Burger King's Whopper might look very appealing in pictures with several strips of rich, sparkling green lettuce and red tomatoes, glistening onions, cut gherkins, a mouthwatering juicy burger and red ketchup adding to the flavor but disappointing in actual serving with only pieces of less-fresh looking tomatoes, onions, gherkins and lettuce and less appetizing skinny burger patty squished between two thin burger bans.
It must have been really frustrating especially that almost all food and non-food companies mess up with one's expectation when reality doesn't exceed nor reach it. Companies all over the world are using appealing marketing techniques to lure customers from buying their products yet customers end up unsatisfied and some even angry for not getting what they expected.
Vincent Graff of Daily Mail visited some of the fast food restaurants in the country and compared the advertising materials used with the real products. He had learned several tricks used by food stylists and photographer to come up with products that will look enticing for the buyers. "The difference between image and reality is thanks to professional food stylists - combined with some photographic tricks.
In the way that white paint is said to be used in adverts in the place of milk to make cups of coffee look more appealing, these experts spend hours making food look more delicious - for example, using pieces of yellow plastic instead of cheese slices and tweezers to individually place pieces of lettuce and tomato," Graff stated. He had also noted how experts manage to make the products look huge or in bigger quantity compared to its original size. "For the photos, all the ingredients are carefully pushed to the front - to give the impression of quantity."
However, some companies are learning from experiences that the best way to get higher sales is through building a long-term relationship with consumers. "Customer Experience Management" or (CEM) are now being utilized by these companies. CEM helps an organization to know the consumers' lifecycle.
Hence, by studying the customers' perception on a product on each stage of the cycle, the company and its department can develop strategies that would yield to a buyer's satisfaction, turning him to a loyal customer. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) also imposes truth-in-advertising laws to make sure that each organization's promises are honest and not deceptive.
