Taste Advertising, Branding, Packaging has relocated its office to Palm Desert, CA. Effective October 6th, our new office address and phone number is:
78206 Varner Rd. Suite D #111
Palm Desert, CA 92211
Phone: 760-200-0730
What’s the ultimate fear food brand managers and marketers have about rebranding efforts? That in spite of their best intentions, sales drop after the rebranding initiative. There can be many rewards born out of a successful rebranding program, but there are risks to be considered. It is a delicate balance between attracting new consumers with a new, refreshed food brand and packaging, and maintaining the consumer base who identify with the existing brand and packaging graphics.
Let’s look at some of the risks associated with a food rebranding program and how to mitigate them:
1. Core Brand Equities: Every food brand has core equities, those elements that separate a brand from its competitors. Core brand equities include the brand and product names, brand logo, color scheme, product photos, and any other unique characteristics. Food brand managers and marketers don’t want to lose any of them in a rebranding effort because they create the tie between brand recognition and brand trust. While meeting the objectives of rebranding, be aware of the risks of straying too far from core brand equities and creating a brand/package that consumers do not completely recognize and identify at the shelf level. If consumers feel unsure about a brand they thought they knew, they may well start drifting to competing brands.
2. Packaging Design Distractions: Packaging design distractions are legacy elements that were relevant when the packaging was originally designed, but no longer support the brand. These brand distractions create barriers that keep consumers from seeing other more relevant information. To be competitive at the shelf level, food brands must effectively communicate with consumers. In a rebranding effort, it is important to assess all of the packaging messages and eliminate the distractions that no longer bring value to the brand. On the other hand, it is equally important to retain those messages that are still relevant in a graphic presentation that consumers will recognize as part of the brand.
3. Brand Enhancers: Frequently a rebranding effort and new packaging design are driven by the need to call out new unique brand and product features and benefits, brand enhancers. These brand enhancers can result from the evolution of food product formulation or market trends that change the way consumers view and shop for products within the brand’s category. A clear definition of the brand enhancers will help ensure that the rebranding effort moves the brand forward while not losing touch with the brand’s consumer base.
4. Purchase Path: A clear understanding of how consumers shop for products within a given food product category and what the key purchase decision criteria are play an important role in brand/packaging recognition within the retail environment. A rebranding effort should reinforce shopper behavior by placing critical messages in familiar places on packaging and in a hierarchy of relevance to consumers.
There are risks and rewards inherent in any change, and food product rebranding is no exception. The key to success is understanding the risks, maintaining the brand’s core equities, and appreciating that retaining existing consumers while attracting new ones can, to some extent, create opposing choices for food brand managers and marketers.
Food labeling and packaging will continue to be highly scrutinized throughout 2014 as the FDA comes to terms with the Food Safety and Modernization Act. The growing consumer interest in food labels, ingredients, and claims will also drive packaging changes. Food marketers need to closely monitor these trends with respect to possible changes to their product formulations and packaging:
GMOs: A growing number of consumers seem to be focused on this issue and some food producers are beginning to respond on their own. In a high profile example, General Mills original Cheerios packaging now carries a “Not Made With Genetically Modified Ingredients” statement, and other large food marketers are considering similar moves to distance themselves from GMOs. No matter what perspective a food producer may have on the GMO topic, it is a trend they need to pay attention to.
Natural: It seems that everyone, food consumers and producers alike, want a clear definition of this term so that the playing field is leveled on this one. As class-action lawsuits abound regarding this claim, there has been a constant volley between the courts and the FDA over who should define this term. The FDA has certainly been reluctant to expand on its current natural statement, and for that reason food marketers need to carefully monitor this issue.
Nutrition Facts: Consumers have been vocal about wanting nutritional information “front and center” on packaging. In 2011, the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) and the Food Marketing Institute (FMI) jointly initiated Facts Up Front, and the GMA has indicated that approximately 80% of products from participating manufacturers will adopt Facts Up Front by the end of 2014. Whether this system or some other proposal for “front and center” nutrition facts is pursued, food marketers need to stay on top of this trend.
