Publix is host to fresh, New York style deli's, even though the chain is typically operational in the South and Midwest of the US. Additionally, these deli’s offer many services, from cold cuts to freshly made sandwiches. When living in the Orlando, Florida area, I began to time my shopping trips around meals, so that I could easily grab a fresh and customised lunch while I ran my errands: completely effortless. Less driving around, more efficiency. I’m sure some marketers spent a great deal of time studying shopping behaviour in that area to find how much people hated driving in the crowded city.
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| (Source: The305) |
Seen above is the outcome of a typical deli order. You can create a meal including a sub, a drink and chips. Sounds familiar right? Well, rumour has it, Publix is about to create stand alone deli services to rival Subway. Talk about a disruption and expansion strategy! Lucky for Subway, previously there were minimal fast food chains pitching health food items, or at least, healthier options. Whereas McDonalds offers a crispy chicken wrap and calls it healthy, Subway always let people customise their wraps to their own taste and health level, such as Whole Grain bread options, or Spinach Wraps, etc.
But now, since us Floridians have been buying our lunch and dinner deli items at Publix anyway, we can plan food stops separately from our normal shopping and spend some more time enjoying it, since Publix Products are made in front of you, instead of coming out of the freezer or fridge, clearly visable.
Interestingly enough, Publix plans to do the majority of its testing with this chain in Florida. But Publix plans on implementing the concept on a more global basis, given that Subway has the most locations of any fast food store (in league with McDonald’s here), and it will be hard to compete on convenience. This is a beautifully tailored disruption strategy, offering a premium fast food option, and the exclusivity should even aid them even more in this instance. I just hope they can come to Australia and everyone here can start loving deli sandwiches - No more Pies!
This semester, our newest cohorts of Master of Marketing students are enrolled in a course known as Marketing in the Global Economy. There, they will learn how to break through such boarders/barriers with products of their own choosing. Strategising and implementing local information will be able to aid them in truly finding a need for their product in certain markets. In this instance, Australians may really not like deli sandwiches, or alternatively, there could be the capacity for the idea to take hold - just make sure you all do your homework before making the jump!
Christine Drpich
Current student in the Master of Marketing program at the University of Sydney Business School
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