We all know the famous rivalries in business such as Coke vs. Pepsi, Microsoft vs. Apple, and Ford vs. General Motors. Although we have these business rivalries, do we know why they start. Competition is one of the ingredients in how business is shaped. It is a natural occurrence based on two separate parties vying for the same goal. Businesses try to win acceptance from consumers, which is where rivalry and competition essentially begins.

Consider Coke vs. Pepsi, one of the oldest rivalries in American business. Also known as the Cola Wars, Coke and Pepsi started competing with each other in the 189os. Coke dominated the market, but Pepsi was always close behind. The brilliance behind the Cola Wars was that they both had different ideas of how to attract consumers and control the market. They both implemented innovative marketing campaigns throughout the years to gain even a fraction of the market. They also modified pricing and brand strategies to get a little closer to victory. It has been over 100 years now that this rivalry has existed and it still continues today.

Competition and rivalry is a healthy part of how businesses operate. Competitors help each other learn and move forward. Do you think Coke and Pepsi would be where they are today if they didn’t have an intense rivalry? Coke and Pepsi are successful because they were able to improve themselves individually based on what they learned from each other. Competition also helps the marketing process. Consumer needs and wants are uncovered during rivalry, which allows creative marketing tactics to be used. Now that social media has entered our lives and has grown into a big phenomenon with outlets such as Facebook and Twitter, marketing can be taken to a whole new level, opening doors that we never knew existed.

Although competition and rivalry don’t have reputations as being based around something good, in reality they have shaped the way we do business. It can’t be all that bad if Coke and Pepsi have survived over 100 years of rivalry and both are still going strong.

Companies are always looking for ways to better market and revamp their products.  However, the answer isn’t always in altering the product itself.  This can be especially true if your customer base is extremely loyal to your current product.  A perfect example of this is when Coke tried to edge out Pepsi by reformulating it’s Classic Coca-Cola into its “New Coke.”  The result was a complete marketing failure as loyal Coke followers were outraged by the decision ultimately leading to the reintroduction of the original recipe.  So where do companies gain a marketing edge if they aren’t altering the product? It comes from new and innovative packaging.  Many companies have turned to this approach to give their classic products a new edge on the competition.  Here are a few recent examples.

Heinz worked extensively to redesign it’s ketchup bottle so that it would stand upside down.  This made for easy use as the ketchup was always near the opening.  It’s vacuum seal also helped eliminate mess.

Kraft was another company that benefited from redesigning its packaging for Chips Ahoy.  It’s old packaging opened from the side and lead to stale cookies.  The new packaging  allows for a resealable top flap that eliminates staleness and increases the ease of use.

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One key way that you can gain customers and brand/product recognition is by changing up the design of your packaging.  Yes, if you have a “classic” design, you do not want to change it up too much and risk confusing or losing customers, but you also do not want your product to look outdated.  An old design can blend in with the competition, and you want your product to “pop” and stick out on the shelf.

Kayem needed a new design for the packaging of their hot dogs. “Classic is one thing, but ‘stale’ isn’t a term a marketer wants people to associate with his edibles.”

To change the packaging effectively, Kayem had to do a lot of market research to figure out what was wrong with the old packaging and what could make it better.  First, Kayem removed the banner, “DELI”, because customers did not know what that meant.  They decided to stick with “Old Tyme” to convey emotion and describe their hot dogs as being tasty and classic.  They also decided to add “gluten-free”, “made in the USA”, and “no fillers, no artificial flavors, no byproducts” to the packaging.  These statements have always been true of Kayem hot dogs, but they decided to focus on the health and quality of the food, otherwise consumers would not know.  Kayem also decided to stick with the blue packaging to differentiate themselves from the competition and added a pictured of a cooked hot dog to grab the consumer’s attention.

Kayem’s new packaging design proved to be effective.  After 12 weeks (ending July 11, 2009), Kayem’s volume rose 7.3 percent and sales were up 15.7 percent, according to ACNielsen’s Grilling Index.  The new packaging is proven effective, because it catches attention and people are recognizing the brand.

If you are like Sunrise Packaging, you have put a lot of work into search engine optimization (SEO) in order to further generate traffic to your Website. You have chosen keywords that make sense for your business and implanted them into your site. When a prospective customer goes to Google (or Yahoo! or any other search engine) and types in one of your keywords, you want your Website to pop up above your competitors’ sites.

What if that prospective customer spells your keyword wrong? Will your site still show up number one? Will it even show up at all? If you’re clever, you will.

Take a look at your keyword and brainstorm the common ways they can be misspelled. As an example, “disc” could be typed in as “disk” or “business” could be misspelled as “busness”.