Food Label Dates: This issue is receiving attention from many quarters. The National Resource Defense Council has focused on food label dates from the perspective of food waste. Consumers simply want to know how long a food product is safe to consume. Although the FDA and the USDA regulate food label dates, they don’t define any date terms, leaving that task to individual States. With all the attention food waste is currently receiving, food marketers can surely expect some changes with respect to label dates.
For food marketers, packaging is an important marketing tool that can make or break consumer purchase decisions at the shelf level. The trends everyone in the industry is following could result in some mandated changes, but savvy food marketers may want to be proactive and make some changes on their own right now to stay ahead of the curve.
When it comes to the question of how to use color in branding and packaging design, there are no right or wrong answers. It’s really a matter of understanding the psychological effects of specific colors and matching those effects through the selection of color to achieve branding and marketing objectives. Simply put, there is science to help guide the selection of color in branding and packaging design.
The response to color has been widely studied in humans and there is empirical data on the common human responses to specific colors. Here are eight colors, including black and white which are not technically colors, and how they have been used in food branding and packaging design.
RED: This is the show-stopper of color and the most emotive one. Red attracts human attention more than any other color, and elicits both positive and negative emotions, ranging from passion and love to danger and aggression. It is widely used in branding and packaging design, primarily to attract attention in visually cluttered retail environments and within crowded product categories. Red is a popular color among foodservice brands (McDonalds, Pizza Hut among many others) and within the crowded product categories such as beverages (Coca-Cola for example).
GREEN: The emotional associations are clear here…fresh, natural, wholesome. Green is a common theme throughout the branding and packaging of products marketed as organic and natural, as well as branded produce products. The fresh aspect of green has been used in foodservice branding (Subway, Soup Plantation for example) where the marketing pitch is focused on fresh ingredients and freshly made. It is no surprise that the branding of Whole Foods markets is wrapped in green.
YELLOW: Interestingly, of all the colors, yellow is the one that the human eye processes first, making it the most visible color in the spectrum. In recent years, emergency vehicles have adopted yellow over red because the eye recognizes yellow faster. This, no doubt, explains the prevalent use of yellow in QSR branding, as so many roadside foodservice brands vie for the attention of passing motorists. Yellow has been widely used in food packaging design, but very often as an accent color…just enough to grab attention away from competitors. Yellow is also associated with sunshine and elicits the emotion of happiness, which explains why it is widely used on snack food packaging.
ORANGE: Orange is very close to yellow on the color spectrum and is also one of the first colors the eye recognizes. In addition, it is a bright color, so it shares some of the attention getting properties of red. The emotions most commonly associated with orange are action, adventure, and vitality. Brands that use orange want to position themselves as friendly, engaging, and adventurous, as evident in its use in foodservice (Hooters, for example) and some high profile non-food brands (Harley-Davidson).
BLUE: Blue is the color most often cited as “my favorite color” in surveys. It is an earth tone associated with water and sky, both calming and peaceful earth elements. For this reason, blue is a particularly popular color in the branding of many non-food products and services (insurance companies like Allstate, Metlife, and financial institutions such as American Express and Bank of America). Blue is a commonly used color in the branding and packaging of fish/seafood products, but that color association is probably more environmental than emotional.
BROWN: Brown is another earth tone and not a particularly popular color. However, its subtle messages of dependable, trustworthy, practical, and natural can be very useful in food branding and packaging design. Brown has been used frequently with green in marketing products with organic and natural product claims. When used sparingly, it can reinforce the notion of healthy goodness (several whole wheat pasta brands incorporate brown into their packaging design, and as do a variety of other grain and cereal products).
BLACK: The color black, technically the absorption of all of the colors of the spectrum, is most often used in branding and packaging design as a contrast to other colors to make them “pop”. Black does have some important associations, in terms of branding and packaging, including formality, tradition, simplicity, and elegance. Upscale food brands and packaging have used black as a predominate color, but even using small amounts of black accents can achieve the same messaging objectives of elegance and upscale.
