How packaging can make food more flavorful

A fascinating article came out in the New Yorker this week focused on the work of Charles Spence at Oxford University. This professor of experimental psychology has been doing tremendous work with consumer perception and food, using all kinds of sensory variables like sound, color and packaging to study how the human brain naturally perceives differences. His 2004 study with Pringles showed that “that the Pringles that made a louder, higher-pitched crunch were perceived to be a full fifteen per cent fresher than the softer-sounding chips. The experiment was the first to successfully demonstrate that food could be made to taste different through the addition or subtraction of sound alone.”

Freshness, saltiness, sweetness, all of these are naturally altered by consumers with sound and color. His findings are fascinating and definitely worth a read. For instance his analysis of the 2011 Coca-Cola white polar bear packaging, universally regarded as a misstep for the normally packaging savvy Coca-Cola, was not only an issue of differentiation between Diet Coke but that by packaging the product in a white can, it is perceived to be less sweet. No wonder so many consumers complained about formulation changes!

It was withdrawn when consumers complained that Coca-Cola had also changed its secret formula. For Spence, the can is evidence of the power of a package’s color to alter the taste of the contents. His lab has repeatedly shown that red, the usual color of a Coke can, is associated with sweetness; in one experiment, participants perceived salty popcorn as tasting sweet when it was served in a red bowl.

Great read: Accounting for Taste – How packaging can make food more flavorful by Nicola Twilley

Originally published at Pivot-Forward.com
http://www.pivot-forward.com/how-packaging-can-make-food-more-flavorful/

When is it time to update your packaging?

“Deciding to change your packaging should never be taken lightly,” says Phil Duncan, P&G’s Global Design Officer.

“There are typically numerous consumer and market dynamics that combine to signal the need to change your package. Consumer understanding and trends, a change in brand strategy, or significant shifts in the category or retail channels can all create an environment to consider a packaging change.”

There’s a good read on Forbes today for any brand leader wondering when it’s the right time for a change. There are a million reasons you could decide to evolve or refresh your brand, but what are the right considerations?

MARKETPLACE CHANGES

Do you have a new competitor that’s making waves in your category? It could be time to reinforce your brand story to re-engage your consumers. Significant shifts in your category or retail channels should always have you evaluating your packaging against the evolving competitive set.

CONSUMER TRENDS

Are consumers moving away from your shelf stable products and heading towards products with more perceived “freshness”? Perhaps you’re noticing demographic shifts in your consumer and it’s time to reposition to regain younger consumers. Take stock of the larger trends happening in your sector and category to understand when it might be time to evolve.

BRAND STRATEGY

Your packaging should NEVER change as much as your advertising efforts, but if your packaging no longer reflects your brand strategy, it’s time for a change.

Would you just like another point-of-view? Contact us to have our experienced brand leaders walk you through the considerations for a packaging change.

(Originally posted on Pivot-Forward.com)

Using context to shift consumer behavior in food labelling →

For years food companies have been complying with the mandated NLEA information under the assumption that they help consumers make better food choices. Based on FDA labeling laws, industry initiatives and the Affordable Care Act we’ve seen calorie counts added to the sides of food packages, the front of packages, restaurant menus and even the drive up window. But is it working? Most studies say no.

Well now researchers at Johns Hopkins may have finally found a way to change behavior and food habits… by providing context to our food choices instead of just numbers. In a new study published in the American Journal of Public Health, researchers made calorie concepts more blunt, specifically showing how much exercise it would take to work off the calories in popular soft drinks, juices and sports drinks in six random Baltimore corner markets. They tracked purchases before and after the signage was added and found noticeable changes in consumer behavior.

Read more at Pivot Forward

Pin It.

I've long been an advocate of Pinterest and have seen many brands struggle to find a way to create a voice on the highly visual platform. It's rare to see a brand get it right. Welcome to APT CB2. This unique visual promotion, utilized the power of the people to create an entire home full of crowd-sourced CB2 furnishings. Nicely done CB2. 

Recognizing Consumer Food Guilt

Over the past few years and months we’ve talked to a lot of consumers in focus groups, online studies, and one-on-one interviews. Regardless of whether studying a habit or particular food, I keep hearing a universal undercurrent among modern grocery shoppers: FOOD GUILT.

