Category: Marketing — Tags: advertising, grocery stores, Marketing, shopping trends, supermarket — Sarah @ 11:05 am
A new species of grocery shopper can be found prowling in a supermarket near you.
Years ago, the grocery store territory was controlled primarily by two creatures: the nimble momus withlistsus and the unhurried remindsus ofourgrandmotherus. But new research has proven what many have long suspected – the daddyus whoshopsforus, a species that used to coexist in this environment in small numbers – is rapidly growing in population, and may even be outnumbering the other primary species.
(You know, it was kind of fun speak scientist for a few minutes…but the appeal is wearing off, so we’re done.)
Anyway, we got to thinking about this phenomenon after reading an article on adage.com which stated that 51% of men believe they are the primary grocery shoppers in their households. The article also brought up an interesting point – if, as the men surveyed claim, they are now making the majority of the decisions when it comes to grocery purchases, shouldn’t the advertising for grocery products target men?
Keeping Up With A Changing World
Purchasing trends – at grocery stores and elsewhere – are constantly changing. Between shifts in priorities, the effects of new technology, and economy-related budget issues, both men and women are making different decisions about what, when, and how they buy.
And marketing has to stay on top of that.
Whether you’re looking at something like the recent influx of men at the market or something like consumers’ new love affair with online shopping, shopping trends have to affect how we advertise if we want our advertising to work.
Luckily, the imPress crew keeps tabs on all these trends and makes recommendations accordingly. We follow the changes and make sure we hook our clients up with printed pieces, package designs, and promotional products that will work in today’s world. We can help you figure out the best way to advertise to your 2011 targets – even if societal changes have brought you a whole new species of targets.
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Category: Marketing — Tags: branding, Marketing — dave @ 10:00 am
If you were asked to sum up your company’s branding design in three words, what would you say? Well, you’d probably include a color, a symbol or other element that describes your logo, and the general mood of the design, right? These standards or “touchpoints” are the unifying factor in your branding design, and are crucial factors in maintaining brand consistency. But what other guidelines should you follow when examining your brand design?
Touchpoints are all the areas where your customer interacts with your brand. They also help you win over a new client, remind an old one of why they chose you in the first place, and communicate your message to the masses. Touchpoints are one of the few times you are able to control the image that your audience sees. Therefore, it’s incredibly important to keep touchpoints consistent in all of your branding efforts.
Start by thinking what message you want to communicate to the public. What colors and symbols help relay that message? You need to put your psychologist’s hat on here a bit – Blue promotes a feeling of security and trust (good for service-related businesses); green is a color associated wealth, money or freshness (helpful for finance or consumer ventures); orange is a cheerful color that evokes feelings of optimism and light-heartedness (think items geared towards children).
Next, find a symbol that shows what you’re all about, and design it in a style that reflects the attitude of your company (harder lines should be used for serious tones, while playful companies can use more animated versions).
Consider the phases of interaction you have with your audience. This will instruct the incorporation of your brand into your marketing products. These interactions generally fall into three categories: Pre-purchase, purchase and post-purchase. For example, direct mail fits into the pre-purchase category. Pre-purchase brand interactions need to be persuasive and influential. As the potential first introduction in your business, your mailer should then prominently feature your touchpoints to raise awareness of your company’s brand.
When creating your company’s brand, pay particular attention to your touchpoints and standards. Being mindful of the above tips early on will help you create a unified message in all your marketing endeavors.
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Category: Marketing, Print — Tags: direct mail, Marketing, marketing materials, printed materials, QR Codes, smartphone — Sarah @ 7:58 am
People love scanner guns.
Watch any couple prancing around Bed, Bath, and Beyond as they create a wedding gift registry. About 35% of the joy they are experiencing is due to their overflowing love for one another, 25% can be attributed to anticipation of the super cool gravy boats and cheese graters they are soon going to receive, but at least a full 40% is the fact that they get to scan things with a special scanner gun.
When you incorporate QR codes into your direct mail marketing materials, you’re taking your marketing to the next level – by using the newest technology, by helping your targets to spend more time thinking about and interacting with your brand, and most importantly, by providing that special scanner gun experience.
And…What’s a QR Code?
