Packaging Differentiation

Years ago when I was having lunch at a small deli I went to grab a root beer. I noticed a two Stewart's Root Beer glass bottles in the cooler, one had a white label and the other had an orange label. I bought & picked up the orange and took a large swig. . .ew, it was diet. I took a closer look at the label and over the orange logo was the word "DIET". Somehow I missed it.

One of the most important things you can do to help your brand is look at differentiation within your category and then within your flavors & SKU's. When you look at your brand next to the competition, does your packaging stand out? Are the key benefits clearly communicated? Do your customers know which one to choose and are their flavor expectations being met? 

When looking at flavor differentiation, line up the consumer selling units on a shelf and cover up the flavor name. If you can't tell the regular flavors from the diet flavors and the strawberry from the cherry, then you have a problem. 

Fortunately, I became the packaging manager for the Stewart's Root Beer brand, Triarc had just purchased the brand from Cable Car Beverages in Denver. Working with Hughes Design, we were able to correct this oversight during a brand redesign. I flipped the regular and diet communication for the brand on the packaging. We came up with a full-calorie/diet system that would work across any flavor. Because Stewart's had 14 SKU's, flavor communication was extremely important to the look of the brand and had to be communicated across the single bottles, as well as the 4-packs and cases.

Wal-Mart encourages sustainability packaging

Walmart recently announced that they want their vendors to think differently about how they package their products and are investing $500 million to encourage the change. They have come up with a Packaging Scorecard for their vendors to take to "rate Suppliers". This move will most likely cost consumer goods companies millions as they re-tool their factories to comply. Can sustainability initiatives like these work, or will they encourage companies to Greenwash their products? Next week I will take the free seminar and report back. Stay tuned. . .