“Mom”, still considered the primary grocery shopper, is stressing herself out over what she’s feeding her family. She compares herself to what the reads/hears/sees-on-tv and comes out feeling badly about her grocery shopping and food preparation. We’ve repeatedly heard from these guilty moms, “I should do better.” Whether they are constrained by budgets, availability of better quality food, picky eaters, or on-the-go behavior; they feel guilty about what they eat versus what they think they should be eating.

“My child doesn’t like to eat vegetables? I should to find a good way to hide them in their food so they eat them anyway.”

Mom is putting such high health expectations on herself as she feeds her family, that she feels guilty every time she makes a trade off for something fast or cheaper.

What’s made the modern consumer feel guilty about their behavior? As I investigated the trend of Food Guilt, I discovered I’m not alone in noticing this quiet preoccupation. Trendwatching.com took this out of the food realm and recognizes this as a larger macrotrend called “Guilt-Free Consumption.”

“Fueled by a pervasive awareness of the conflicts between their consumerist impulses and their aspirations to be ‘good’, experienced consumers are increasingly wracked with guilt. The result? A growing hunger for a new kind of consumption: one free from worry (or at least with less worry) about its negative impact, yet that allows continued indulgence.”

Trendwatching has put together a rather fascinating brief about where the guilt is building from. They outline that there could be a great future for consumer brands that respond to the guilt trend with guardrails for future innovation.

Brands should take a step back and examine what kind of impact their consumer messaging strategies and products are having on nerve-wracked and “guilty” consumers. Can you absolve consumers of the food guilt by creating better/healthier products at a price point they can afford? Can you make “all family” foods that satisfy their nutritional desires while still providing great taste? Is there a sweet spot for brands to create products that are “Good for Me”, “Good for Others” and “Good for the Planet”?

Originally published at The PKG Blog - http://pkgbranding.com/recognizing-consumer-food-guilt/

Consumers Say...Make It Easy!

We've been hearing quite a bit lately about the need to create easier-to-open consumer packaging. We've expressed our thoughts about the clamshell before but across the board, the consumer product manufacturers are making things harder on consumers than they need to be.

Wrap Rage

A recent article in England's Telegraph showed how 4 out of every 10 consumers have experienced injuries while trying to open a product they've purchased. 4 out of 10! This takes  "wrap rage"  to a whole new level. As Which researcher Joanna Pearl says, "If you bought a car you'd be furious if it proved difficult to open the door, but the struggle to get into everyday packaged goods is seen as something we must tolerate."

If you want your brand to speak to your consumer and create a positive experience, that experience should continue after they've taken your brand off the shelf. You owe it to your consumers to create a positive product and packaging experience if you expect them to consider purchasing your products again. Making your packaging easy to open, and easy to re-seal (if applicable) should be one of your top packaging considerations.

"If you bought a car you'd be furious if it proved difficult to open the door, but the struggle to get into everyday packaged goods is seen as something we must tolerate."

Make it easier to use

We've seen several companies lately improving on their openablility and increasing the function for today's modern consumer, our favorite being the new dip cups from Wholly Guacamole. They started with a good product (and package)... the 100 calories packs keep your guacamole fresher for longer as you are only opening one single serving at a time. If you were to ask their consumers they probably would have said that the packaging was great... but that didn't mean there wasn't further opportunity. With the newly designed packs, they've utilized a slightly more rigid plastic to create a dippable cup, increasing the usage of their product and making it easier for mom to hand off to her kids for a quick snack. Easy to open, easy to use.

Theft protection doesn’t have to be frustrating

We understand that you don't want the package to come apart in-store, especially when dealing with electronics or other high end goods. When we developed new packaging for Chargz, we developed a structure that was the best of both worlds. With an opening in the back to allow the consumers to test the chargers with various electronics, we provided convenience in a package that prevented in-store theft. 

As an industry we should be doing everything we can to make everything we package easy to open and a pleasant experience from retail to home. Isn't that really the key to brand loyalty?

