Tea Time? Not if you can’t find it!

As many of you may (or may not) know, I have a graduate degree in corporate graphics. I studied and researched how companies grow and maintain their brand equities over time while still evolving their brand to reach and resonate with new consumers. I am consistently amazed at how the corporate world tends to embrace an evolutionary strategy, while in packaging, sometimes it is forgotten or disregarded.

Yesterday I went out to purchase my favorite tea. It is only sold at one particular store, so off I went. Once there, in the proper aisle, I began looking for the tea. I looked and looked, asked a clerk, searched again, and then finally found it. Now this package is distinctive, has an ownable color, and is pretty easy to find, but it was gone. I asked a sales associate if they could help, and after 10 minutes, we found the package. It had undergone such a massive transformation and overhaul that it was unrecognizable. So I shook my head, and purchased my tea.

Why do companies do this? Why do brand managers do this? In the over-communicated world we live in, consistency is a good thing. I have seen this happen before to other brands. The brand undergoes a major packaging change and releases it to the shelf without any marketing supportor shelf store signage to help educate the consumer to notice the new look. Then as sales drop, everyone blames the packaging.

Well, that usually is not the reason. With a three second attention span at the shelf, if you can’t find what you are looking for, you look for alternatives. When evolving packaging, I feel strongly that you need to be strategic. Companies need to understand what equities are important and recognizable and what elements can be changed. If an interim step is needed, go ahead and move your brand slowly. It is okay… I give you permission. Yes, it may be a little more expensive, but it is much harder to earn new customers than keep the ones you have.

Is Exposure for the Sake of Exposure Okay?

I’ve just come home from a great 3-day Mindset Retreat from Client Attractions to refine, define and reset your mindset to be more productive, positive and receptive to success.

After being immersed and focused for 3 days and nights, I thrust myself back into reality at 6:00 am as I entered the Fort Lauderdale airport.

Noise, hustle and bustle, rushing and brands all around. Look at this – buy this – everywhere you look. Not the peaceful self-focused days of earlier in the week.

But this is normal stuff. Once on the plane I thought, “Okay – relax and refocus. Then I opened the menu on my Jet Blue flight.

EVERYTHING was branded down to the Claritin brand headrest pillow and Arm & Hammer blanket. WOW! This was crazy! Will a Claratin pillow really help me with my allergies? I don’t think so.

With the proliferation of DVR’s, Netflix and Amazon video, and online news and magazines, advertisers are really trying to get our attention and get their brands back in our faces – everywhere… even without full thought.

Captive audiences, whether in a movie theatre or on a plane, are great places to expose people to brands, but advertisers need to make sure the brand makes sense in the environment where it’s being pitched. Exposure for the sake of exposure – is NOT okay.

This is something I focus on with my clients as we look at appropriate brand extensions, brand growth and breadth. Does it make sense? Does the brand resonate? Does it make the brand message stronger or dilute it? As I stare at the Claritin pillow and Arm & Hammer blanket, I ask myself if this exposure strengthens their brands, and I say, “No.”

Presentation is Everything!

In life, many times it is how you present the message that matters – making a good impression and paying attention to the details shows you care. I find that in life, this works well in business as well as in ones’ kitchen. 

Enjoy this recipe for "Silly Easy Petit Fours."

Are you talking to the right generation?

Today is the first time in history that we have five generations to market to: the Traditionalists, the Baby Boomers, Gen X, Gen Y and the Millennials. As a Gen-Xer myself, sandwiched between all of these people, I find this fascinating.  As a marketer who has spent much of her career in retail, deviating from the traditional 18-65 year old grocery shopper demographic is tough. Grocery, mass merchants and other retailers have to appeal to everyone, so how do you connect with a particular generation group who has vastly different values, interests and cares?

The answer is not cut and dry. If you think of a grocery chain like an organizational chart, it might make more sense. Position the brand/store banner as the lead or umbrella at the top of the chart and the brands/products as departments in the organization, then you can start to segment your generational branding that way as well. The overall 18-65 fits the brand umbrella, but the departments, brands and products you offer can be targeted at specific generations and consumer demographics.

If retailers do not start to understand that they need to talk more directly to each generation and connect with them, they will ultimately miss the opportunity to grow. In today’s world, you cannot speak to the masses… they won’t hear you.

Start with the worst-case scenario

When looking to solve a problem or design a line of products, I suggest you start with the most challenging scenario.

Many design firms WOW you with the amazing creative at Phase one. I think it is great to see that amazing work – the problem is that most of that amazing work doesn’t print, and if it does print, it certainly won’t print the way you saw it or print within your budget. I am a bit more practical. I get a lot of flack from my staff because it was my biggest pet peeve back when I was working for large retailers and buying services, to be shown something that I couldn’t have. It’s a tease, and in my opinion, just wrong. So we design to the budget, to the most challenging substrate and the hardest SKU with the longest name.

It’s hard and it’s challenging, and often times, it doesn’t lead to the biggest WOW, but it does lead to items that are designed to print on the press they are specked for and at the budget that the client can afford. Novel, I say!