We mentioned QR codes in a previous entry, but as a quick refresher, they’re those little square barcode-like deals that are starting to turn up here and there. The camera function of smartphones can scan them and apps can decode them and send the person who scanned them to a specific website. So at the end of the day, it’s a barcode that’s really a hyperlink.
These babies are useful for advertising purposes because you can use them to direct your targets to your website, or even a specific page of it if there’s a special promo going on or if you have a certain element of your business that you want to highlight.
The “Look What My Phone Can Do!” Factor
Now, smartphone users are well aware that their phones are cool. And most of these lucky folks aren’t afraid to explore all the funky things that their phones are capable of. So by including QR codes in your printed marketing pieces and letting smartphone users know that they can play “scanner gun” with their phones by zapping these codes, you’re more than likely to get a few takers.
This is especially true while QR codes are just starting to make their way into the marketing world. After all, not all smartphone users have had the opportunity to scan any QR codes yet, so your chances of getting your code scanned right now are pretty good. Even if they’re just scanning the QR code because it’s something new and fun to try, you’ll be getting people to spend time on your website who may never have made the trip otherwise.
So drive traffic to your website, show off how cutting edge your company is, and provide your targets with some of that “Nah-nah-I’ve-got-a-scanner-gun-and-you-don’t!” delight. Talk to your pals at imPress about how you can include QR codes in your printed materials.
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Category: Design, Marketing — Tags: Marketing, package, packaging — Sarah @ 2:21 pm
A product’s packaging can make or break its success. Your merchandise could be amazing, but the wrong boxes or labels will definitely hinder your sales.
And, on the other hand, a sleek, beautiful package can make an ordinary product seem like something special. After all, there’s nothing quite like a well-designed package. (We know it’s going to be tough to hold back after a statement like that, but, try to keep your inner Michael Scott in check, please.)
Of course, not everybody puts enough time and expertise into the design of their packaging. After a quick internet search, we came across a number of…er…unique package designs that we think could use a bit of work.
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This package managed to take what were probably once delicious, fresh apples and turn them into something that resembles space food. (Plus, we’re sure
the environment is thrilled about all that unnecessary plastic.)
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Here we have a product that’s just flat out going to be a challenge to market. Peanut butter doesn’t usually come in a flat Kraft Singles-like format…but if it’s going to, it’d be cool if they’d come up with
something to make it look less like cheese that’s had a really, really bad day.
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And then there’s
this one…a great lesson in making sure you double check that the right product is in the right package.
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Sometimes, if you’ve already got a solid package design, it’s best to leave well enough alone. Tropicana’s redesign of their container made a lot of loyal OJ drinkers double check to make sure they weren’t purchasing Tang.
This article shows both the redesigned and classic looks. Tropicana ended up pulling the plug on the new carton design and returning to its more successful “orange with a straw” look…and the world is right again.
We hope you have a better experience with your package design process than these guys did. (And if you choose us to design your packaging, we know you will.)
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Category: Marketing — Tags: direct mail, Marketing — dave @ 10:00 am
It seems like everyone in business has an opinion on Direct Mail, and they don’t hesitate to let you know exactly what they think. Those with negative views on direct mail are probably bitter about a poor ROI, but neglect to tell you about all the bad advice they took that produced those results. So, what was that bad advice? Let’s take a look.
To start, they didn’t test their mailers. Direct mail has two components – design and message. The design was lackluster, and the message didn’t resonate with the recipient. Make sure the design and message are reflective of each other and include specific elements that are a direct reflection of your target market.
Secondly, they probably used hype. No offense to the used car salesmen out there, but your approach doesn’t work. Don’t claim your product or service will do more than it actually does. Instead, find your best features and emphasize them to avoid creating a “lemon” reputation.
After the mailers where shipped, the sender most likely neglected to follow-up with recipients. You must direct people to your website (or to call). This will allow you to collect addresses for email follow-up and drive customers into your sales funnel and market to them in the future.
Lastly, they probably went cheap on postage – that is to say, they didn’t invest in the proper amount of postage to ensure the mailer arrived in time. The calls to action were most likely out of date at that point.
When it comes to direct mail, don’t shoot from the hip. Have a plan, target the correct audience, and make the right offer. Create value in your direct mail campaign and prove naysayers wrong.
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