Nobody Reads A Concept: Packaging Must Sell Your Idea!

Ever wonder why so many new products fail after so much effort getting the concept exactly right, and pairing it with a great product? While some failures can be traced to missed consumer concerns or business plan flaws, many simply result from poor marketing execution, such as failing to effectively communicate the concept. It does not matter how good a concept is if the consumer never gets it; nobody reads a concept before making a purchase decision! 

Having tested more than 40,000 concepts and positionings globally, ACUPOLL has participated in many successful product introductions, but also has seen some good ideas fail. Concept testing in its present form was developed when TV advertising represented the primary marketing vehicle and most ads were 30 seconds long. Today, many brands can’t afford mass advertising, and even those that can are likely to have much of their spending (if not 100%) in 15-second spots and/or directed at the trade or in-store.

“Owned” media (e.g. website) and “earned” media are important aids, but these don’t reach everyone either.

So, that leaves packaging as the most visible representation of your marketing idea to the consumer.

Beyond typical functional needs, we believe packaging should also deliver three key objectives:

1. Motivation: Communicate the core concept – especially the Insight, key benefit(s), and key support – in an appealing way that connects both rationally and emotionally

2. Shelf Impact: Break through clutter and grab attention, particularly by disrupting consumers’ preconceived mental maps of the category, or “schemas,” in an appropriate way

3. On-Equity: Ensure products, especially extensions, fit into the line architecture and enhance the brand, building a stronger “whole” over time

Effective packaging also has a clear hierarchy of communication to address versions, flavors, forms, and/or sizes. Package back and side copy also needs to cover important regulatory information, as well as answer key questions, particularly shopper “de-selection criteria,” which, left unaddressed, can cost you a sale.

Motivation

As noted earlier, nobody reads a concept … and all but the most heavy TV advertisers are likely to have a considerable portion of their purchasers discover the brand for the first time at shelf.  So in many cases, the packaging has to “make the sale.” A key question is, if the only communication your consumer gets is the front of the package, what benefits and points of difference would be most likely to entice consumers? And, what visuals communicate those benefits or advantages best? 

We test packaging using the same measures as concept tests to ensure you deliver your core message. It’s important to recognize the limitations to package verbiage: the more you add, the less you’ll communicate. So ask us about tools like ACUTEXT™ and efficacy statements to determine which elements of your concepts communicate most effectively, or to add questions to screen alternative package flags. In some cases, if you’re not able to fund advertising, it may even be more helpful and realistic to test “packcepts” instead of concepts.

And, similar to advertising, packaging should communicate not only rationally, but emotionally as well. Our proprietary eFactor® technique (“Unarticulated Emotional Elicitation”) can help you understand the various emotional factors, sub-factors, and factor intensity triggered by your packaging options.

Shelf Impact

According to the Food Marketing Institute (FMI), the average grocery store carries 42,686 items – how will yours get noticed? While you could add a picture of a puppy or a baby to attract attention, the key to shelf impact is to attract attention in a tasteful and appropriate way. Consumers must not only notice the package, but want to pick it up to learn more. This is especially true for new product success at the “first moment of truth.” Thus, we measure distinctiveness in context of other key measures to ensure it is really a positive.

One way to increase shelf impact is to design-in “schema disruption.” Categories often evolve to reflect a specific visual nomenclature – e.g., hand and body lotions come in bottles with or without pumps – which cause consumers to form mental models, or schemas, of what to expect in category packaging. Define all of the existing category schemas and then make careful choices on how to disrupt them by deviating from the norm (in a positive/appropriate way). In hair color, virtually all of the packages have beautiful 4-color models; try 2-color photos. We’ve seen a good example in food products: the addition of a unique oak table under a dish with the “food shot” added a rustic, homey feel. You can’t expect good shelf impact if you use the same package construction, form, colors, benefit visuals, etc., as all of the competitive products! 