Originally Published at: http://pkgbranding.com/consumers-say-make-it-easy/ 

Why Your Brand Must Be Transparent To Survive

Consumers no longer believe marketing messages on face value

If you want to build a future-thinking brand, it must be honest and transparent. Honest corporate policies are not always black and white, so brands that tell the whole truth win. The zeitgeist is changing faster than most brands can evolve. There's a movement among consumers to domore research into the brands and products they use everyday. If your brand isn't providing consumers with an honest story, they will "out" you. Earlier this week a new app launched called Buycott that helps consumers spend money on products that reflect their values. Simply scan a barcode and a products' brand, brand ownership, and corporate principles are on display within seconds (both good AND bad). With writeups in Forbes, CNET, Jezebel, Fast Company, The Independent, NY Daily News, International Business Times, and more the Buycott servers were overloaded within 24 hours with consumers looking for the truth behind the brands they buy.

Through social media proliferation and increasing media scrutiny, weary consumers no longer feel that they can trust marketing messages, and therefore can't create real brand trust. How can you create consumer loyalty without brand trust?

The Steps to Brand Transparency

• Define a clear mission. A company with a clear, believable mission resonates with consumers. One of reasons we are so proud of our long partnership with Perdue Farms is their clear mission to raise better chicken and put better quality food on your dinner table. Their USDA Process Verified takes steps above and beyond USDA regulations to communicate how their chickens were raised, fed and processed.
• Accountability. Fess up when something goes wrong, connect with consumers and apologize. If you've ever faced a product recall or marketing blunder, you know how important honesty is in a time of crisis. Immediate disclosure of the facts, and honest speak about how you intend to deal with it can make all the difference from turning off your consumers to retaining them. And when the crisis is over? Set up a clear chain of accountability to guarantee the mistake won't happen again.
• Cut the crap. Eliminate the marketingspeak and jargon. Talk to your consumers on their terms. For example, grocery shoppers are tired of misleading claims on packaging and often struggle to keep up with the language nuances. All Natural? Made with Whole Grains? Only if you read the fine print you'll find that neither the FDA or USDA has set guidelines for what "whole grains" means. Often you'll find less than 50% of "whole" grains in packaging containing the messaging "Made with Whole Grain". Does 30% sound whole to you? How about 50%?

The key to trust is honesty

If you are going to highlight your products nutritional value, be prepared that not everyone will take that information at face value. Consumer calls to label Genetically Modified foods hasn't slowed down in recent years, even if they haven't yet become law. As awareness of the issue continues, numerous polls over the past 10 years show that somewhere between 82% and 95% of the American public would like companies to be transparent about using GMOs in their products (ABC News, NPR, Huffington Post, Consumer Reports). Consumers aren't even asking that products be completely free of GMOs, they just want to understand when they are so they can make informed decisions.

Information is king.

• Start the conversation. A dialogue with consumers is not a one way street. You must be prepared to speak through your social media outlets. Kashi has done an excellent job of initiating conversations with their consumers around their use of GMOs in foods and a desire to create change through US cropland. They have been honest that currently most of their products contain GMOs and have showcased their progress to take their top 11 cereals GMO free through a rigorous verification process. It's no accident that you see consumer comments like this, "Thank you Kashi! I left you as a customer, and now I am back due to your efforts to provide non-GMO foods. Let’s hope others who truly care about their customers do the same!"
• Provide real data and information for your consumers that want it. Clorox has done an excellent job over the years or providing real data and facts to their consumes who may not have understood the Facts About Bleach and how it affects public health and the environment. They've made ingredient information more readily available, and provide up-to-date reports from the EPA, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and more about how mis-used bleach can provide a public safety hazard.

As large economic forces crumble around the world and scandals within corporate boardrooms and brands continue, consumers are searching for the information to make informed decisions. At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland this past January transparency was on the lips of many top speakers including UK Prime Minister David Cameron, who stated "We need more transparency on how governments and, yes, companies operate. Let me tell you why. It’s the oldest observation of the modern age that we are all interconnected. Communication is faster than ever, finance is more mobile than ever and yet the paradox of this open world is that in many ways it’s still so closed and so secretive."

At the end of the day brand transparency is about trust. If you want consumers to trust your brand, put your faith in them by providing them with real data, honest conversation and a clear understanding of your brand's accountability.

Dig deeper into brand transparency

Forbes - Let's Get Naked: A Guide to Brand Transparency

The Naked Brand

Originally published at http://pkgbranding.com/why-your-brand-must-be-transparent-to-survive/