 When an all-new food store promising organic and natural choices launched in Hong Kong in November 2006, it opened with a keenly differentiated brand positioning. We did however wonder how much success ThreeSixty would have in a location such as the Landmark and in a market such as Hong Kong.
Organic as a value proposition
Being the practical shoppers that they are, the majority of middle to upper class consumers (ThreeSixty’s target market) tend to choose factors such as ‘Freshness’ and ‘Variety’ over ‘Organic’. Food scares stemming from Chinese-grown produce may have turned some into organic food junkies, but the majority is still skeptical about claims made by ‘organic’ brands.
Well, at least ThreeSixty can ‘own that space’ until another viable large competitor comes into the picture.
Falling off the shelf
At the other extreme, consider Sogo.
Located in the centre of Hong Hong’s buzzing Causeway Bay shopping area, Sogo sells everything from cooked food to gifts, jewelry to household appliances.
Despite being part of a mega ‘Japanese’ department store, Sogo’s basement-level supermarket has gotten buried (literally) under 9 floors of distractions. Ask any local Hong Konger where they recommend you go to buy Japanese food products and the answer invariably will be ‘Citysuper’.
The Sogo supermarket arguably offers one of the best varieties of authentic Japanese supplies, but has ‘fallen off the shelf’ in terms of brand equity (click on chart to enlarge image). We consider this to be an opportunity lost.
But then, what is one man’s loss is another man’s gain.
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