WHITE: White is technically the reflection of all of the colors of the spectrum and has strong symbolic significance in many cultures. It is the “color” of purity, equality, goodness, and perfection. In graphic design, white is thought of less as a color and more as open or white space to be filled with other colors and graphic elements. Making effective use of white space can emphasize brand elements and create a simplistic, uncluttered feel to logos and packaging design. In an era of heightened consumer interest in”clean” labels and product formulations, more white space is appearing on product packaging in many food and beverage categories.
Great food products deserve to be showcased in well designed, attractive packaging. While food product design and formulation are the first order of business, some marketers remain focused on that aspect of bringing a product to market without giving enough consideration to actually packaging the product…package configuration, materials, design, graphics, photos, and messaging.
Here are some tips for designing food packaging that sells:
1. Focus on the target audience: identify your core consumers, those who buy the largest share of your product and products in your category. Packaging design and messaging should speak primarily to those consumers, your product/brand loyalists. They are most likely to re-purchase your product and share their product experiences with family and friends via social media.
2. Sell the product and the brand: successful food packaging represents the product well with professional product and serving suggestion photography, appealing packaging graphics, and relevant product information. Selling the brand is equally important in building consumer trust and loyalty, and packaging design needs to communicate the brand’s value proposition and market position.
3. Consider the retail environment: one of the first things product category buyers look at in food packaging is how it will fit within their retail environment and schematics. Packaging size, configuration, facings, and material all need to work well within the product category environment. Your product won’t get into shopping carts if it never gets on the self. It is a good idea to talk with buyers within your product category as you are developing your packaging.
4. Take into account distribution and handling: another important aspect of retail food packaging design is how well it will travel through distribution channels and in-store handling practices to get to the shelf. Packaging design needs to encompass the protective packaging so that travel and storage maintain the integrity of product packaging. Materials, sizes, and configurations all need to be considered from the perspective of efficient and effective protective packaging.
5. Make it shop-able: Consumers compare brands in a matter of seconds in retail environments and effective packaging design enables consumers to quickly find product claims and attributes. Shop-ability in packaging design means that consumers are able to find key product claims where they expect them to be, and make the product comparisons that are inherent in consumer choice.
6. Don’t forget in-home functionality: Consumers want packaging that is easy to handle, re-sealable for easy use/reuse, and convenient to store at home. Packaging design must not only fit the requirements of the product, it must fit the functionality requirements and expectations of consumers once the product is used and stored at home.
Developing food packaging is a team effort. The first step is choosing a food packaging design specialist who understands the unique requirements and regulations associated with packaging food in any food category. Food packaging design specialists will be able to assemble a packaging development team, including packaging/label printers, appropriate for a specific food category. Working together, they can create great food packaging that great food products deserve.
Developing a brand name has evolved into a very complex process that extends way beyond the cultural and geographic boundaries of the country in which the brand name originated. Developing a brand name now encompasses consideration of many more factors than in the day of “Mad Men”…pre-Internet.
The ultimate goal in developing a food brand name is to create an emotional connection with consumers that can be leveraged in all forms of advertising from logo/identity and packaging to promotional materials, print and online advertising, websites, and social media. Brand names represent a significant portion of the total value of a brand, in the case of Coca Cola it is estimated to account for approximately 30% of shareholder value. Considering the potential longevity and value of a brand name, here is a checklist of the most important considerations in brand name development:
1. Trademark. For the short list of proposed brand names, is the trademark available in applicable trademark categories? It is definitely worth the effort to do this search first before proceeding any further in developing the brand.
2. URL. For the short list of proposed brand names, is the URL, or reasonable derivations, of the brand name available in both .com and .net? While you may choose to use only one extension, you want to control the other so that in the future some enterprising individual does not buy the alternate domain and try to sell it back to you. It is equally important to also perform this task before proceeding any further in developing the brand.
3. Pronunciation. Is the proposed brand name easy to pronounce in its native language? Many brands have been tripped up on this one. If consumers have difficulty or are uncomfortable pronouncing a brand name, they won’t and that does not foster brand building. Food brands need consumers to talk about them, the more the better.
4. No negatives. Are there any negative pronunciation issues or other negative phonetic impacts in other languages? We live in a global community with many languages other than the native one that are spoken or at least comprehended. The classic example is Chevy Nova, “no go” in Spanish, a misguided brand name for a car.
