Simplicity Marketing: End Brand Complexity, Clutter, and Confusion

In an age when Crest toothpaste comes in 45 varieties, consumers long for companies that make life easier by reducing choices, claim Cristol, a marketing consultant, and Sealey, a former global marketing director at Coca-Cola. Playing off the four ""P""s (product, price, promotion and placement) that many marketers use to hone their strategic thinking, Cristol and Sealey have come up with four ""R""s. ""Replace"" is shorthand for designing a single product to replace two separate ones (e.g., a shampoo that contains a conditioner). ""Repackage"" means offering products together that were previously available only in separate locations (e.g., a brokerage firm may choose to sell mutual funds provided by its competitors). ""Reposition"" entails promoting one's product or brand as standing for simplicity itself (e.g., Honda's old slogan, ""We make it simple""). ""Replenish"" is an odd term for ""providing a readily available, continuous supply of zero-defect products or services to the existing customer base... [so] the customer only [has] to make the purchase decision once"" (e.g., a McDonald's hamburger in Maui tastes exactly like one sold in Maine). While Cristol and Sealey's focus on simplicity is solid, and their four ""R""s make for a useful checklist, their anecdotal examples don't always measure up. Proctor & Gamble, which they cite as an example, has been underperforming, and while McDonald's may stand for consistency, as the authors note, the number of choices it now offers is a far cry from the days of plain old hamburgers, fries and a drink. In the end, more detailed case studies of companies that exemplify each of the ""R""s would have helped this effort make the grade. (Oct.)