I was just staring at my can of Nestle’s Carnation Hot Chocolate and thought it sort of looked bulky. I believe they used to only have those in small, individual, one-time packets.
I can’t stop thinking that Nestle’s Carnation Hot Chocolate now feels cheaper to me because they’ve decided to sell it as a can of chocolate powder instead of multiple exquisite individual packages in a box. But perhaps it was a financially sound move; by selling in cans instead of packages, they could’ve reach the audience that always wanted 1 1/2 packs of powder in one cup of chocolate, or those who are environmentally friendly and hate the concept of individual packages. However, while I support the environmentally friendly and enjoy my chocolate with excess powder, I think the company has cheapened the brand through this move.
What if a luxury brand like Mercedes Benz was faced with a similar decision?
Let’s say, for whatever reason, Mercedes has been incurring slight losses every quarter. Recently, their marketing team has identified a segment of middle, middle-low income families that would love to own and drive a Mercedes car, but can only afford to pay the price of a medium tier vehicle. Should Mercedes go on and release a series that is cheaper in quality, and not as luxurious, but is very affordable? Will this affect their brand so much that the original, luxurious Mercedes series are affected? (Perhaps the richer bunch would not like to drive a brand that is associated with cheapness and low quality) Maybe they could try to create a new budget brand that is named Mercedes _______, but barely has any link to it? (This would cost a lot of money and effort though.)
What if this really happened? What would you do?