By N D Brown
“What does brand mean to my small business?” That is probably one of the most popular discussion topics for small businesses.
There are shelves of books and magazine articles and blogs explaining the definition of brand. The authors usually discuss the meaning of brand and that developing your brand is a complicated stew of culture, customer and communication.
Now think about the package holding your brand. Your brand package is more important than what you might think.
Few small businesses take a moment to stand back and think about all the visual opportunities their brand has to sell its real meaning.
As a visual and often tangible extension of your brand, the package has a greater audience than customers and prospects. For one thing the package can give employees a true sense of pride in their relationship to the brand.
Think about a gasoline retailer. The package is the entire station, in and out. That is what the consumer sees. What they literally buy is invisible so their total perception of the brand is how the station looks. Dirty, messy stations; the consumer might think the gasoline is as cheaply produced as the look of the station. A trip inside to deal with an unkempt counter clerk does not help the brand’s perception.
Look at your business and think about your package. Remember it is an extension of the brands visual message.
Your building, even if a warehouse, should be thought of as an extension of your brand. I am always amazed when I see headquarter office buildings without signage that reflects what the brand is.
Banks used to build a package that looked like a Greek temple to assure costumers they were conservative and safe. Today customers feel secure about their bank because the FDIC insures their money and what they want is quick and easy so banks now build stores that look modern, convenient and neighborhood friendly.
Your business might be selling a service or a B2B product so it is easy to assume the consumer is only thinking about the actual product or service. Your homework is to see the opportunities your package has to convince your customer what’s inside is what they think they are buying or have already bought.
I worked for a marketing company whose offices were latest in interior design. It made a statement about the companies work. Prospective clients who wondered if their money was being used frivolously did not understand what brand meant and would never understand the importance of their brand.
Many products are shipped in cardboard boxes with the name of the company printed as cheaply as possible on the outside. Why not? After all, the only people who will see it are the fork lift drivers on the shipping dock. You might think their influence is imperceptible but when they discuss operational problems how is your brand going stack up? Does it look as good as your products do? Is the package easy to handle? How many more pennies would it take to give your package a more quality appearance. If it looks like it holds a quality product will it be handled a little more gently? Common sense says yes.
Steve Jobs, of Apple fame, was notorious as being a stickler for the smallest detail. His persistence on superior design made Apple an elite brand. The ‘look’ of Apple, in both product design as well as the package made consumers think it surpassed ALL the other computer products. By designing one of the most hi-tech looking stores he drew in more customers each day than any big box competitor. To his customer, visiting an Apple store was an event. If customers wanted cheap the brand encouraged them to look elsewhere. Apple put quality first and it showed
Apple is merely one example of how developing a package that is a visual extension of your brand message helps differentiate you from all the competition.
Line up your competitors packages (the building, the boxes, the signage, the uniforms the name badges) does your package truly reflect what you want costumers to think of your brand?
Your brand is dependent on everything that is seen by your customer.
In an industry that is extremely weight conscious airlines add over 400 pounds of paint on its ‘packages’. At 35,000 feet no one sees the fuselage package but 25 aircraft taxiing at an airport tells travelers what the airline thinks of its brand.
UPS is in the business of moving and tracking packages. Yet its best package is the delivery driver standing in your business in UPS brown. That brown package is alive, breathing and smiling. Which would you trust? A person wearing a sweaty T-shirt and torn jeans or Big Brown? Consider ‘look’ as a major part of your company’s brand.
We have all shopped stores that put purchases in a small shopping bag with cotton carrying handles. Your $25.00 purchase now looks and feels much more expensive. The difference is the package.
Not long ago I bought a mildly expensive glass object d’art. The store wrapped it in enough bubble wrap to protect it from an earthquake. Then it was placed in an elegant box with a prominent store logo. The box went into an expensive looking shopping bag. When I got home I was reluctant to toss out the bag. So for a few days the store’s ‘package’ reminded me of the quality of what I had bought.
Jos. A Banks, a mid priced clothing retailer, slides your new clothing purchase into a protective garment bag that looks like you just bought a high priced item. When customers leave the store the Banks brand goes with them. Every time the garment is removed from the bag the customer is reminded of the store.
Your business has a brand. Make sure you look for all the ways that packaging can extend the value of your brand.
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N D Brown is the Principal of brownchild ltd Inc, 3754 Sunset, Houston, TX 77005
You can contact him at 713 807 9000 or cell 713 822 8370
don.brown@brownchild.com, www.brownchild.com