5. Memorable. Is the proposed brand name memorable and easy to recall? Choosing a brand name with a strong tie to the brand promise is an important consideration in creating consumer recall.
6. Differentiation. Does the proposed brand name differentiate the brand from its competitors? Within the food industry, many product categories are very crowded and creating differentiation among brand names can be challenging, but the effort will be rewarded in building the brand.
7. Reinforces. Does the proposed brand name reinforce the brand’s story and promise? The stronger the connection between the brand and its promise, the easier it will be to build the brand and maintain a consistent brand message.
8. Translates. Does the proposed brand name translate to a visual metaphor? A brand’s logo is its visual metaphor and the brand name needs to translate to a visual mark that will resonate with consumers.
9. Relevance. Will the proposed brand name retain its relevance over time? Brands with substantial longevity may need a refresh from time to time, but those brand names retain their relevance relative to the brand’s message and to its consumer audience.
Creating a new food brand name…where does the inspiration come from? There are many approaches to take in creating a food brand name and each has its upsides and downsides. In the end, however, it is important to understand that whatever brand name is chosen, it must be unique, distinctive, memorable, and most importantly…ownable. It is equally important to remember that a name is only one aspect of the total brand experience and it will be the layers of brand story, presentation, and meaning that will build the brand.
Here are some approaches that can be used to create a new food brand name:
1. Invented names. These are made-up words…think Eggo or Kleenex for example. Inventing a name has several upsides: they are definitely unique and create differentiation in the market. They are a blank branding canvas in that these words do not carry any emotional baggage or associations. In the digital space, URL’s of these names are more likely to be available. The biggest downside is the time it may take consumers to associate a word they have never seen or heard with the product…it takes a little more patience to market invented brand names. The most important caveat is to make sure that the name is not difficult to say or spell.
2. Functional/descriptive names. These are totally literal brand names…think Pizza Hut or Weed B Gon for example. These are the simplest forms of brand names, but with some creative tweeking, they can become unique and memorable. The biggest upside for functional brand names is that consumers know immediately what the brand delivers in terms of product purpose, and all that remains is to build brand awareness and a positive brand experience.
3. Associative/image based names. These names evoke a personal response…think Red Bull or Mustang. Associative/image based brand names rely on the response mechanism of consumers to associate the brand name with an image that encompasses the brand. These names are often metaphors for the functionality of the brand and build on the emotional needs of the target audience. The one caveat to remember with these types of brand names is to make sure that the brand name does not conjure up negative emotions, images, and responses. This is particularly relevant for global brands that have to play well in many cultures and languages.
4. Provenance based names. These names are associated with the origin of the brand…think Evian or American Airlines. These brand names are associated with their geography or history, their origin or provenance, and that association has a high value in terms of marketability. If the provenance is somewhat obscure, but still very relevant, it may take a greater brand building effort to educate consumers about the provenance of the brand name.
4. Abbreviations/initials based brand names. These names are simplified or truncated versions of brand names…think BMW rather than Bavarian Motor Works. These brand names are often created when descriptive names are awkward or have lost their context and importance. It is not uncommon for brand names of provenance to eventually be reduced down to an abbreviation. It is important to make sure that the abbreviation does not inadvertently spell a word or have a double meaning that would be detrimental to the brand.
5. Founder brand names. As suggested, these names are based on the brand’s founder…think Smucker’s or Newman’s Own. Founder brand names evoke a sense of trust in consumers, but only if the founder’s reputation is impeccable. A famous founder, such as Paul Newman, has the same or greater value as a celebrity endorsement. There is one caveat to consider in basing a brand on the founder’s name and that is if some future event clouds the founder’s reputation, the entire brand can suffer by name association.
Food packaging sells…it’s most often the first “ad” consumers see for products. Whether your product is a new start-up or an existing product with some shelf life, if you are not fully utilizing your packaging as a sales tool, you’re missing a huge opportunity. This is particularly important since packaging is advertising space, or media, that you already own.