Find the best misspellings and create a doorway or portal page on your host with these misspelled words redirecting any searches to that page to your main Web site. By researching misspelled words and submitting a portal page to search engines, you can alleviate the problems caused by misspelled keyword searches and can generate more traffic to your site.

Related to search engine misspellings is “typo squatting:” a form of cyber squatting, which relies on misspellings of Web addresses when they are typed into a Web browser. If an internet user intended to visit Sunrise Packaging’s Web site (sunpack.com) and instead typed in sunpak.com, they could be led to an alternative Website operated by a cyber squatter.

If someone already has one of your misspelled domain names, is not an actual business competitor and is clearly exploiting your brand you can send a cease and desist letter to attempt to stop the activity or you can attempt to purchase the domain name from the offender, which may have been the offender’s aim all along.

This exploitation of domain names can be avoided by purchasing common misspellings of your Web address and then rerouting users who type the misspelled Web addresses back to your actual site. Purchasing common misspellings of your Web address can be beneficial to you on another level. If potential customers are searching for your company by typing in your supposed domain name, they will be easily transferred to your site, increasing quality traffic.

Don’t fret over the possibility that your Web site is receiving less hits due to common spelling mistakes. Take advantage of those mistakes in a way that your competitors may not have thought of yet, and give yourself an edge in your market!

I came across an introduction to the Brand Packaging’s Packaging That Sells V show that is scheduled for October 2009. They say:

“Your packaging is critical to your brand. It’s the last three feet and last three seconds (and the ultimate measure of success) of your marketing program. But, these days, packaging has to do more than just “pop” at the shelf; it must communicate the story of your brand and become an essential part of consumers’ daily lives. Is your packaging powered to do all that?”

This is so very true and good packaging design can help you make your product, your brand, and your packaging an “essential part of consumers’ daily lives.”

Examples of custom, limited edition, water bottles by Evain designed for different audiences.

So you may ask, what’s the recipe for creating this type of packaging?

1. Meaning: The first step in creating packaging that will communicate the story of your brand is to know what story you want to tell. People don’t want to simply purchase your brand they want to be apart of it and by knowing exactly what you want to communicate you can achieve this. Figure out your story and then try to make this visual through your packaging.
2. Audience: Packaging is an interaction between the product, your brand, and the audience so to better communicate through your packaging you must know your audience. Knowing what they relate to, what issues affect them, and their lifestyle will allow you to create a packaging that centers on these things.
3. Response: Once your brand has meaning, create a list of outcomes that your packaging could achieve. Think about your audience and what types of emotions, feelings, and reactions the product packing can evoke in your customers.
4. Stay Informed: The last ingredient in the packaging recipe is to stay informed about your competition. This is a simple task that is often over looked. Staying on top of what the competitors are doing allows you to be innovative and stay ahead.

Put all these things together and your packaging will have a recipe for success.

So when the above quote asks you, “Is your packaging powered to do all that?” Your reply will be, “Yes it is!”

Looking for a step-by-step guide to help you improve your packaging?  The following will help you to find the weaknesses in your packaging and improve them for more effective packaging and higher product sales.

1. Look at your current packaging.  Don’t try to convince yourself of how it works.  Ask yourself honestly how it can by improved.  Does it accurately reflect the product? Is it best working to your product’s advantage? Does it make sense?  Make sure the changes you make are beneficial to the product and keep your brand consistent.

2. Ask for an outsider’s opinion. Hand your product packaging over to someone who knows nothing about your product or packaging.

3. Look at the competition.  If your product is sold in retail stores, go to the actual store and look at similar products.

Improving your packaging can increase customer loyalty and satisfaction.  It can also boost sales.  Using these tips to brainstorm about your packaging can lead to positive results for your product, brand and company.

We have talked many times about the significance of product packaging and design. Not only does it need to stick out and “pop” on the shelf, but there also needs to be brand recognition for your loyal customers.  If consumers can’t easily find your product on the shelf, they will turn to another product, your competition.

An example of this was the Tropicana repackaging fiasco you may have heard of from earlier this year. Since Tropicana is such a large, well-known company, they depend on brand loyalty.  THey are known for their fresh-squeezed juice, and this was displayed with their traditional packaging with  the straw sticking out of the orange.

In  January, they decided to change their packaging by going with a very simple design.  They removed their trademark orange picture, went with lighter colors, and changed the font of their brand name. Many customers were not able to find the Tropicana juice they wanted in a hurry, or they thought the new design looked cheap and generic.

