susan palombo
managing director and founding partner
Visit a CVS or Target and you'd never know we're facing tough economic times. Stroll the aisles and you'll see record numbers - some 30 percent from 2007 to 2008 - of new products. New shampoos. New cheese puffs. New kitchen gadgets.
Much has been written in the last year about how frequently marketers are changing their mature brands' packaging in order to stand out and shout "new". Yet, even with these changes and the rate of new product introductions at an all time high, "me too" look-alike store brands and lackluster packaging innovations in many categories have created a disappointing sea of sameness. Now is the time for marketers to reclaim their brand's individuality. Indeed, it's time for a brand revolution. Rather, a packaging revolution.
Packaging, the original distinguisher of brands dating back decades, is back in the spotlight as the new frontier for brand innovation. Need proof? Just look at the Method home and personal care line, which by all accounts is packaging brilliance, from their hip and stylish shapes to their rainbow-colored line of modular and funky aroma "pills," to their ergonomic mop kits.
A lot can be learned from Method's inspiring package design that has turned an otherwise ordinary category on its head.
When you answer the fundamental question, "how can I create a better experience in a person's life when they use my product", you discover intrinsic opportunities and fertile ground for brand innovation. For as we know, product fulfills needs and experience fulfills desire. And packaging innovation can create a whole new brand experience for people.
So why don't more marketers design one-of-a-kind packaging that completely captures the consumer and boosts the brand experience?
The short and easy answer is because it costs too much. Overhauling a brand's structural design and product delivery system is complicated and usually means big investments in technology, manufacturing, and engineering. Often, decision-makers and budgets for these projects overlap many departments, each with different priorities, goals, success measures, and cost rationalizations. No wonder companies find it hard to put all the pieces together.
The long answer is that there is no foolproof way to figure out how the investment will return increased brand value and loyalty. In other words, it's tough to do the math.
To simplify the complex calculation about how to best spend marketing dollars, it's time for a change in perspective. Typical marketing expenditures, like advertising, are determined by a "cost per eyeball" formula that justifies the investment needed to spread the word about a brand. This is necessary to some degree. However, consumers today are difficult to pin down, so that number is also increasingly hard to accurately measure.
What if we turned our attention from "cost per eyeball" toward "cost per fingertip"? For example, imagine you sell toothpaste. Most people brush their teeth twice a day. That's 730 brand touches per consumer, per year. If 25 percent of the nation uses your brand, that's more than 50 billion consumer touches a year! Imagine if even a fraction of those people visited your website?
Take that a step further. Now you create a toothpaste dispenser that not only fits seamlessly into your newly remodeled vanity, but squeezes out just enough toothpaste on each toothbrush, with no crusty remnants in the cap or wasted paste clogged at the end of the tube. Oh, the brand loyalty you'd create, right where you want it - in the head, hearts and hands of your consumers.
Packaging innovation builds brand allegiance by providing consumers with tangible benefits that significantly enhance their product experience. And the considerable investment and commitment needed to create distinctive packaging protects companies against imitators. For extra protection, patents can be secured to ensure no one steals your brand's uniqueness. Packaging that provides that degree of benefit and distinction is akin to a new product launch, with similar boosts in new sales and revenues.
Lastly, marketers can even further elevate their brand's appeal by turning toward more eco-friendly packaging. Wasteful products that pollute the environment or leave behind remnants that lie in land fills for centuries are simply uncool. Many retailers, like Wal-Mart and Home Depot, for example, are leading this charge and featuring products that don't harm our planet. The time has come to reengineer packaging so that a brand's nature is not at odds with a green nature.
This brings us back to Method. People feel good when they buy and use brands they love. It's that simple. Every element of the brand must speak to the consumer consistently, emotionally, down to size, shape, color and yes, even the fine print on the label. This makes people happy - and best of all - loyal customers.
Feel free to shout out to Susan at spalombo@ready366.com, or call 212-488-5366.