An open letter to the powers that be at Lite n’ Easy, including the Founder, Graham Mitchell.
Let me start by saying: you have a phenomenal product. I use it every single day. So,
this letter is very well intended – I just think you could do a whole lot better as a brand, and we’d love to help.
I’ll start with brand positioning… You have a double headed proposition in your name to explore, but you never really get far beyond the ‘Lite’ part. I suspect people largely view you as a dieting resource due to the messaging you promote – as did I, at first. And this emphasis on losing weight limits your audience and the untold potential in the ‘Easy’ part of your brand offer. God knows, if there’s one thing my husband doesn’t need to do, it’s lose weight. He has that infinite ability to eat whatever he likes, whenever he likes, without expanding like the rest of us. But he’s a fan of yours. And he’s been brazenly spotted sporting your branded packaging on work sites to the surprise of many a fellow tradie. It’s easy, convenient and, in his words: “saves us a shit load of time and effort. You’d be mad to cook.”
Next up, brand image… You look a bit 80s, naff and dated – the ‘n’ in your name certainly doesn’t help – and things are a little over-branded (gasp!) when it comes to food packaging that you can use again. I’m not yet ready to whop out one of your containers on the kitchen bench in my creative community workspace, that’s for sure. And while a lot of people don’t care about this stuff, a whole lot of other people like me, definitely do.
Then there’s the issue of customisation… This really shouldn’t even be a thing we need to talk about in this day and age, yet despite being a ‘full fat’ customer (no pun intended) I can’t tailor my plan to exclude nuts (a major allergy) and I dislike both red apples and any form of stewed fruit in pots – all three of which seem to be a staple of your weekly menus. So, when I get my new weekly order, this is the amount of food I’m likely to waste, which is somewhat unrewarding from both a value for money and an environment perspective. I’m also then left to my own devices to source and swop in extra, alternative snacks, which defeats the point of the control and willpower I’m buying from you.
Don’t get me started on how some of your amazing sauces/dressings come in a pot with the world’s smallest pull tab, which is the complete antithesis of ‘Easy’. And don’t let me distract the focus of this piece by calling out:
- your obsession with one vegetable – the (most humble strain money can buy) tomato;
- the salads that don’t always last until Monday (the recommended best before day);
- the practicalities of eating a full orange in the working day;
- or, the fact that you really should flag up from the word ‘go’ that to be a customer, you need: a) access to a microwave at every mealtime; and b) to make loads of space in your freezer.
None of that last part matters right now, as your food is really tasty – and I wonder why that crucial fact is getting lost in translation? Your powers of organisation are super impressive with the daily packed breakie/lunch/dinner bags that I grab each day. You’re a proud supporter of Australian produce. And you’ve never let me down, not once, despite how up to the wire of the ordering deadline I go.
The bottom line is: we’d love to help you take your brand further. Much further. And as a loyalist customer, I’m perfectly poised to help you, and my team, do this.
Let’s talk,
Michelle Traylor, Director
MamaTray
P.s. I’d have addressed this letter directly to the power/s that be if I could find out who she/he/they are but an internet trawl, some LinkedIn browsing, plus an online chat with customer service, all left me fully in the dark. Another example which flies in the face of ‘Easy’ and reveals that the brand isn’t fully up to date with the transparent times we live in.
MamaTray 