Not the Perfect 'Pepsi', But the Perfect 'Pepsi's'

Spaghetti sauce has probably never been more interesting than this video! Here's an interesting and funny discussion about the food industry.

Recently in my Marketing Research class and Global Product Development course, we've been discussing addressing market needs, and changing products to fill those needs. Here, Malcolm Gladwell talks about how Howard Moskowitz, and his research in Pepsi, Campbell's soup, spaghetti sauce, and pickles. He delves into why the food and beverage industry have been looking at consumers wrong for years.

Gladwell says that Moskowitz contributed the following three things to the food industry:

1. The food industry never asked consumers what they wanted, and consumers don't actually know what they want. No one was servicing the needs of the 30% of Americans who crave chunky spaghetti sauce in the late 1970's. Since then, the business has changed into a multimillion dollar industry.
2. Horizontal segmentation: there are different types of products that suits different types of consumers. It's not that one type of mustard/ spaghetti/ Pepsi is better than another, but rather, consumers just have different preferences.
3. The platonic dish: Chefs were looking for cooking universals, but today there is an understanding of variability. Understanding these differences can be key to a company's success. Not everyone prefers plain spaghetti sauce, just like not everyone prefers just one type of pickle.

"To a worm in horseradish, the world is horseradish."