Two newspieces in today’s Kauppalehti that caught my eye and got me thinking:
Kauppalehti: Hesburger’s turnout twice that of McDonald’s, more profitable too
Kauppalehti: PlayStation 2 game overall sales trump next gen consoles
The first one relates to me living in Helsinki. In Helsinki, there’s a general dislike towards Hesburger because of their campy advertising and I guess some people in Helsinki still haven’t forgiven them for buying Carrols, a Helsinki-based hamburger brand. But as the number show, Hesburger is reining supreme in the fast food world in Finland. It’s sales are mostly driven by the populace outside of Helsinki – especially through its partnership with gas stations. But you’d never guess it by walking in downtown Helsinki. There are more McDonald’s restaurants (which are generally more populated) and McDonald’s advertising is more prominent everywhere. But the numbers tell a different truth about the balance of power between the two brands.
The other one is a reminder to look beyond newness and hype. The next gen gaming consoles (Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii) get all the media attention, but the reality is that the “ancient” PS2 is still the top seller in Finland. Of course, given the choice I guess anybody would rather be the brand manager for PS3 than PS2, but unless you see the product’s life cycle all the way through, you’re not going be profitable.
Reality can be quite humbling sometimes.
Red Bull just introduced (at least here) a new bigger can to complement its litter sister:
From a logistical/production perspective, I’m sure this move makes sense. A bigger can always gets you more scale benefits (well, not indefinitely, the cans need to stack as well) and offers the customers more variety, which can sometimes boost sales.
But still, I can’t help but think that this is a bad marketing move. Red Bull’s small size has a lot of meaning latched to it. I always thought the smaller can made people understand what it was but also what it definitely was not: soda. Because the can was smaller than a normal soda can, it meant that it’s more “potent”, in a way that you shouldn’t be drinking more than 0.25l at a time. Of course people WOULD drink more, but that was the whole idea. Also, the unique shape and size of the can made it stand out: it was a purple cow in the beverage shelf, especially compared to a lot of other energy drinks. Now they have a new bigger can on the shelf, which basically says that “sure, you can drink as much of this stuff as soda”. Also, the new can is big enough that it’s not remarkable anymore.
It’s similar to when Volkswagen tried to boost sagging Beetle sales by introducing the bigger Super Beetle (besides, I HAD to work some Cultural Branding linkage here!). The whole charm behind the Beetle was that it was small, and un-car-like. Making it bigger wasn’t the answer. I doubt the same is the answer for Red Bull.
This has been bothering me for a while now. The places you’d like to hang in, such as Erottaja, Nolla (both by the same owner, btw) or Mbar are very nice in decor and music selection. Only there’s one problem: you have to shout like hell if you want to talk to your buddies.
I hadn’t actually thought of this as a real problem until I interviewed Margit Sjöroos for a project a year ago. She’s a brilliant woman behind the Stress Free Area concept. When I met with her (along with two members of my team) she wanted to have a sit down in Tony’s Deli, because she says it’s the only place that is even somewhat stress free. As we were talking, she was constantly pointing out good and bad things in the restaurant’s decor and acoustics. At the time it was fascinating, but it has turned to be somewhat of a curse as well: I can’t help noticing the stress factors in all of the bars or restaurants I go to now. Spot lights, bad acoustics, the overuse of red, noise levels etc. Sometimes it can be too much and I just don’t feel at home in certain bars anymore. Nolla is good example of this. They crank up the volume at around 21:00 and after that it becomes almost impossible to socialize normally.
My roommate told me that the latest addition to the Helsinki restaurant scene Bar Cuba suffers from the “it ain’t too loud!” syndrome as well. Too bad. Helsinki needs a bar where you could chat away until the wee hours of the night but with good background music and the right kind of crowd. Please tell me if you can think of any.
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