In order to compete against current category leaders, these newcomers will need to prioritise package design, according to a study by global marketing technology company Affinnova.
Using its Design Audit technology, Affinnova analysed the packaging of brands in the water enhancer, energy drink, flavoured sparkling water, flavoured enhanced water and sparkling fruit juice categories. Designs were measured on their ability to grab and hold consumer attention, strengthen consumer brand perceptions and help convert consumers to purchase.
In the energy drink category, relatively newer brands – Nos and Amp – have struggled to gain share against Red Bull and Monster, despite the distribution and advertising muscle of their parent companies, Coca-Cola and PepsiCo.
Affinnova’s study suggests that inferior package designs by Nos and Amp are primarily to blame: they fail to attract consumers’ attention or drive purchase at shelf. However, in the sparkling water category, recent entrant Sparkling Ice used effective package design to overcome limited distribution and advertising support, beating out long-established category leaders such as Perrier. In short, package design is a powerful driver of a product’s success or failure.
“Package design is the least expensive and most essential part of the marketing mix, helping to drive trial, repeat purchase and brand equity, yet it only gets a fraction of the attention that advertising or promotion receive,” said Waleed Al-Atraqchi, president and CEO of Affinnova. “Brands that put energy into creating strong package designs gain a tremendous competitive advantage.”
Affinnova’s audit identified several brands that are using package design to their advantage:
Affinnova’s Package Design Trend Watch of the beverage aisle was conducted in February 2014 and involved 5,000 US consumers.
Packaging design is least expensive and most essential part of mix @Foodbev #packaging http://t.co/UQiesCsnMo — ulbe jelluma (@TbrandIWY) July 25, 2014
Packaging design is least expensive and most essential part of mix @Foodbev #packaging http://t.co/UQiesCsnMo
— ulbe jelluma (@TbrandIWY) July 25, 2014
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