In today’s hyper-competitive retail environment, food and beverage product packaging is an essential element in any successful go-to-market strategy. Studies have indicated that consumers give a food product package 5-7 seconds of their attention at the shelf level. That’s not much time to sell, so it’s extremely important that packaging design considers every aspect of consumer interaction. Here are some tips to consider in designing food packaging to maximize sell opportunities.
GRAB SOME ATTENTION. Packaging is typically the first visual and tactile experience consumers have with a product. It needs to convey the essence of the brand and the nature of the product inside. To effectively do that in the retail environment, packaging needs to excite. From the physical configuration to the graphics and color schemes, great packaging design grabs and holds consumer attention. Consumers seem to equate pleasing or interesting packaging with product quality, so in a sense, packaging is the gift wrap. At holidays and birthdays, there is a reason why we grab one gift first over all the others to open…it excites or intrigues us.
TALK TO CONSUMERS. Grabbing attention is only the beginning in great packaging design. Once you’ve got consumers’ attention, it’s time to communicate. For food and beverage packaging, there is some information mandated by regulatory agencies and experienced food packaging designers know what to do to satisfy these requirements. The rest of the packaging is a blank slate to be filled with relevant brand and product information that resonates with consumers. This is an opportunity to advertise, but always respect the patience of your consumers and only give them information they can use. Well written packaging copy is as important as packaging visuals in winning consumers to your brand and product.
INTEGRATING PACKAGING AND PRODUCT. Many food and beverage products require reusable packaging, and that creates another opportunity to win over consumers from competitors. Packaging materials, configurations, and functionality are important to consumers. A recent consumer survey regarding food and beverage packaging indicated that consumers place a high value on packaging that preserves product freshness and is reusable. In fact, 60% of respondents said they would pay premium prices for products in packaging that keeps food fresher longer, and 50% place a high value on packaging that is easy to re-use. It appears that investing in easy-to-use packaging configurations and materials that maintain product integrity is as important as the attention grabbing graphics and engaging packaging copy.
It appears that most stakeholders in the the nutrition facts label conversation agree that updates are overdo. The devil, of course, is in the details. Which facts need to be updated, added, or deleted? How should they be presented graphically? In addition to the agenda of better informing consumers so that they can make better food choices, from the food marketers’ perspective there is an additional agenda: branding.
While the nutritional facts label on food packaging is mandated both in content and graphic presentation, and does not relate to an individual product brand, the nutrition facts label has become a brand in and of itself. Consumers recognize it, have learned to read it, and have formed a comfort with its familiarity, even if they would like some changes to the information. The question becomes: how far should the FDA go in updating the label, in light of the “brand” that consumers are familiar with?
Consumers want product information at the shelf level that they can find and consume quickly, usually in a matter of seconds. Familiarity with the navigation of food packaging, and the nutrition facts label in particular, is extremely important in consumer acceptance of change. The USDA released a study in January, 2014 that indicates that 42% of working age adults between 29 and 68 read nutrition facts labels most or all of the time when food shopping. That is an increase from the 2007 data that indicated 34% of working age adults read the nutrition facts label of food and beverage products most or all of the time.
With growing consumer interest in nutritional values of foods and beverages, changes to the nutrition facts label needs to consider both the information consumers are looking for and the format in which the information is provided. There is brand equity in the existing label, that like the brand equity in a product identity, has value, and the question in any re-branding effort is: how far to go….minor adjustments that don’t take the consumer too far away from the familiar original, or a major overhaul? It is important to consider consumer shopping behavior and the need to provide relevant nutrition facts that can be quickly read. If the objective is to get more consumers making better food choices, their point of reference, the nutrition facts label, should make it easier for them.
Nutrition Facts Label/Table – Proposed Changes to Content and Presentation (FDA 2-27-14)
Graphic: Wall Street Journal/FDA
If anyone ever doubted the power of branding, here’s an Olympic tale.
McDonald’s is the official Olympic sponsor and purveyor of food and beverages within the Olympic village. That means anyone seeking a hot cup of java or a specialty coffee or tea drink has to patronize the village McDonald’s.
