Tuesday, December 30, 2008

If everyone in the world based all of their purchase decisions purely on price:

DRINK CATEGORY
1. RC Cola would be in the majority of soda dispensers
2. My father switches his COORS beer for a Pabst Blue Ribbon

BEAUTY CATEGORY
1. 2 in 1 Shampoo and Conditioner is found in most showers
2. People realize shaving products such as wild berry scented shaving gel are unnecessary

CAR CATEGORY
1. The Kia Sephia makes its big comeback
2. The Geo Metro gets re introduced as Kia Sephia's main competition

TECHNOLOGY
1. Acer laptops would be the most requested graduation gift
2. Dial up internet is still slow but now worth it

FOOD
1. Ramen outsells Barilla
2. Jello gelatin becomes America's most popular desert again

PETS
1. Beta fish are more popular than buying a puppy
2. Chia pets become a good substitute for a real pet

IN THIS TYPE OF WORLD:
Products would be the brand itself and the brand names are irrelevant and forgettable
Example: "You have to go check out those neon flip flops they have at the dollar tree."

FORTUNATELY:
People will always desire and feel the need to purchase "the good things in life"

Sunday, December 21, 2008

Grand brands are not deceptive

I went to target the other day and was craving something sweet. I came across little debbie 100 calorie triple fudge brownies. This is what the packaging looked like:


I opened the box in the car and I laughed uncontrollably outloud. The product was so small and deceptive it was laughable. In fact, the product shot on the box was bigger than the actual product. The box also shows three brownies. They failed to mention 100 calories was only for one brownie the size of my thumb.


I looked up consumer reviews on this product and this is what the people had to say:

Hungry Girl blog: " The world's smallest fudge brownie. With tiny stripes. In an itty bitty plastic bag. It is laughably tiny. Really, REALLY tiny. Almost a joke. And it's fiber-free. Bummer. Even though this brownie tastes pretty good, it's hard to justify spending 100 calories and 4g fat on something so depressingly small."


Associated Content: "Not only are these brownies small, they are very flat and really, there is not much to this snack. These brownies were a disappointment to me. These brownies are too small. Period. Don't let the name fool you."

And those above reviews were just a few of the many angry consumer reviews I found.

Brands should use impulse buys to jump over one of the major hurdles of brands: getting the consumer to try your product. It is not effective for brands to get consumers at an impulse buy and then disregard them. This is detrimental for revenue because it eliminates repeat customers.


Brands more and more these days are trying to adapt to consumer trends instead of being true to what their brand stands for. If a brand does extremely well at making fattening brownies, then that is where they should put most of their efforts.

Little Debbie's brand promise is unwrap a smile. Unfortunately I unwrapped a hatered for the brand.

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Package Design

This is an article I absolutely love. I came across it on notcot.com while researching for a current package design project. It is relevant to both brand managers and consumers. This link also reminds me of my awesome find at my favorite store (For the Love of Chocolate) in Richmond. I found a single serving nutella package that was just as much appealing as a great business building idea. I was interested in what other packaging nutella does. I found some interesting ways they repackaged the same product over and over again to keep their consumers hooked on the stuff. It isn't always product innovation that keeps consumers interested. Sometimes what keeps them interested is the way the brand packages themselves. This can not work for all brands, but Nutella seems to pull it off pretty well.


Powerful Packaging Design Link




Nutella single serving with spatchela from For the Love of Chocolate
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