Dive Brief:
- Nowadays, effective customer messaging from manufacturers relies more on design than advertising, according to FoodBev Media.
- Start-ups that understand the importance packaging plays for a product are more likely to find success.
- UK nut butter brand Pip & Nut changed its packaging to feature a leaping squirrel logo. It also made a packet perfectly sized to spread on toast, and concentrated on building social media buzz. It saw sales jump 400% last year.
Dive Insight:
Start-ups are often run by millennials and those who think more out-of-the-box than legacy food brands. It would be wise for some traditional brands to look at the way they are innovating with packaging and marketing.
Deloitte’s 2015 American Pantry Study showed consumers are more willing to spend more for products with the right attributes — which include innovations, improvements, customization and convenience. These are areas in which start-ups excel, and could be one of the secrets to their success.
Research shows shoppers spend an average of 27 seconds making a decision in the retail aisle, which makes shelf appeal incredibly important in capturing relatively disengaged consumers. And package changes, especially those designed to garner attention on social media apps like Instagram, have brought manufacturers great success.
Another key to success is making packaging seem more premium — making it sized or optimized for convenient consumption, or with a bold or tactile feel.
Alan Moskowitz, a customer insights consultant and food and beverage industry specialist at C Space, told Food Dive that the unseen communication from packaging can make a big difference.
“Colors and images, product claims, the brand, ingredient info, product stories, the package shape, package format and many more elements all contribute — whether we admit it or not — to our decision about what goes into our cart,” he said.