Although most of Craig’s previous experience had been in gyms and fitness centres, that is not what her company was about. While there was indeed a fitness element to her weight loss program, Craig designed her company around a belief that losing weight required more than just exercise. That is why Jenny Craig centres do not only help their clients establish a workout regimen, but also provide advisory and motivational services. And, in one of her greatest coups, Craig introduced her own prepared foods.
One of the reasons behind Craig’s success was her ability to create a packaged product. Losing weight through the Jenny Craig program did not just mean coming to their centres and talking to a dietician. It meant following the meal plans as outlined by Craig’s physicians and dieticians, and of course, that meant eating Craig’s prepared foods. She has masterfully marketed her company to provide not only a service, but merchandise, both of which were shown to be necessary for the other.
As entrepreneurial as she was, Craig knew she could not design her program alone. She brought on board a highly qualified staff of dieticians, psychologists, and physicians to help her create a menu that was healthy and nutritional. In doing so, Jenny’s Cuisine became a central component to her program. All of her clients were required to purchase these portion and calorie controlled foods, which included over sixty different breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert and snack options. Jenny’s Cuisine proved so popular that the company’s gross revenues from food sales increased from 60 to 91 percent between 1986 and 1993.
Craig used her merchandise to stand out from her competitors, most of whom focused solely on the athletic aspect of losing weight. At first, she updated all of her menus to include microwaveable entrees as well as canned foods. But Craig knew she could do more.
“Our timing was good, but as we realized after opening on a Monday with full-page newspaper ads, we had 11 competitors with a foot already in the door,” says Craig. “We knew the competition was there, but were surprised at how strong they were in terms of advertising. We realized that we had to do something different.”
Craig turned to her food, something which she knew she could easily improve to put her company above the rest. “That's when we started researching frozen dinners and found that no other company was offering frozen dinners on the premises,” she says. “Weight Watchers had frozen dinners in the supermarket, but they were not part of their program.”
Whether it was turning to frozen dinners or canned foods, Craig did what she could to make her merchandise stand out. But what really made her company stand out was the fact that it offered merchandise at all. Craig set new industry standards by creating a weight loss program that focused on more than just working out, and in doing so, capitalized on a new trend.
Lesson #2: Why Offer Just A Product Or Service When You Can Offer Both?
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