A growing challenge facing packagers today is creating a “billboard” on measured-purchase products that are displayed outside of the package. While consumers can examine the product before deciding whether to purchase it, marketers lose billboard space when the product itself rests on a hook or display shelf.

Black & Decker, Towson, MD, believes it has solved that challenge by revamping the design of point-of-purchase (P-O-P) communications for its power tools. Sara Simonsen, Brand Manager, says, “Our main objective was to look consistent, to put more emphasis on the Black & Decker brand, and have the P-O-P be easier to understand from a consumer standpoint.”

The ability to quickly understand product features and to differentiate between brands in higher-priced tools such as electric hedge trimmers is important to consumers. Equally important to brand owners and retailers alike is packaging elements that are durable enough to withstand the wear and tear when consumers repeatedly pick up a product to inspect it in the store.

What Black & Decker did was work with Catalpha Advertising & Design to develop an on-product P-O-P system. They created on-product P-O-P elements ranging from hang tags to flipbooks that attach to Black & Decker power tools, which are displayed on shelves out of their packaging. They took the important additional step of creating the P-O-P elements in the brand’s familiar hexagonal shape, thereby creating additional ownable distinction for the brand on store shelves.

For the lowest-priced products, the P-O-P is a basic hangtag that communicates a single product benefit. When moving up the product line, the tag becomes more elaborate in design. For the highest-priced products, the tag becomes a spiral-bound flip-book with holographic effects and detailed bullet points explaining product benefits.

In another creative move, Catalpha developed a design that uses actual drill holes for the hedge-trimmer hangtags. The drill holes give consumers a strong visual representation of each trimmer’s cutting capacity, helping them to select the right product for their needs. “Brand capacity is illustrated by a hole the size of the maximum branch diameter that the hedge trimmer can cut,” says Karen Kerski, Principal at Catalpha.

This on-tool P-O-P approach provides two key benefits for retailers. First, it may persuade consumers to purchase a higher-quality product. Second, the hangtags are durable enough to be displayed for up to one year without losing their visual appeal due to weather exposure. Lithographically printed in five colors, the hangtags are an 80-lb coated-cover litho stock with a 10-mL lamination on both the front and back panels.