The Near-Fatal Mistake of the Cake Mix

Imagine a product that promises to do everything for you. You don’t even have to lift a finger. Wouldn’t you love it?

Apparently not. At least that’s what the companies that invented the cake mix discovered.

In 2019, more than 188 million Americans used mixes instead of flour to make cakes. This was up from 60 million users in 2016. But when invented, the cake mix almost flopped.

Towards the end of the 1940s, ready mixes made it easy for people to bake cakes, pie crusts, and biscuits. They simply had to add water and voila!

These mixes made their way into people’s shopping carts, and ultimately, their homes. But while the mixes to make pie crusts and biscuits sold like hotcakes, sales of cake mixes (which used the same ingredients) stagnated.

Marketers speculated that the cakes tasted artificial, which was partly true. But there was more.

A team led by market research pioneer, Dr. Ernest Dichter, discovered that cake mixes simplified the baking process so much that women felt the cakes weren’t “theirs.”

Unlike biscuits and pie crusts, cakes are a self-contained course. They represent a special occasion and carry great emotional significance. Cake premixes made women feel guilty for cheating their family out of the specialness of a home-made cake. Women also risked disappointing their guests who would feel as though they were not treated to something special.

Dichter’s solution? Just add an egg.

So Pillsbury removed eggs and other ingredients from the premix. Once women had to add fresh eggs, oil, and milk along with water to the cake mix, sales shot up. The advertisements also read, “Betty Crocker cake mixes bring you that special homemade goodness because you add the eggs yourself!”, implying that the women were still in charge.

When women had to put in “extra” effort, they became more comfortable with cake mixes.

Then, premade frosting and elaborate decorations came in. Women could demonstrate their fondness for loved ones by turning their home-made cakes into castles, football fields, and churches. And that changed the fate of cake mixes.

Not All Effort Is Equal

It’s true that human beings are lazy in that we look for quick results by spending the least effort (or none at all).

It’s also true that we associate effort with quality and romanticize the idea of working hard on something, as behavioral economist Michael Norton noted.

Human beings are irrational. Yet, our irrationality is predictable.

We believe we make decisions based on facts, specifications, pros, and cons. But in reality, we’re driven by intense, innate fears and desires that we’re not consciously aware of.

The pride of ownership is one such desire. It makes us crave the feeling of earning something that we want to feel proud of, of feeling like heroes in our stories.

We love IKEA though the company outsources all the labor to us because building something for our home or office makes us feel pride in ownership. Even a crooked bookshelf that we build is â€œmy bookshelf!”.

People love Local Motors, where they can customize and assemble their own cars with the help of “experts.” Thus, they don’t just witness the birth of their “baby,” they also contribute to it.

This is also why we despise office politics because we want to earn a pay raise or promotion through hard work, not sycophancy or scheming.

But most companies ignore this innate feeling that customers yearn for. Instead, they market their products as goods that “take care of everything” and let customers do “more important things” in their lives.

In doing so, they create a commodity — something that leaves users uninspired and detached, guilty even, something they merely exchange for money but rarely engage with.

What Products Should Do

A product’s role is to help customers achieve a meaningful outcome and feel like a hero in the process.

As Seth Godin wrote:

Theodore Levitt famously said, “People don’t want to buy a quarter-inch drill bit. They want to buy a quarter-inch hole.”

But that doesn’t go nearly far enough. No one wants a hole. What people want is the shelf that will go on the wall once they drill the hole.

Actually, what they want is how they’ll feel once they see how uncluttered everything is, when they put the stuff on the shelf that went on the wall, now that there’s a quarter-inch hole.

But wait…

They also want the satisfaction of knowing that they did it themselves. Or perhaps the increase in status they’ll get when their spouse admires the work. Or the peace of mind that comes from knowing the bedroom isn’t a mess, and that it feels safe and clean.

“People don’t want to buy a quarter-inch drill bit. They want to feel safe and respected.”

Bingo.

Gone are the days when clever marketing messages could hoodwink customers. Today, marketing is about identifying what success means to your customers and helping them achieve it.

How can you encourage customers to engage with your product and experience pride of ownership?

You and your team can ponder on this question over tea. But it’s best to make the tea yourself. You’ll enjoy it more.