The numbers proved it.  From Jan.1 to Feb 22, unit sales dropped 20 percent and dollar sales went down 19 percent, or roughly $33 million.  Count that loss with the $35 million that they spent on the ad campaign for the new packaging, and one can see they made a costly mistake. Not only did Tropicana’s sales decrease, but their competitors, such as Minute Maid, Florida’s Natural, and Tree Ripe showed double-digit unit sales increase during that time.  Ultimately, they had no choice but to return to the old packaging.

We can all learn from Tropicana’s mistake.  First of all, packaging matters.  Secondly, as a company with brand loyal customers, you cannot change the design to drastically, because brand recognition is vital.

Know Thy Customer on a Budget Comic

In the previous post, “Know Thy Customer,” I blogged about ways to do market research to get to know your customers better. Doing this helps marketers to give customers what they want, increase sales, and reach customer-driven goals. Many of the tips I provided are not within reach of businesses that work with smaller marketing budgets, so here is a post aimed at providing ways to “know thy customer” on a budget.

Talk to your best customers. This does not mean putting hours of planning into designing survey questions and sitting down with customers for half hour in-depth interviews (although if you want to put the time and money into that, it can’t hurt and would provide great insights into your customers). This is simply an informal chat about your customers needs and wants, with regard to your company. Ask them what you can do better to leave them more satisfied. Keep it simple. Keep it short.
Ask customers what they do and where they go in their spare time. This may seem like small talk to you, and to them – which can be good for building rapport with your customers – but you are actually finding out a lot about these customers based on their interests. What do your customers’ hobbies tell you about them? If your customer is interested in snowboarding, it could mean that they are interested in adventure and taking risks. If they visit social networking sites a lot, they could be interested in technology and meeting new people. Look at these interests and their implications and see if they can be applied to your business, marketing, and/or products and services.

Know Thy Customer on a Budget SurveyConduct surveys. This can be done in a number of ways. Leave surveys on the bottom of sales receipts for customers to send back to you. E-mail all of your customers asking them for their feedback. Place polls or short surveys in your e-newsletters. Create a feedback form to link to the pages on your Website. Think about key modes of communication between you and your customer and utilize these modes as possible survey locations.

Check out competitor Websites. Their customers are likely very similar to your customers. What do your competitors do that tailors to these customers? Do they have a blog or open forum? What do the comments indicate about customer interests? What kind of speech do your competitors use to connect with customers? What are they doing that you are not?
Analyze the data you already have. What is your best selling product? What is your worst selling product? Are some products starting to sell better? Are some products being ordered less frequently? Which ones? This is all data that you have in-house from your order records. You can probably discover much more than this simply by looking at the data you already have! If you have certain products or services that sell better than others, you can look into creating related, complimentary products or services or you could examine the way you market that product and why those tactics are effective.

If you don’t have the money or the time to spend on consumer research, any of these options can provide significant insight into customers that can be applied to your business principles. Don’t let your budget deter you from this important business angle. Getting to know your customers will pay off big in the end. It will build loyalty to your business and can grow your profits. With these simple, cost-effective marketing tips, you have the tools to effectively Know Thy Customer.

We cannot stress enough how important it is to differentiate your product from the competition.  If there are comparable products, one of the main ways to differentiate your product is with packaging and design.  A creative and unique package will help your product stand out and “pop” on the shelf.

Coca-Cola did just that with their special edition bottles and cans of soda.  With custom packaging, they can create their own distinctive design that the competition can not compare to.  And since there is a limited amount of these designs produced, they could become collectors’ items.  Since they are eye-appealing with creative design, along with the fact that they are rare, these bottles are likely to be snatched up from the shelves.  Here are some of our favorite special edition Coca-Cola bottles and cans that we found online:

Last month, we talked about companies using social media networks for cause marketing.  Now we are focusing on a company that actually redesigned their packaging for a cause.

Recently, Tide changed their packaging to go along with their Loads of Hope campaign.  That is a pretty big deal for a brand that has not significantly changed their packaging in their sixty years of history.  The Loads of Hope campaign raises funds for disaster relief support.  The new design features photos of disaster victims that Tide has provided aid for, such as Hurricane Katrina victims.  The newly designed bottle also says, “You can help” on the yellow cap to help draw attention to the charity and the company’s social responsibility efforts.

This change in Tide’s packaging design shows that they take social responsibility seriously.  It is a program that they are continuing to support, and it enhances their brand image.  Consumers are more likely to buy products from a socially responsible company, rather than the competition if the products are similar.  So not only are they giving back to the community by helping disaster victims, but they are also boosting their brand image, which could increase sales and the traffic flow to their web site.  The design and custom packaging that they are using helps inform and remind consumers what they are doing to help others.  And most importantly, they are doing their part to give back to the community and those in need.