The NBC broadcast crew, some 2500 of them, have access to a private, covert Starbucks courtesy of NBC corporate for the sole benefit of its onsite crew. The beverages are free to all crew members, so there is no selling going on here. The Starbucks is located within the NBC broadcast center and without the proper credentials, no one can access this equally well-known purveyor of coffee and tea beverages. According to the IOC, no sponsorship rules are being violated here.
Here’s the power of branding part. Starbucks certainly has its fans and devotees, and given a choice, they would always purchase Starbucks over any other brand. So, when they can’t find a Starbucks within the Olympic village, but they see Starbucks cups walking around in the hands of individuals, their coffee brand sense is put on high alert. They start following the cups to find the coffee. To their frustration, they can’t cross the threshold into the NBC broadcast center to access their favorite coffee brand…Starbucks.
While Starbucks can’t profit directly from this brand tale, they have certainly confirmed the power of their brand and justified the investment they have made in branding. To be clear, this post in no way suggests that McDonald’s does not enjoy an equally enormous brand loyalty itself, nor that they don’t serve a good cup of joe too.
#starbucks #starbucksatsochi #coffeeatolympics #mcdonaldscoffeeolympics #mcdonalds #nbcsportsolympics
Whether it’s the food industry or any other, the budget talk between clients and their marketing/creative partners can take many twists and turns. Some clients are very open about their marketing budgets and the objectives they hope to achieve. Others play it “close to the vest” and prefer not to share marketing budget information with creative partners. We’d like to suggest that being open with marketing/creative partners about budgets and expectations is a much more successful approach in building a mutually beneficial partnership, and this is why:
1. Good partnerships are built on open, honest communication. Clients are looking for creative partners they can trust and confide in during the course of working together on marketing initiatives. That means open and honest communication about all of the information relevant to the effort, including budget. If a budget has not been established, that’s fine….good creative partners will work with clients to establish marketing budgets commensurate with the scope of work and objectives to be met. If you are not comfortable sharing an established budget number/range with your creative partner, maybe the partnership is not a good fit. Sharing budget information upfront allows marketing/creative partners the opportunity to structure creative solutions that meet client objectives within the budget allocated. Everyone feels more confident in the partnership moving forward.
2. Not sharing budget information can lead to wrong assumptions. Your marketing/creative partner will have to “fill-in the blanks” in preparing a proposal. Making assumptions for the sake of arriving at a number serves neither the client nor the creative partner well. Much time can be wasted in this guessing game, time that could be spent working on solutions to advance the client’s marketing objectives. If a budget has not been established because a client cannot determine the cost of the scope of work without input from the creative partner, then work together to define the scope of work and set a budget. This is a far more productive approach to budgeting than working through a series of wrong assumptions.
3. A good creative partner will work within an established budget. There are many options available to meet stated marketing objectives. A good creative partner will suggest solutions that are financially appropriate within an established budget. Likewise, a good creative partner will advise at the outset if a budget is really not adequate to meet a client’s stated objectives and both can work to find a solution by adjusting the scope of work and/or incrementally increasing the budget. A good marketing/creative partner will agree to an established budget upfront and, as long as the scope of work does not change, will work within that budget.
Choosing a great creative partner should be based on their creative talent, skill set, and experience. Once you have trust in a marketing/creative partner’s capabilities, it is far more productive to collaborate with them on budgeting, than to select another firm solely based on cost.
Of all the assets any food marketer owns, hands down the most valuable is its brand. While all the other tangibles such as processing equipment, physical plants, delivery fleets, furniture, fixtures, and so on, depreciate over time, a well managed brand appreciates over time. Yet, in many organizations, brands are viewed as simply the logo art that resides in the marketing department.
To change that perspective, food marketers need to think of the term brand as synonymous with reputation. Every product package, every marketing piece, advertising, online presence, the individual and collective actions of the brand’s owners and employees, all of these build a reputation that influences consumer perception, trust, and ultimately purchase decisions.
A recent study from Weber Shandwick and KRC Research underscores the connection of brand value and reputation, and strongly suggests that corporate reputation is as important as product branding in consumer purchasing decisions. The research included over 1,300 consumer interviews and input from over 500 senior corporate executives from firms with revenue of at least $500 million annually. Seventy percent of respondents indicated that they avoid purchasing a brand’s product if they dislike the company that owns the brand and 70% indicated that they are increasingly looking for parent company identification on product packaging. Further, over 50% stated that they hesitate to buy a branded product when they were unable to locate a parent company name or identity on packaging.
