoods in Washington. Amazon Fresh provided consumers with items that they would typically find at their neighborhood grocery stores, which included fresh products, personal care products, or non-perishable items. Through Amazon Fresh, consumers were able to purchase items online and then have the items delivered by selecting a one-hour delivery window. This allowed customers to get same-day delivery on every day essentials that catered to their busy schedules.

However, Amazon Fresh was not as successful as the company hoped it would be. Often times, Amazon Fresh employees had to throw away fresh produce as they would rot or items would be returned due to poor quality. Additionally, Amazon Fresh employees weren’t well trained.

Amazon has been trying to break into the grocery industry and hasn’t been successful despite many attempts. Currently, Walmart is the largest seller of groceries in the country; so, the company hopes that they will be able to break in to the grocery industry with their acquisition of Whole Foods to become the “one-stop” shop that fits anyone’s needs to beat competitors like Walmart.

Since 2012, Whole Foods has been suffering and investors have been suggesting to sell the company to a larger grocery chain. Since Whole Foods is known for their high prices, Amazon is planning to lower the prices to target Walmart’s customers. Currently, Whole Foods has their 365 stores, which offer lower prices than typical Whole Foods stores. Yet, Amazon is able to build something bigger than Whole Foods 365 because they have the necessary resources and financial capital.

Since the grocery business earns over $600 billion each year, it explains Amazon’s continued push to enter this industry. The company understands that they are not able to rely on online purchasing like they are used to with Amazon Fresh or other non-perishable Amazon products, so the company plans to use current Whole Foods locations as physical stores to offer both online and physical stores for customers. Amazon has already opened physical locations for other products like bookstores, so they see the value and need in opening up physical grocery stores with their acquisition of Whole Foods.

References:

Bose, N. & Dastin, J. (2017, June 18). With Whole Foods, Amazon on collision course with Wal-Mart. Retrieved from https://www.reuters.com/article/us-whole-foods-m-a-amazon-com-walmart-idUSKBN1990HH

Harris, C. & Cook, J. (2007, August 1). Amazon starts grocery delivery service. Retrieved from http://www.seattlepi.com/business/article/Amazon-starts-grocery-delivery-service-1245445.php

Kestenbaum, R. (2017, June 16). Why Amazon is buying Whole Foods. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/richardkestenbaum/2017/06/16/why-amazon-is-buying-whole-foods/#6004e1bf40f6

Meyer, Z. (2017, June 18). Get ready. Amazon-Whole Foods deal will change how you buy food forever. Retrieved from https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2017/06/18/get-ready-amazon-whole-foods-deal-change-how-you-buy-food-forever/102914448/

Soper, S. (2017, March 20). Inside Amazon’s battle to break into the $800 billion grocery market. Retrieved from https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2017-03-20/inside-amazon-s-battle-to-break-into-the-800-billion-grocery-market

       Consumers are usually getting confused with all the different meanings that are written on food labels, “Best before,” “Sell by,” “Use by,” “Enjoy by,” “Expires on,” “Display until,” etc. Sometimes these labels create so much confusion that food is getting wasted before it is really bad to consume. In 2013, the Harvard Food Law and Policy Report Clinic and Natural Defense Council produced a report, which indicated that Americans waste 160 billion pounds of food each year, valued approximately $29 billion. This figure is frightening taking into consideration the fact that 1/3 of the world is hungry and we have the same issue at home as well.

       An immediate question that comes to mind is; whose responsibility is controlling product date labeling language? Last year, two Democratic members of Congress wanted to impose uniformity throughout the grocery aisles, requiring that “Best if used” and “Expires on” indicate quality and safety. Meghan Stasz, senior director of sustainability at Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) mentions that under the uniform code, the main packaging language used will become “Best if used by,” which will indicate the food quality and not the expiration date. According to Stasz, consumers take “use-by” dates as the last day before the product spoilage. However, after that date the product is still good to consume, but might not taste as we expect and might not have as much vitamin content, as the label indicates, but are still safe to consume.

       The change, as the GMA predicts, will take place in 2018.  Also, Stasz mentions that will develop a campaign to inform consumers about the changes that will be expecting to take place in regards to the exact meaning of the new quality and the food safety. Apart from clarifying food labels, the effort hopes to save food from waste. It is projected that by clearing up the confusing labels, national food waste can be reduced to 8 %.

        How much this change will affect consumers is hard to predict. However, there is a hope that consumers and producers will take responsibility for tossing food in garbage, while millions of people worldwide are dying from hunger.

References

Brooke, Z. (2017). After years of confusing consumers a plethora of product expiration of product expiration phrases, the packaged food industry is finally embracing standardized labels. Retrieved from:  https://www.ama.org/publications/MarketingNews/Pages/standardized-food-expiration-labels.aspx.

Charles, D. (2017). For Food Manufacturers, ‘Sell By’ Labels May Have Reached Their Expiration Date. Retrieved from: http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2017/02/15/515427797/food-companies-may-say-goodbye-to-sell-by-labels.

Rossman, S. (2017).  Use by? Sell by? New food labels aim to make it easier to know. Retrieved from: https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/nation-now/2017/02/17/grocers-want-you-stop-throwing-away-food-too-soon/98037974.