"THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A FREE LUNCH"

PROMOTING QUALITY AS A MARKETING ADVANTAGE

     Almost everyone I know still uses things in their home that they inherited or purchased years ago that still work flawlessly after decades of use.  It might be a mixmaster or toaster oven, a dining room set or sofa, a dress coat or a pair of workboots; all most probably made in Canada or the U.S.A.   We all love to tell people about things we own that just seem to last and last.  How times have changed.  Now, we all seem to be have frustrating stories about products, mostly imported from low wage countries, that don't last, breakdown, or can't be repaired.  Magic markers that run dry after a few strokes, women's hosiery that rip after one wearing, power drill bits made from soft steel that wear out, work boots that don't fit and leak, screws and bolts that don't have properly cut threads, scotch tape that won't stick, dog leashes that break, knitting yarn that spontaneously combusts and on and on.  On a larger scale we read about disasters like the 500 million pounds of contaminated Chinese drywall that was imported between 2004 and 2008 during the U.S. housing boom that has unleashed hundreds of lawsuits and forced thousands of new home owners lives into limbo.   As a November 23, 2009 New Times article explained "The suspect building materials have previously been found by state and federal agencies to emit "volatile sulphur compounds".  Officials have also found traces of strontium sulphide, which can produce a rotten-egg odor, along with organic compounds not found in American-made drywall.  Homeowners complain the fumes are corroding copper pipes, destroying TV's and air conditioners, blackening jewelry and silverware, and making them sick."

     These stories of poor quality should perhaps come as no surprise when we read articles like the one by Carolynne Wheeler in the Sept. 8 2009 Globe and Mail Report on Business entitled, "In China, Quality Control is Still a Work in Progress".  Ms. Wheeler states that, "In a market where DVD players and cellphone batteries for export can spontaneously combust and children's toys have been found covered in toxic lead paint, such a minor fault as a broken window control is generally accepted by both local manufacturers and customers as an acceptable cost of building quickly and cheaply."  She goes on to say that "for the vast majority of Western companies sourcing products out of this industrial powerhouse, it is still very much buyer beware, as factory owners continue to put the cost and speed of manufacturing above the reliability of what's produced." 

     Whether these quality issues are the result of poor factory workmanship, or the pressure that major global retailers constantly exert on foreign contractors to cut corners in order to improve their profit margins, or a combination of both, is beside the point.  The key point is that it provides Canadian manufacturers the opportunity to promote their higher quality standards as an effective marketing strategy to an increasingly receptive consumer audience.  Some companies, like Titan Industries of Cobourg for example, a manufacturer of technologically sophisticated pool heaters, routinely disassembles and analyzes cheaper foreign made knockoffs of their products so they can make their dealer network aware of the costly warranty maintenance problems they may encounter if they opt to switch suppliers.  It works.  Other companies like Terra Workboots, Barbarian Rugby Shirts, Chariot Strollers,  Salus Lifejackets, and Broil King Barbecues make a concerted effort to educate  both their retail distribution chain as well as the end consumer about the quality, longevity, safety, and performance that's built into everything they make.  These and many other companies like them are responding to a growing realization by consumers that "There is no such thing as a free lunch" and that generally speaking the price paid for a product and the quality of that product are inversely related. 

     In other words, the more you can educate your inside sales/outside sales/customer service people, your distributors/retailers, and the end user of your products about what specifically makes your products worth the extra money to purchase, the more marketing success you will have.  Your marketing communications strategy should have this quality goal as one of its core themes that weaves its way through your brochures, websites, trade show displays, sales presentations, warranty policies, product labelling and videos, dealer training, point of purchase displays and any other point of contact between your company and the customer.  For example, videos that highlight your manufacturing process interspersed with interviews of your employees, or videos demonstrating product features key to safety, performance, and ease of use, posted on your website or social networking sites like You Tube,  are a very effective way to supplement conventional print strategies in this regard.

I have always believed that in the long run "Quality Sells"  and I believe that consumer frustration with shoddy products is creating an opportunity that Canadian manufacturers can take advantage of to improve their competitive position in the global marketplace.