Brands can quickly depreciate with a couple of missteps, and even well managed brands can suffer an occasional misstep. Building a solid positive reputation and brand over time can help any brand better manage the fallout from any misstep…it is human nature to more easily forgive someone who has been known to be trustworthy in the past.
Food brands are born out of a commitment of resources to create the face of a product. The investment is not just limited to capital in its creation and promotion, it also includes the time needed to build awareness and trust. Without proper care and feeding, food brands can’t serve the purpose for which they were created.
Just how should brand owners properly manage their brands to achieve their goals? Here are some important tips for the care and feeding of food brands:
1. Consistency. The best known food brands have spent years building consumer awareness and trust, and this has been achieved by consistency in the presentation and messaging of the brand across all platforms. These brands have a clear definition of their values which enables them to stay on message point whether it’s packaging design, consumer promotional efforts, websites, social media or B2B marketing. There are no mixed messages on these brand faces.
2. Compliance. Part of the investment in developing a brand is developing a set of brand rules that enable all stakeholders to use the brand within the same guidelines. While a brand’s face may be used by many stakeholders for many different purposes, the face must remain the same to preserve the integrity, and in some cases the legal status, of the brand in the long run.
3. Control. This is one of the biggest challenges for food brands today. While brand owners may have achieved consistency in brand presentation and compliance among stakeholders in brand use, control of external brand use and exposure is extremely difficult in the digital environment. Brand owners need to establish procedures for brand management that include a dedicated team to monitor and immediately respond to challenges to the brand face, whether it’s an unhappy consumer or an unfortunate circumstance. The brand face must be continuously protected to maintain its value and integrity.
Whether a food brand is a fresh new face or a well known global face, investing in brand asset management is an integral part of brand development. Brands do not survive for long on their own…they need to be properly cared for.
Consumers are shopping more for healthy alternatives in the grocery aisles and food packaging can make it easier for them. According to the 19th annual FMI survey “Shopping for Health”, consumers are becoming more informed on eating healthy and they’re reading food packaging for claims that support their health concerns.
The top health claims that attract consumers to particular food brands and products are varied. The top concern is heart health (73%) , followed closely by wanting more energy (71%), digestive health concerns (66%) and improving mind/brain function (65%). The more prominent these claims, substantiated by product ingredients, the more that consumers appear to be influenced by on -pack claims. Not that long ago, consumer surveys suggested that food and beverage product choices were being influenced more by claims of what was not in products… sugar -free, no trans or saturated fats, etc.
Food and beverage marketers need to pay particular attention to consumers responses to packaging and prominence of product claims. Most consumers indicated that they do read food labels, but that audience share has dropped from 71% in 2007 to 64% in this recent survey. Interestingly, consumers may be reading labels less, but they are buying more food products with certain label/packaging characteristics, primarily what is in the product versus what is not in the product. This proactive approach to food and nutrition is evidenced by what consumers say they are looking for on food packaging:
Packaging design has always been an important element in the branding and marketing of food products. These survey results help point food marketers in the right direction in terms of the packaging information that consumers are looking for when they grocery shop and where on packaging they expect to find it.
During the holiday season a couple of years ago, Coca-Cola found out just how iconic its packaging really is when consumers complained about being confused by regular variety Coke holiday packaging. In an effort to support the World Wildlife Fund to celebrate polar bears, the company introduced new white cans for its regular Coke variety for the holidays. The problem? To consumers this holiday promotional packaging design looked very much like Diet Coke’s silver packaging and many consumers bought the wrong product. Other consumers were perplexed because they couldn’t find the Regular Coke red cans.
Consumers really do use packaging design as an in-store reference in grabbing the products they want to buy. Comments from Coke loyalists flew fast and furious after the launch of that special holiday packaging design, which should give food and beverage marketers pause. Packaging really is one of the most potent tools for branding and marketing food and beverage products.