In This Issue

Women's network's insights prompt snack-bag changes Today's savvy consumers have a wealth of information at their fingertips. The Internet provides some of the most in-depth analysis and reviews of almost anything offered in the marketplace, including new products and packaging.

How to think ahead of the consumer Why do we indulge the clearly undesirable tendency to create "me-too" products with mundane packaging to match?

Package Gallery

INTELLIGENCE ON DESIGN Opening ceremonies: Where has that magical moment of wonder gone? By Dyfed "Fred" Richards, Executive Creative Director, North America, Interbrand

As a child, I loved being the first person in my family to break through the seal of any new package. It was a constant battle between my little sister and I that soon became a parental bargaining tool to separate and reward us. Be it pushing a spoon through the seal under a jar's lid, zipping open a foil pouch, or pouring that first cascade of corn flakes from the box, there was something special about that moment.

Truth is, there still is. The opening ceremony is, sadly, becoming a lost art within the package-design world. Tamper-evident packages are dominating the market, with little to no thought given to the precious first pour and subsequent uses.

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Celebrating a package's opening is a precious consumer connection with a brand, a moment akin to opening a gift each and every time. Certain ceremonies can even become so ritualistic in terms of usage that opening the package becomes an inherent part of the brand experience.

The Nivea and Altoids brands are prime examples. With Nivea, the foil inside that keeps the product from evaporating is carefully peeled back and the cream is then gently scooped out with the fingers. The foil is never fully removed and discarded. Rather, it is meticulously repositioned each time prior to the cap being replaced.

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With Altoids, the sheet of paper inside the tin is never removed. There is something special about pushing the two loose leaves of paper aside to search for the hidden mints beneath them that adds to the brand experience.

The opportunity here for package designers to strengthen the brand-consumer connection is huge. The opening ceremony is one of the few occasions that a brand has to engage all of a consumer's senses when he or she has the product in hand. Everything is at its pristine best; there's that "new" smell, texture, and weight of the package, the crinkling sound of the wrapper, and the visual beauty of the package's label and other aesthetics.

Include a "grand opening" in your package-design process and you will open the door to greater success at shelf.

Women's network's insights prompt snack-bag changes

By Daphne Rodriguez

Today's savvy consumers have a wealth of information at their fingertips. The Internet provides some of the most in-depth analysis and reviews of almost anything offered in the marketplace -including new products and packaging.

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Peeled Inc., a New York City snack-food marketer, is one company taking advantage of consumer insights generated through analysis on the Internet. Working with SheSpeaks, Peeled Inc. discovered ways to improve the product packaging to meet target consumer desires, working smarter to win consumers' attention by integrating rapidly evolving social networking tactics into the market mix.

Through profiling using demographic and psychographic data, SheSpeaks, founded by Aliza Freud, identified members in its national network of more than 50,000 female members, from all 50 states, to sample Bing Bing Cherry, the newest product in Peeled Snacks' line of fruit-and-nut snacks. The network comprises women ages 18 to 60 with varying socioeconomic status. More than 30% of the members are active bloggers, a plus for consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies that need to spread the word fast about a product.

The size and diversity of the network allow SheSpeaks to help companies such as Peeled Inc. to spark women's interest, obtain candid feedback, grow word-of-mouth awareness, and build loyal, long-term brand awareness for CPG companies.

Through profiling, SheSpeaks identified network members to sample the Peeled Snacks flavor. Targeted members received a personalized e-mail inviting them to participate in a test, and 83% responded. Those who participated completed online surveys before and after tasting the product sample. They also shared opinions on a custom online message board.

Prior to the research, 76% of the respondents had never heard of Peeled Snacks and only 3.5% had previously purchased any products in the line. Many of the network members who tested Peeled Snacks reported they had offered a snack sample to a spouse, child, or co-worker.

After sampling the product, participants were encouraged to pass along special offers and discounts directly through the SheSpeaks Web site. Even though the majority of participants were previously unfamiliar with the product, more than 50% recommended Peeled Snacks to a friend or colleague after taking the test.

The Peeled Snacks test proved successful for product founder Noha Waibsnaider. After the test, purchase intent increased 288%, Waibsnaider says.

"We were looking for a way to give consumers a real say in our products," Waibsnaider adds. "Insights from the SheSpeaks test gave us a deep understanding of what women like, where we can make improvements, and it directly impacted our next snack line."

Although Peeled Inc. did not plan to alter the packaging, the company could not ignore the test results. Test participants highlighted key opportunities for improvement.

Some testers expressed disappointment that the original package's serving size was for two, yet Peeled Snacks was not offered in a resealable pack. This insight led to the introduction of a resealable pack and also a new line of single-serve packs.

The data also produced another insight. Most women purchase snacks in health-food stores and grocery stores. To widen its consumer base, Peeled Snacks is working on a new product line that will shift its focus from gyms, theaters, and airports to grocery stores. The new single-serve line will feature ingredients that the data determined to be the most popular.

STRATEGICALLY SPEAKING How to think ahead of the consumer By Jim George, Editor

Why do we indulge the clearly undesirable tendency to create "me-too" products with mundane packaging to match? Recently, I came across some interesting perspectives.

At the annual FUSE: Design & Culture, Brand Identity & Packaging conference in New York City, NY, culture and human behavior author Malcolm Gladwell offered several valuable insights. Gladwell argues that we assign too much weight to market research numbers and tend to spend too little time on what consumers might be thinking, but can't always express.

"The market researcher is not a statistician," says Gladwell, the author of Blink-essential reading for anyone with input in the package-design process. "Consumers are much too complicated to be summed up like the traditional focus group suggests."

Gregg Fraley didn't dispute that point when we talked during the conference. "In my experience, many CPG companies won't go to market unless their ideas are quantitatively validated," says Fraley, an author and creative consultant. "In the process, they're losing opportunities to come out with products that are ahead of what the consumer is thinking."

What emerged from Gladwell and others at the conference were the following suggestions for package-development teams to think ahead of the curve.

Resist asking consumers to verbalize what they want. Gladwell says that approach could actually change how they feel about what they want. When that happens, they might gravitate away from what they actually want. A better option, says Dan Hill, President of Sensory Logic, a consultancy, is to study the meanings behind consumers' facial expressions, and then observe those expressions as consumers engage with products in environments where they state preferences or make purchasing decisions. "We're all emotional decision-makers," Hill says. "We feel before we think, and we emotionally think in less than one-fifth the time it takes to make a rational response."

Change the illusion of what Gladwell describes as "cultural authenticity." This is the idea that if it worked once, that is only what works. "It's foolish to suppose there is such a thing as the perfect product," he says.

Watch out for too many brand extensions. Choice is good, but there comes a point when the sheer number of options begins to overwhelm and confuse consumers. This is true whether it's spaghetti sauce or eye-drops. It's better to understand what components or attributes really matter to consumers for both product and package.

Follow these suggestions and your brand just might break out of the "me-too" conundrum.

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