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10 Critical Questions to Answer Before Rethinking Your Packaging

January 3, 2012 at 12:14 pm by Ted Mininni

Marketers of established brands have more to worry about now. The consumer product sector of the economy is sluggish. Customers have changed their purchasing habits. On top of that, store brands are crowding national brands, taking sales and share at an unprecedented level.

My take: great challenges present great opportunities. During times like these, marketers realize consumers are seeking comfort and reassurance from the familiar. That always leads to the time-honored idea to reconnect customers to heritage brands with a healthy dose of nostalgia. It always worked in the past, right?

Will it now? Effective marketing has to seek a balance between resonance and relevance. Marketers should reinforce the heritage brand’s core values by consistently fulfilling the brand promise and retelling its story because it does resonate. To a point.

But what does that do to stave off the natural aging process of the brand, even in the best of times? How can that be the sole answer during uncertain times? Uncovering how the customer perceives the brand, and whether there are any disconnects takes work; but it’s important to conduct this research.

No matter what results the research yields, the good and bad must be weighed in an unflinching manner, and the data acted upon. Customer perception must be factored in to marketers’ branding efforts. Remember: consumers help define brands in a big way. A new strategy and tactics – especially packaging – can then be developed, or the brand’s lack of contemporary relevance will ultimately be its undoing.

Before rethinking your packaging, find the answers to these 10 specific questions:

• How does the customer view the brand?
• Does it meet their expectations?
• Does it fulfill their needs on a functional level and/or on an emotional level?
• How do customers interact with and “experience” the brand?
• Do they feel the brand promise is consistently fulfilled?
• What does the packaging – which makes brand and product tangible to the consumer – communicate to the customer?
• Does the packaging augment the brand experience or detract from it?
• Does it successfully differentiate the brand from its competitors?
• Does the brand communicate relevance to the consumer?
• If not, how should it be positioned; what should it be saying to be relevant and meaningful to the end user?

Please share your thoughts on this topic. We’d love to hear from you.

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