Earlier this year McDonald’s came out with it’s new line of coffee. They apparently spent $100 million in marketing and advertising. I personally felt bombarded with McDonald’s coffee ads telling me it’s as good as Starbucks at a fraction of the cost. Well, the marketing worked for me at least, and I tried their coffee – twice.
Honestly, I thought it was pretty good. But both times I ordered it, my order came out wrong. Once it had whipped cream on top when I asked for no whipped cream, and the other time the size was wrong. On top of that (no pun intended), the coffee cup lid was awkward, and I constantly felt like I was going to end up with coffee running down my chin. All that to save less than a dollar in comparison to Starbucks? I think not.
Just a few weeks ago we received some food and beverage coupons in the mail from Sheetz. Ironically enough, one coupon was for a free cup of their new coffee drinks. Not wanting to miss out on an offer for free coffee, my wife and I stopped at a Sheetz to redeem our coupons.
I ordered an iced mocha, but what I got tasted like watered down Nestle Quick chocolate on ice with a dash of weak coffee. I couldn’t drink it. Unfortunately for Sheetz, I got a free coffee drink that will ensure that I never stop there for coffee again.
There is much more to launching a new product than simply marketing it.
Is your branding, marketing, or advertising giving your potential customers or clients a realistic view of what they’re going to get? Do your offerings fall in line with what your business or organization can deliver well? Can your product or service hold up to repetition and scrutiny at all phases of production and delivery?