A Lesson From A "Sandwich"

By now, I'm sure you've heard about the abomination from KFC called the Double Down. In case you haven't heard about this beast, it is a bacon and cheese "sandwich" housed between two pieces of fried chicken. It's essentially calories, cholesterol and fat ... it's a heart attack in a sack.

I in no way endorse this product or encourage you to eat it - in fact, I see it as another reason why we have one of the fattest and most unhealthy countries in the world. But, there is one marketing lessons that can come from this product that should have it's own chapter in the Healthcare Bill.

Rethink Your Existing Packaging

Since the aristocracy, we have considered a sandwich as anything that is jammed between two pieces of bread. KFC said, "Why not chicken - it's what we do best?"

Likewise, in banking, our bread-and-butter account has always been checking. Well lets scrap the rules for a second. It's 2010, the prime driver of these accounts is less and less about the check book and more about electronic access, right? Wouldn't our staff be more likely to promote and our customers be more likely to accept key products like e-statements, debit cards, online banking, text alerts and online bill pay if we dropped the "C" word and called these "Access Accounts" instead?

I'm sure we can apply Double Down thinking to many of our traditional products and help "fatten" our products per customer numbers. Have an idea? Share it in the Comments section of this blog.

Take care,

Eric