Packaging

The brand positioning is the story that you tell your consumers. That story needs to have a point of difference, something to differentiate you from your competitor. A product truth, something that you can credibly say about your product. Also a tone of voice, the personality you want to project to the consumer.

Depending on your agency of choice, there may be a variety of ‘trademarked’ tools (ask them for the trademark documentation 😉) and processes in order to get you to brand Valhalla. These usually consist of levels of varying degrees of complexity and bamboozlement with phrases such as ‘retail safaris’ and ‘brand equity analysis audits’. We think it doesn’t need to be that complicated.

What is a brand?

A brand is what your customers perceive about you and how you make them feel. Brand positioning is about developing a unique perception about your brand in the mind of the consumer.

In order to discover the opportunity, it is important to consider:
1) What your product does well (credibility)
2) How you can be different and unique from the competition (differentiation)
3) Research and analyse consumer trends to understand what your consumer needs (relevance)

Be credible.

We begin by identifying the credibility of your brand. This is about specifying what your brand can do well. Do you have centuries of heritage linked to your brand or product, or a bespoke process of creating your products? What makes your product the best in its category? Is there something hidden away in the production process or recipe that can be extracted and highlighted to create credibility?

Be Relevant.

Secondly, we look at the relevance of your brand to your target consumer or identify new ones. This ensures that consumers will understand the benefit and what specific ‘needs’ it answers for them. This stage is all about looking in detail at the consumer. Identifying the target audience and exploring trends to create insights in order to discover consumer needs and behaviour. Here we utilise insights and trends from established research houses.

Differentiate.

We can then explore how well your competitors meet these needs and discover any gaps in how well the various need states are met so as to ensure differentiation. This is important, when we carry out a competitive mapping exercise to help identify any gaps in the market and ensure that you can hold a unique position to your competition.

All of this comes together to identify the unique opportunities for the brand. Using all this information we craft ownable and unique brand propositions, which build the ‘foundations’ of the brand. These detail the brand essence, core belief, product truth and tone of voice.

This is an important basis to not only guide the design, but also everything regarding the brand moving forward.

You can see some examples of this here. There are some more expanded examples on our Behance credentials page.

Most brand owners have been there and asked them self this question. It’s really easy to get complacent and refuse the need for a change to your branding and packaging design because you’re either doing really, or there is no budget. But when is the right time – when you are on the upwards slope or when you are sliding down?

“But we only changed it a year ago.”

Great. But is it working? Has it enticed new consumers and enthused your existing ones? Sure your research group told you that Brian in Leeds and Wendy in North London were ‘uber excited’ but has that excitement played out in consumer world after launch? Or were Wendy and Brian just excited about getting free nibbles at consumer research group. The truth is that you should always be evaluating the brand and packaging on how well it meets consumer needs.

“But surely will cost a lot?”

You might be pleasantly surprised. Ultimately though, It’s an investment. Probably your most important investment as everything you do, create and say will be underpinned by it. The cost is based on what needs doing. It may not need a complete overhaul, just a re-evaluation of the pack architecture or simply more appetising food photography.

“But mine is the best product out there.” 

Sure you have the best tasting cake / pizza / dog biscuits out there. But here is the simple truth, so does everyone who launches a new product. That’s WHY they are launching a new product and that’s exactly why YOU need to stand out in the minds, memories and shopping baskets of the people buying it. Don’t just rely on you being the ‘best’ as all of your competition are, in their minds also the best.

“But it’s always been like this”

Life is change. Everything changes. Brands evolve and consumers evolve. So do their tastes and opinions. The best brands change to become more relevant, to answer new consumer needs or existing needs better. So should you.

“But we have never sold more than we do now. People love us.” 

Great. Hopefully that will continue but great brands remain fresh and constantly innovate. The reason consumers love you is because you met their needs. Consumer needs evolve and change. What is your plan to stay on top of this ever changing market place?

The truth is, its much easier to plan your next ‘big thing’ when you on the upwards trajectory when consumers are on our side, rather than a downwards one when they have moves onto the next big thing.

You can see some examples of our confectionary branding and packaging here. There are some more expanded examples on our Behance credentials page.