Victory At Shelf Requires More Than Words

The big battle for packaged goods success has always been at the shelf, and nobody will deny the influence packaging has on winning this battle. But it takes more than words on a label to win.

Right now consumers are shocked and paralyzed, and it shows in their purchase behavior. In response, marketers are in hyper mode tweaking their packaging, discounting their prices and promoting their brands – doing whatever it takes to get their share of a diminishing wallet. Winning at shelf keeps getting tougher.

A Case In Point

The inspiration for this post came as a result of a recent conversation with a brand owner (who had experienced early distribution and sales success with their start-up ready-to-drink health beverage line) about the effectiveness of their current packaging to communicate the product benefits to influence purchase.

They were concerned about the descriptive words used to convey the benefits of the product’s attributes. They believed people cared about function, and they wanted to use better words. They believed the words on the label were the cause of a sales slide. They asked us for some advice on how to fix their copywriting problem.

The brand owners could not see the real cause of their sales slide. They were too emotionally invested in what they’ve been doing thus far, even though it was clearly no longer working. They were more interested in “selling tactics” without any deep concern or strategy for connecting with people. The desire for immediate sales was having the opposite effect.

Like many marketers, they went right out and did some tactical qualitative work to learn how consumers reacted to various descriptors that touted product benefits. They also tested these words in various decorative packaging design themes as well. As you would expect, they came away with lot of information about what words and decorations people like–but no useful information revealing why this start-up brand (that showed such early promise) was losing momentum and sales.

That didn’t seem to matter to the brand owners. They just wanted to know which words they should use on the packaging. Once they got the words right, they figured their troubles would be over. Does this story sound familiar to you?

Winning At Shelf Requires More Than Words On The Packaging

Fixing words on your packaging that need fixing is an easy thing to do. Influencing consumers to reach for your product at shelf rather than the other alternative is a very difficult thing to do. Marketers want the quick fix – some clever copywriting, a few design tweaks and – viola!

To win the battle at shelf requires your product represent a greater, more valuable idea to the consumer than the words and decorations used on the label to describe its function and benefits.

Consumers must value “the reason to believe” the promise of value. They must highly value the very reason the product exists in the first place. Certainly, product attributes, functions and benefits form the building blocks that differentiate one thing from another. Being different is not enough to win at shelf.

Consumers demand and expect products to function and deliver benefits. Today everything is good. On the shelf, good = the same. Delivering functional benefits is not enough to win at shelf either.

Abundant choice and clutter has made consumers deaf and blind. They’re immune to marketing, buzz words, descriptors and flashy colors. To win at shelf requires the product to represent a higher ideal and a greater experience. If it doesn’t, it better be the cheapest price.

Fulfilling a highly emotional, expressive-to-self need is what people care about and pay extra for. To get consumers reaching for yours rather than theirs requires they hold a perception that your product represents an experience they highly value and is difficult to substitute.

If the product doesn’t represent a higher ideal and is the same as everything else, copywriting and graphic design, no matter how clever and cool, won’t be effective in building long term sales growth and brand value. But — you could win some design awards.

By the way, here are the highlights of our advice to the brand owners in our story:

1. Forget about features and benefits, they are antes in the category. Reconnect your team with the core purpose and higher ideal the product was created for (besides making money).

2. What does this product represent to people that is highly valued and difficult for them to replace.

3. Craft a clear and relevant value proposition based on that.

 Find out who really cares about this proposition and why.

4. Determine if these people represent a sizable market opportunity for the product to compete and win.

5. Craft a compelling positioning idea that focuses your organization and your resources on the art of sacrifice.

6. Define a high value target consumer, aim your creativity and resources only at them.

7. Craft a relevant and credible story of value the people you serve really care about.

8. Develop a brand messaging platform on the higher ideal rather than features and benefits.

9. Design product packaging that is distinguished from other alternatives, and communicates with simplicity the ideal and experience your high value consumers really care about.

10. Rinse and repeat for future product introductions.