{"id":3443,"date":"2021-11-11T13:31:24","date_gmt":"2021-11-11T02:31:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bprworld.com\/?p=3442"},"modified":"2021-11-11T13:31:24","modified_gmt":"2021-11-11T02:31:24","slug":"one-foot-long-or-one-foot-in-the-grave","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/bprworld.com\/de\/news\/one-foot-long-or-one-foot-in-the-grave\/","title":{"rendered":"One Foot Long\u2026. or One Foot in the Grave?"},"content":{"rendered":"

By David Kidd, BPR<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

A recent article on Bloomberg.com (July 7, 2021) highlighted the demise of the Subway brand in the US.<\/p>\n

Subway is one of the most recognisable names in the US fast food\/restaurant industry; their foot long subs are legendary. Subway has more than 22,000 US locations making it the largest by store count in that country, dwarfing even McDonald\u2019s. But its huge size obscures a simple fact: American tastes have changed.<\/p>\n

Subway restaurants, as the article noted, has sported the \u201cEat Fresh\u201d slogan for years, even as it peddled limp tomatoes and processed deli meats.<\/p>\n

According to Bloomberg, this year the company announced what it calls the biggest changes ever in its more than half-a-century history. Dubbed the \u201cEat Fresh Refresh\u201d,\u00a0Subway<\/a>\u00a0is rolling out two new bread recipes, several on-trend premium ingredients and a handful of new sandwiches, plus nationwide delivery service. It is hoping those changes will lure diners back to its stores after five straight years of declines. Sceptics of the brand say it will not be so simple.<\/p>\n

\u201cSubway has sat on its laurels for so long; it\u2019s kind of difficult to pull out of this hole,\u201d said John Gordon, principal at Pacific Management Consulting Group. \u201cThe sales have fallen so much in the store.\u201d<\/p>\n

To make matters worse, the business model was not geared to deal with the COVID pandemic. While 2020 and the pandemic was a boom year for many US fast-food rivals, fewer than one in 10 Subway stores has a drive-thru, meaning it missed out on much of the customers demand for low-contact purchases. In fact, the Subway app did not even offer delivery. According to Bloomberg, the company closed 1600 locations in the US last year as sales tumbled 18 per cent.<\/p>\n

The Subway brand also took a series of high-profile hits prior to the pandemic: Ireland\u2019s Supreme Court\u00a0ruled<\/a>\u00a0last year that its bread had too much sugar to be called bread, its tuna\u2019s origin has been called into question and it is hard to forget Jared Fogle, the company\u2019s long time spokesperson (he\u2019s the guy that lost 111kg by including Subway in his diet) \u2013 Jared was convicted in 2015 of child sex offences.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey have a positioning and identity crisis,\u201d said Joseph Szala, founder and managing director of Vigor, a restaurant marketing firm. \u201cFresh,\u201d he said, is a \u201cbanal, forgettable word\u201d and the weight-loss pitch just is not sticking.<\/p>\n

Was your radio station\u2019s business model geared to adapt to the pandemic swiftly? Is it geared for the next crisis or major market upheaval\u2026 whatever that might be? Valuable lessons have been learnt from the pandemic; sometimes these lessons have made businesses stronger. Those unable to adapt are struggling in this new world. Being able to adapt to market changes quickly is the key to success for any business. Employ game theory to future proof your business model. See my recent article \u201cThe Importance of Game Theory in Strategic Planning\u201d.<\/p>\n

Does your station have an identity crisis? Is your positioning statement the \u201cEat Fresh\u201d of radio programming\u2026in other words, out of date, banal, forgettable? Are you promising something and delivering something entirely different\u2026\u2026see the reference to limp tomatoes above! Find out what the listeners think. Is it yesterday\u2019s message?<\/p>\n

Have you been resting on your laurels? #1 survey after survey \u2026without objectively examining your product and that of your competitors on a regular basis; looking for strengths and weaknesses in your station and your competitors.<\/p>\n

Is your station \u201cin touch\u201d with listeners needs or \u201cout of touch\u201d? Don\u2019t presume you know\u2026. ask them!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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