19 February 2020

Week 5: Post 1: Subway and Hungry Bear websites compared

Subway vs. Hungry Bear

Except for price and possibly quality, both companies are in virtually the same market. The primary of both businesses is making sub sandwiches for take-out and fast casual-dining. Both businesses make salads, although salads are an afterthought for Subway, compared to Hungry Bear. Subway, strange to say, seems to have a larger menu, since Subway sells cookies and hot soup, as well as a range of chips and juices. Subway is also the only company of the two that sells sub sandwiches with items like tuna salad and Italian meatballs. On the other hand, Hungry Bear offers items like (spicy) Buffalo Chicken and Philly Steak that Subway does not.

Outwardly, there is very little difference between the two chains, except that Subway lists information about nutrition, catering, rewards and deals (promotional offers), and corporate responsibility in the header of its website, while Hungry Bear lists little more than its menu, location, and store hours.

The principal difference between the two companies is not menu range or restaurant format, but PRICE and the perceived quality. With all of its sub sandwiches priced at $11.99 and above, Hungry Bear sandwiches are about TWICE the price of Subway sandwiches. Even the $8 foot-long chicken sub I bought this weekend in Los Angeles was about 50% less expensive than a Hungry Bear sandwich.

For a 50% to 100% up-charge from Subway, Hungry Bear is implicitly marketing its food on the basis of superior quality. At these prices, Hungry Bear is almost making sub sandwiches into a prestige product. As I have never tried their food, I don't know how much better their products are than Subway, but the price implicitly promises superior quality. They promise "the Best Sandwich you ever had!" but Subway promises customers a good-tasting meal as well. The photos on the Hungry Bear website do not even indicate the actual size of their sandwiches, i.e., their length, as opposed to height and width.

The higher price point of Hungry Bear implicitly differentiates their customers from Subway. Many people would consider the prices at Hungry Bear too high for a choice of sandwiches and salads. Even people who will readily pay $12 for a meal are more likely to choose a different restaurant with "fancier" food. A full meal at Denny's, for example, is about as expensive as a Hungry Bear sub, even after tipping the staff.

On the other side, Subway is not a "slob appeal" business; it has consistently tried to market itself as an "alternative to the burger chains," rather than just churning out "chow" at the lowest possible price. For decades, Subway has tried to maximize profits by remaining affordable to as many people as possible, but it isn't concentrated in low income neighborhoods, nor does it cater to minority group tastes. Subway is not the "Dollar Store" of restaurants.

In conclusion, the two websites are very similar, except that Subway seems more focused than Hungry Bear on assuring customers that their food is nutritious and affordable, and that the company is trying to help the earth. Subway uses green, yellow and white on their website, promotional material, and stores, while Hungry Bear relies on red, white, and black, but the colors of Subway do not convey much about the company besides differentiate it from "the burger chains," all of which rely on some combination of red, white, black and yellow (McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy, Carl's Jr/Hardees., even In & Out and Five Guys). Hungry Bear, on the other hand, focuses their website on trying to convince people that their sandwiches are "the best you ever had" -- i.e., that they are worth the price charged.

Given the similarity in products -- disregarding relative quality -- the customer base of the two companies would be completely analogous -- at least around Vista, California -- but for the higher price point of Hungry Bear. As a result, there is relatively little crossover between the two businesses. If you think the sandwiches at Hungry Bear are worth $12-$13, and you can afford sandwiches at that price, you would probably never go to Subway if you have to choose between the two. If you don't think a Hungry Bear sandwich is worth that much, or you cannot afford to buy any meal at that price, you would never return to their store. 

No comments:

Post a Comment

Translate