Buffalo Wild Wings’ New Pricing, Service Model Build Brand Confidence

The price at which a product or service is sold in most cases has a crucial impact on the success of a company. When deciding to set a price a company can use several different strategies. The restaurant Buffalo Wild Wings has been in the process of developing a new pricing strategy to improve their margins. Buffalo Wild Wings is a profit orientation company that uses a target profit pricing strategy to meet certain levels of sales. Their previous method of selling chicken wings was to price them according to the number of chicken wings per-serving. However, this method reported a insufficient return on profits and a continued growth in costs, which is not the company objectives. In response Buffalo Wild Wings changed their pricing strategy for wings to prices per serving size (snack, small, medium, and large). This method returned the results the company was looking for and reduced costs by 1.2% at the end of the quarter. I look at this change in the companies pricing strategy as a good decision for them so far because not only did it return ideal results but it put them back on track toward accomplishing their goals. This pricing strategy however could potential have its drawbacks. For instance it is not very customer orientated because their portion sizes (quantity) may not fit all customers wants and needs therefore decreasing the value of what they are getting. Reflecting that price is just half of the value equation and benefit is the other, if the customer does not receive the benefit they once did from the chicken wings then this new strategy has the potential to decrease the overall value of purchasing it. All this being said it is still early in the implementation phase and before any affirmed judgements can be made more time needs to elapse.

Disney’s Planes: spectacular pre-screening on board of a KLM plane

Branding is an important part to a companies success, and can provide several advantages. In my opinion, the marketing ploy of KLM Royal Dutch Airlines pairing with Disney provides advantages to KLM by building on their brand. However, I do not see the same brand improvement apply to Disney, only an increase in awareness of their new movie, “Planes.” The concept of creating an in-flight entertainment with full effects drives many aspects of KLM’s brand in positive directions. First and for most this conglomeration between KLM and Disney is a perfect example of how brand association can add certain emotions and personality to a company. I feel by associating Disney, a company directed toward family orientated fun and entertainment, with KLM has embedded this same genuine emotion within KLM’s brand. Furthermore, KLM’s association with Disney has also created the personality characteristic of being a kid friendly brand, a quality competitors do not appear to possess. In reflection, this brand association impacts a couple branding advantages. It slightly reduces competitive pressure because it differentiates itself from competitors, and it increases its value by adding new assets to its brand. Aside from brand association, it also increases KLM’s brand awareness in the eyes of youth by directing the ploy towards them. This increase in awareness to youths may not seem to be of any value but due to children having an increasingly larger input on parents decision making, it does add value to their overall awareness. This increase may result in a new considerations or creating an easier decision making process for consumers (adults with families) when deciding which airline to fly on. I see this attempt by KLM to focus on highlighting their brand in a new light as a positive marketing tactic, that will add to their success.