Food - oh my darling!

The way to person’s heart is through his stomach. Food has a very important role to play in all things are associated with a person’s life and way of living. That is way in a Sanskrit we call food as Annam Parabrahma swarupam.

In a busy person’s life food has many functions including relieving of boredom and food is what people bond over.  Food and things that are connected with food leave us with a warm glow in the stomach. Let us examine how food marketing can enhance the experience for the eaters.

Subway Napkins: Subway has a very clear USP (unique selling proposition). It is a very clear that only calorie conscious eaters visit the Subway. The clientele attention is grabbed with the innovative paper napkins that stress the healthy way of eating at Subway as opposed to eating at other fast food joints. Effectively this will take care of the guilty feeling of eating fatty junk food and also reinforces the feeling that one is eating healthy.

Visual display at Subway: The visual display at Subway is very alluring. The different types of breads, the types of toppings and the garnishing are visible and add to the drama of the food getting prepared. It is as if you are preparing the food yourself.

Tray liners:  Mac Donald uses tray liners every effectively. The tray liners are full of advertisements of products that are available at Mac Donald’s. They are visually pleasing and tend to make the customers order more once they are finished with the existing food that they are consuming.

Play pens: Not seen in India due to exorbitant real estate prices. The Play area was the concept that Mac Donald made very popular. The family could go to the MacDonald and experience the entire deal, food, ambience and a great place for the Children to play. In the same way Macdonald also made popular the concept of celebrating the birthday at Mc Donald.

Happy meal: An innovation that looks very simple but is absolutely brilliant. It is all about knowing and cashing on the children’s psychology. Children are fond of toys and Mac Donald made toys a part of the product package offered. The happy meal concept has become a rage and there are millions of children throughout the world who queue up at Macdonald to have these toys. Incidentally they have to buy the happy meal. The children are not overtly bothered. The onus of buying the happy meal rests with the parents.