Marshall Yard:

Reading Andrew Razeghi’s “Innovating through Recession: When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Innovate” sparked some of my gray matter, and drew some parallels between the modern day Starbucks v. McDonald’s showdown, and the Nestle instant coffee strategy of the depression era.

As Razeghi tells it, coffee was in vast oversupply during the depression. One supplier, the Brazilian Coffee Institute, contacted Nestlé. Nestlé was offered an opportunity to invest in developing a water soluble coffee ground that would retain its flavor. Previous “instant coffee” of the era tasted terrible. Taking a risk that the research would end fruitfully, and that they would be able to capitalize on an inexpensive supply of product-and a potentially rekindled product demand-Nestlé threw the dice. Nescafé was born some 7 years later, and served as GI fuel for WWII grunts, and has provided caffeine to two generations of “practical” American coffee drinkers.

Today, with a generation of “not so practical” American coffee drinkers, McDonald’s and Starbucks are facing off. McDonald’s is increasing its value proposition by offering gourmet coffee at a Mickey D’s price, while Starbucks is offering a gourmet Instant variety.

One is offering a discounted version of a higher value good. The other is offering a gourmet version of a discount good.

What does this have to do with Trade Shows? I was going to ask that same question…

For the past 6 months, the trade show exhibit marketplace has been offering its goods at a discount. Depending on what kind of exhibit you are seeking, that’s could equate to a discount good at a cheaper price, a mid-range good at a discount, or a high-performance good at a discount. It’s deflation at its best, essentially.
 
Catalyst is offering a new product line, which is a “pre-packaged” rental product, constructed of the same custom fabricated exhibit components utilized in custom-rental and custom-built booths. We are essentially cutting out the design portion of the process - a valuable aspect of any trade show marketing display. Some exhibitors cannot afford custom design, but do not want to settle for octanorm or other tinker-toy booth construction styles. Higher value good at a discounted price?

What do you think? Would you rather have higher quality instant coffee, or gourmet coffee at a cheaper price?