The ketchup packet, stuck so long in it’s inconvenient form that it seemed destined to remain that way.  You know the issues, hard to open, hard to dunk, certainly not kid friendly.  To top it off there’s never enough ketchup in one packet so you have to repeat the process.  This causes a repeat of the prior issues.  Well after all this Heinz, the company that literally turned our ketchup bottle upside down, has now reinvented the packet.  For this we are forever grateful.  The new and improved ketchup packet seems to cover it all.  It offers more ketchup, more kid-friendly, a dunk side, and a squeeze side. Heinz even made it more closely match their grocery store product line in terms of shape and color.  It’s clearly labeled making it easy to open and understand. The product is currently being tried in test markets.  I’m excited for it to take it’s rightful place in the fast food industry.

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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