On-Equity

Finally, it’s important for line extensions and flankers to do more than just “fit” with a parent brand’s equity. Every new product starts out as an “Equity Borrower,” in that it borrows the parent brand’s equity to create interest in the extension. However, some initiatives are me-too “Equity Robbers,” failing to deliver core brand benefits or without offering desirable and unique benefits to build the franchise. In contrast, designed right, the packaging and marketing communication for good initiatives can supplement parent brand equities to make the whole greater than the sum of the parts, becoming “Equity Builders” that grow overall brand equity.

So, what are the lessons?  

• For the many consumers you don’t reach with TV advertising, your packaging is your concept.

• Make sure you deliver shelf impact to get noticed; try defining and disrupting category design schemas to do so.

• Communicate your message via packaging rationally and emotionally; test your package to make sure it delivers.

• Include experienced packaging professionals early in the process to help deliver differentiation, functionality, and, yes, budget requirements.

• Finally, ensure you choose a packaging option that will completely support your introduction – because nobody reads a concept before buying.

Mind The Gap: Don't Let Your Packaging Forecast Fall Short!

Packaging can be a game-changer at the “first moment of truth” and is the one marketing execution every one of your users will experience. After all, nobody reads a concept; your advertising – for those you can afford to reach – and ultimately the package must communicate the idea fully, with no major gaps, or there will be no sale. 

ACUPOLL’s work with strategic packaging consultancy PTIS (Packaging Technology Integrated Solutions, LLC), a division of HAVI Global Solutions, LLC, has resulted in a more complete packaging research solution that allows you to not only assess the strength of your package, but to understand to what degree it delivers, falls short, or even (in some cases) exceeds the strength of your concept ... and the likely volume consequences that result. 

PTIS has long preached that the primary measure of success for packaging is not appeal, but purchase interest. Packaging is the product and should be measured in the same way we measure interest in products or concepts (Purchase Probability/Likelihood To Buy, Uniqueness, and Value). And if the package does not “sell” the benefits strongly enough, if it does not convince consumers that it will work as promised – in short, if it does not communicate all the things the concept described – it will not “sell.”

So, we investigated how well companies’ concepts were translated in packaging. And, not surprisingly, we found a wide range of success, with some translated perfectly, which resulted in pretty good product introductions … and others falling short.

Here are some examples of concepts we tested, and re-tests of packaging only. Note the range of Packaging Only performance:

1. In the First Aid example, the packaging actually outperformed the concept (at least directionally), reflecting a more focused articulation of the message.

2. The Cream Cheese concept (with packaging) scored about the same as the packaging alone.

3. The Snack Bar tested within the same grade range between the two stimuli, albeit directionally lower.

4. The Laundry Product tested significantly lower (two full letter grades), due to dropping an important claim and reason-to-believe.

So, we believe it’s critical to “Mind the Gap” – and make sure your packaging sells your product at least as well as your concept does. That’s why ACUPOLL’s packaging methodology is constructed to allow exactly this comparison … and even better, to let you understand the volumetric impact of your packaging execution. 

ACUPOLL believes packaging should face the same rigor as concepts, testing multiple candidates and seeking to fully understand consumer intent to purchase. Volumetric modeling on packaging can help identify the actual gap between concept appeal and the appeal of the final packaged product. We have seen volume from the packaging actually increase versus the concept as the packaging became more focused than the concept at selling the key benefit(s), and other times when it has led to as much as a 35% decrease in likely volume when claims and support were changed between the concept and the package. For example, here are the volume forecasts for the four concepts above, with the concept performance set as the baseline at 100%.

Of course, volumetric predictions at the concept stage can be valuable in focusing corporate energies on the biggest ideas. But don’t just stop there; mind the gap!  Make sure your package fully delivers your concept. Comparing concept volumes to those of packaging is an easy and affordable way to make sure the final communication on the shelf delivers everything you’re expecting ... or even more.