Old Chang Kee Brand in Singapre

Old Chang Kee is a well-known brand which originated from Singapore where they are a fast food company that manufactures and sells affordable food products. Their famous original signature item is their curry puffs which then expanded to a series of food products. The business is started in 1956 with a small stall in a coffee shop next to Rex Cinema and being a visionary, founder Mr Han manage to make Old Chang Kee a successful household brand. (Group, 2012).

Old Chang Kee is in the food industry for 61 years and their products are targeting all age group from children, youth, adult and elderly crowd; it has over more than 30 food products on their menu and all products are sold thru their kiosk outlets mostly on a takeaway basis. Old Chang Kee reached the maturity stage of its product life cycle where the business growth is stable and products have reached the mass market. During this maturity stage, there are some challenges faced by Old Chang Kee to maintain or expand their market shares and stiff competitor threats (example: Polar Puff, Bengawan Solo, Breadtalk) however because of its extensive and strategic distribution of 76 outlets primarily located at MRT stations & shopping malls in Singapore, this will contribute in stronger sales revenue. Old Chang Kee is able to reduce cost due to the mass production or high volume which will eventually lower the overall raw material and production cost. (Media, 2017). 

Old Chang Kee food products are classified as convenience product or at times it can be considered as impulse product where consumer will required minimal effort and thought to make a purchase. If we breakdown the 5 levels of products in marketing terms, the basic level is core benefit which the product provided- in this case Old Chang Kee products is convenience, accessible easily and affordable. Level 2 product is the basic product of Old Chang Kee which is their signature curry puffs and a range of complimentary products, such as chicken spring rolls, fish balls, squid balls, chicken balls and etc. Expected product is the 3rd level which is the main attribute of the product which made the customer to make the purchase- expectation for Old Chang Kee products is safe, halal and most importantly tasty. Augmented products is the level 4 product which supports the basic products, at times seller will go out of the box to create additional value to create their augmented products, for example Old Chang Kee do offer delivery services by engaging 3rd party delivery services such as Food Panda, Deliveroo and UberEats. Lastly, level 5 products which is potential product; potential products is basically new or improvised or modified products to be roll out in near future to retain market share or stay competitive. (Lancaster & Withey, 2007) For Old Chang Kee case, their potential product is to come up with a new creation of pastries or nyonya food.

In fact Old Chang Kee continuously developing their product mix whereby extending the width and depth of their product, sample of their latest development is their breakfast set and desserts series (as shown below); with their high sales volume and margin expansion, Old Chang Kee is able to widen their selection of products with better margins. All their new products should help the company to grow their revenue.

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Based on research, Old Chang Kee is adopting the marketing penetration approach where they continue to roll out promotion items, offering sales and increase promotion while maintaining competitive pricing (products ranges from $1.50 to $2.50) to increase market share and increase sales revenue. Old Chang Kee is also adapting psychological pricing where it’s pricing are priced strategically by lowering the price a bit to manipulate the consumer to let them believe that they got a good deal or bargain, for example instead of selling $2.00 for 1 stick of squid balls, Old Chang Kee is pricing it at $1.90 or $1.80 (Gray, 2000). Observation also proven that Old Chang Kee also position promotion pricing from time to time (temporary or short term) to increase sales, for example: buy 2 free 1 promotion, bundled promotion.

As mentioned above, in order to retain and increase their market share Old Chang Kee constantly launch seasonal promotions. These promotion banners are typically displayed at their kiosks or shopping mall outlets; distribution of flyers are commonly seen at MRT stations and shopping malls and these flyers will come with coupons. All these coupons can help them to track down which channel of promotion is more successful to draw the crowd; the coupons will also enable them to capture customers buying behavior, for example: most claimed food items, most preferred on-stick items, targeted price customers are willing to buy for certain food items and etc. In the past 2 years Old Chang Kee also leverage on online portals such as sgdeal.com and singpromos.com to carry out their promotion activities. Customers can download and share their screenshot of promotion QR code at the kiosk outlet to enjoy special deals.

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