What Can Factories Show to Pique the Interests of Consumers?
In an era of the general public being inundated with different kinds of museums displaying a wide variety of exhibits, for any to really stand out from the competitive crowd, new methods are needed to draw in the interest of potential museum-goers. Factory tours, at the first glance, fit the bill extremely well. But presenting how everyday products are made from scratch via seeing the process actually at work in a normal setting, factor tours tend to provide a much more interactive experience for the general public, in ways that static displays of words and pictures cannot.
And some museum tours use various devices to draw in customers that regular museums cannot. Factories producing drinks can provide free samples as part of the tour, and food producers can also hand out edible samples of their products. The cost of handing out products is greatly outweighed by the returns, where children and adults excited by the prospects of tasting different kinds of products, many of which not sold in regular stores, on the premises of where they are produced can be an effective way for the factory tours to market themselves to the general public.
That said, factory tours are not often as popular as they might seem. The fact that factories, given their large areas and, to some, aesthetically unappealing nature, are necessarily located physically far away from major urban centers where most potential visitors reside. Unless the factories themselves are willing to put together dedicated transportation for visitors, those who come will be limited by those who have their personal cars and are willing to spend precious hours transporting themselves to the middle of nowhere just for a short factory tour. In any major cities, full of attractions in themselves, not too many people would be willing.
Moreover, it is only a few well-known factories that can make the tour business model work. Many people are willing to sample chocolates, chips, alcohol, and soft drinks, but perhaps far fewer are interested in condiments, jeans, and machinery parts. For many would-be tour participants, if the product being displayed are not exciting, and there are little prospects of getting edible free samples, the idea of trekking out to faraway factories would certainly be considered a waste of time. Hence, even if factory tours are a hit with some firms, it is not a business model that can easily be replicated elsewhere.
As for the tours themselves, the factory tour operators need to consider just how much nitty-gritty of the factory processes to actually show tour-goers without getting them bored. As would be expected, visitors to factories would want to get an authentic experience where they would want to see the step-by-step process of the product being made. But many would also not want to be too technically involved to the point of being presented what is clearly beyond the layman's comprehension. Factory tours, then, would need to be detailed enough to be "authentic" but also simple enough for easy understanding.
It would not be an easy balance to strike. Every visitor is different, with a different understanding of the product and industrial process before entering the factory and different expectations of how long they want to spend on the grounds and what they want to learn out of the tours. Some clearly just want to have free foods and drinks offered at the end of the tour, while skipping over the minute details of the manufacturing process. Catering to such a diverse clientele require factory tours to be highly flexible, not only in content but how clients can guide themselves around the visitable premises.
It is ultimately a question of how much the factory is willing to open up the "backend" to visitors. If the tours are too detached from the actual manufacturing plants, it would be little different from "ordinary" museums where exhibits are simply displayed, taking away the whole point for people to visit factories. Display too much and the firm risk turning off customers who are unprepared for the noisiness, dirtiness, technicality, and even mundaneness of factory work. Perhaps they expected to be wowed by the scale of production, but seeing the factory at work in its regular, nonspectacular setting may disappoint them.
Without a doubt, it is admirable that firms branch out into factory tours. They provide additional income streams and free publicity for the products the firms sell. But without closely examining the backgrounds and expectations of the customers who would go all the way to the factories for a peek at the manufacturing process, such tours may have the unintended effects of boring and tiring out the customers who are fed too many unnecessary details without wowing them with scale and free samples. Before companies launch factory tours, what and how much of the factories to show need to be carefully considered.
And some museum tours use various devices to draw in customers that regular museums cannot. Factories producing drinks can provide free samples as part of the tour, and food producers can also hand out edible samples of their products. The cost of handing out products is greatly outweighed by the returns, where children and adults excited by the prospects of tasting different kinds of products, many of which not sold in regular stores, on the premises of where they are produced can be an effective way for the factory tours to market themselves to the general public.
That said, factory tours are not often as popular as they might seem. The fact that factories, given their large areas and, to some, aesthetically unappealing nature, are necessarily located physically far away from major urban centers where most potential visitors reside. Unless the factories themselves are willing to put together dedicated transportation for visitors, those who come will be limited by those who have their personal cars and are willing to spend precious hours transporting themselves to the middle of nowhere just for a short factory tour. In any major cities, full of attractions in themselves, not too many people would be willing.
Moreover, it is only a few well-known factories that can make the tour business model work. Many people are willing to sample chocolates, chips, alcohol, and soft drinks, but perhaps far fewer are interested in condiments, jeans, and machinery parts. For many would-be tour participants, if the product being displayed are not exciting, and there are little prospects of getting edible free samples, the idea of trekking out to faraway factories would certainly be considered a waste of time. Hence, even if factory tours are a hit with some firms, it is not a business model that can easily be replicated elsewhere.
As for the tours themselves, the factory tour operators need to consider just how much nitty-gritty of the factory processes to actually show tour-goers without getting them bored. As would be expected, visitors to factories would want to get an authentic experience where they would want to see the step-by-step process of the product being made. But many would also not want to be too technically involved to the point of being presented what is clearly beyond the layman's comprehension. Factory tours, then, would need to be detailed enough to be "authentic" but also simple enough for easy understanding.
It would not be an easy balance to strike. Every visitor is different, with a different understanding of the product and industrial process before entering the factory and different expectations of how long they want to spend on the grounds and what they want to learn out of the tours. Some clearly just want to have free foods and drinks offered at the end of the tour, while skipping over the minute details of the manufacturing process. Catering to such a diverse clientele require factory tours to be highly flexible, not only in content but how clients can guide themselves around the visitable premises.
It is ultimately a question of how much the factory is willing to open up the "backend" to visitors. If the tours are too detached from the actual manufacturing plants, it would be little different from "ordinary" museums where exhibits are simply displayed, taking away the whole point for people to visit factories. Display too much and the firm risk turning off customers who are unprepared for the noisiness, dirtiness, technicality, and even mundaneness of factory work. Perhaps they expected to be wowed by the scale of production, but seeing the factory at work in its regular, nonspectacular setting may disappoint them.
Without a doubt, it is admirable that firms branch out into factory tours. They provide additional income streams and free publicity for the products the firms sell. But without closely examining the backgrounds and expectations of the customers who would go all the way to the factories for a peek at the manufacturing process, such tours may have the unintended effects of boring and tiring out the customers who are fed too many unnecessary details without wowing them with scale and free samples. Before companies launch factory tours, what and how much of the factories to show need to be carefully considered.
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