28d • The Boardroom
GUERRILLA MARKETING CASE STUDY #8. JERSEY MIKE’S VS. CHICK-FIL-A
THE PRODUCT ISN’T THE PRODUCT
For more than a decade, Chick-fil-A sat on top of the customer satisfaction mountain.
Then something happened.
Jersey Mike’s took the #1 spot.
Most marketers immediately ask:
“How did Jersey Mike’s make a better sandwich?”
Wrong question.
The better question is:
“How did Jersey Mike’s create a better outcome?”
Because customers rarely buy products.
They buy completed outcomes.
THE CHICK-FIL-A LESSON
Chick-fil-A built an empire on consistency.
Customers know:
- The food will be good.
- The restaurant will be clean.
- The employees will be friendly.
- The experience will be predictable.
The chicken sandwich is important.
The confidence is more important.
People don’t drive across town for chicken.
They drive across town because they know exactly what will happen when they arrive.
That certainty has enormous value.
THE JERSEY MIKE’S LESSON
Jersey Mike’s took a different path.
Walk into a Jersey Mike’s and what do you see?
The meat is sliced in front of you.
The sandwich is assembled in front of you.
The ingredients are visible.
The process is visible.
The outcome is visible.
Customers are not simply buying turkey, ham, roast beef or cheese.
They’re buying reassurance.
The customer watches the sandwich being created and subconsciously says:
“Yes. That’s exactly what I wanted.”
The product becomes proof.
THE REAL COMPETITION
Neither company is really selling food.
They are selling confidence.
Confidence that lunch will be good.
Confidence that the order will be right.
Confidence that the experience will match expectations.
That’s why customer satisfaction is won or lost long before the first bite.
WHAT THIS MEANS FOR YOUR BUSINESS
Travel advisors are not selling cruises.
Airlines are not selling seats.
Hotels are not selling rooms.
Restaurants are not selling food.
Everyone is selling outcomes.
The strongest brands remove uncertainty.
The strongest brands remove friction.
The strongest brands make customers feel successful before the purchase is complete.
When customers trust the outcome, price becomes less important.
When customers doubt the outcome, price becomes the only thing they see.
GUERRILLA MARKETING INSIGHT
Customers do not reward the company with the best product.
Customers reward the company that gives them the most confidence that the outcome will be successful.
Read that again.
The outcome is the product.
Everything else is packaging.
CHALLENGE FOR THIS WEEK
Look at your business.
Ask yourself:
“What outcome am I actually selling?”
Then ask:
“What can I do to make customers feel more confident that outcome will happen?”
Post your answer below.
The most successful marketers in the world are not selling products.
They are selling certainty.
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GUERRILLA MARKETING CASE STUDY #8. JERSEY MIKE’S VS. CHICK-FIL-A
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