Question

What if you could have a high quality kitchen knife that would last forever? Look no further than Cutco. Cutco began manufacturing knives in Olean, New York in 1949 when Alcoa Corp and Case Cutlery formed a joint venture to begin creating high quality cutlery. Since then, the company has grown to become a nationally recognized brand known for its high quality, American made products. All Cutco knives come with a “Forever Guarantee” that allows customers to have their knives serviced for free, regardless of when the knives were purchased, so the knives can be passed from generation to generation.

Since 1949, Cutco has used a direct sales channel. In 1981, Vector was founded in Philadelphia as the sales division. It has grown to over 250 district sales offices. The Vector page 396 management team at Vector started as sales representatives. Cutco’s direct sales force, largely college students looking to make extra money during the summer, learn how to manage their time, how to interface with others, and how to express unique product attributes which set Cutco apart from the competition. There are two models of direct selling compensation: multilevel and single level marketing. Multilevel compensation means direct sellers earn commission from their own sales as well as commissions from those they have recruited and trained. Cutco uses a single level method of compensation, which means the sales representatives only earn a commission on the sales they make, and they do not recruit other sales representatives.

While the driver of the Cutco distribution model is direct selling, it has begun to experiment with different sales methods. For example, Cutco has opened 16 retail locations since 2005 in order to give existing customers a place to service their knives while allowing potential customers a place to view and handle its products. These stores are focused on giving a “Cutco experience” where customers can try out knives or take classes on cooking, floral arrangements, gardening, and more. The stores also offer more than 100 kinds of kitchen cutlery products in addition to its knives such as utensils, kitchen shears, flatware, cookware, and a full line of sporting knives.

Cutco is proud of its history and heritage as an American knife manufacturer. Quality and fair treatment of employees and the community are first and foremost the priorities for the company. Cutco’s knife blades are made from a high carbon stainless steel, which goes through a 3-stage heat treatment process to ensure that blades can take a sharp edge, maximize their resistance to corrosion, and won’t snap under pressure. All knives have “full-tang construction,” which means that the blade’s metal extends all the way through the handle of the knife to create stability. The handles are made from an acetal copolymer thermo-resin, which gives the handles high strength, toughness, and resistance to abrasion. Rivets that hold the handle together are made of a nickel-silver alloy that doesn’t expand or contract from heat. This process creates a high quality knife that is built to last. However, wear and tear is inevitable, so customers can get their knives serviced at any time.

Cutco, which has manufactured its product in Olean, New York since it was created in 1949, is now one of the few American cutlery companies to keep manufacturing in the U.S. Cutco’s American made commitment has not always been easy to abide by. After the company entered the flatware business, its American supplier went bankrupt and closed down its operation. All other flatware manufacturing was outside of the United States. In an unparalleled commitment to American jobs and American-made knives, Cutco purchased the fabricating equipment for its stainless table knives and insourced the product into its own factory in Olean. The company takes pride in the town of Olean where it has around 650 full-time employees. James Stitt, Executive Chairman, came to Olean in 1975 to work for Cutco. His son, James Stitt, Jr., joined the company in 1997 and is currently the President and CEO. Before letting his son take over the company, Stitt Sr. ensured that his son remained committed to the town which relies heavily on Cutco since it employs many of Olean’s citizens. Corey Wiktor, The Executive Director of the Cattaraugus County Industrial Development Agency, described Cutco as “. . . the lifeblood of Cattaraugus County and the Southern Tier.”

Thanks to Cutco’s high quality products and unique business model, it is a nationally recognized brand for cutlery that is synonymous with quality. Cutco continues to expand its product offerings and has begun complimenting its direct sales distribution with retail and Internet sales. Even with its evolving marketing strategy, the high quality of its knives and its commitment to direct sales has remained constant since Cutco began in 1949.⁵⁹

Please summarize

• Please summarize
• name two traditional promotional strategies (exclude direct sales) and say why these channels are the best options to move the product from a "push" to "pull strategy."
• Name three digital communication channels and explain how a marketing managing strategies to communicate the benefits and positive attributes of both the product and the company.
• List a series of positive attributes that both the product and the organization exhibit and that can be marketable.

Answer 1

Ans 1

The case is about Cutco, an American Knife manufacturer based in Olean, New York. It was established in 1949 as the result of a joint venture. The brand's known nationally for its high quality products which come with "forever guarantees" that allow customers to avail free servicing of their knives, literally forever. The company continues to expand its product offerings (it offers over 100 kinds of kitchen cutlery products besides knives). It has also started complimenting its traditional marketing/sales/promotions practices (viz. direct sales distribution) with retail and Internet sales.

Ans 2

A push strategy is where you try to market your wares by pushing them into the market (i.e. at customers). A pull strategy is where the customer comes to you, of his/her own accord, directly instead.

The traditional promotional strategies I recommend are-

• Word of Mouth Marketing - Works wonders if it’s positive. Such communication often drives consumer judgements of products/services more strongly than other promotions.
• Billboard advertising - As they say- "A-picture's-worth-a-thousand-words". Billboards located in the right places might attract the right audience to retail centers.

Ans 3

The three channels could be-

• Content Marketing - Having a web site and/or promoting the brand on other Internet media is a great way to engage the right audience. Relevant, high-quality content on these media can generate a lot of inbound traffic from the target audiences
• Social Media Marketing - Messages may be designed to reach out to the highly targeted, potential, customers via direct and/or person-to-person engagement.
• TV - Adverts with strong messages featuring popular celebrities (e.g. well-known Chefs), may strongly attract people

Ans 4

Product Attributes-

• Stability from "full-tang construction"
• Sharp blades, resistant to corrosion
• Strong, tough handles resistant to abrasion
• Nickel-silver alloy based rivets that are heat proof
• Forever guarantee and free service

Organisation Attributes-

• Long history and heritage as an American knife-manufacturer.
• Quality and fair treatment of employees/community
• High quality products and unique business model
• Variety of offerings
• Cutco Experience (customers can try out the knives, take cooking lessons, floral arrangement lessons, gardening lessons, and much more).