Successfully Branding & Packaging Natural Products

There’s no doubt about it—with consumers spending in excess of $25 billion on natural and organic food alone, the natural products industry is rapidly maturing. Once the mainstay of purists, hippies and back-to-nature people, educated consumers in multiple demographic groups now understand the health and lifestyle benefits that can be reaped by pursuing a diet of whole and organic foods, and they have increasingly demonstrated a desire to consume them.

While U.S. purchases of all organic products averages 2 percent of total grocery purchases, the phenomenal 20-percent annual rate of growth in the category is without peer in the food business.

The Net Result

Natural and organic products have become much more mainstream over the past few years and their popularity will rise further due to an average age increase and greater awareness in the general population. Supermarket chains will continue to fine-tune their natural/organic branded product assortments and push more deeply into these profitable categories. Supermarket chains will accelerate their efforts to develop and market their own private label natural and organic food brands to cash in on the food business’s most significant area of growth at very attractive profit margins. Consumers will find it increasingly difficult to distinguish between brands that are marginally natural or have an organic ingredient or two versus “the real deal” sans investing considerable time, effort and research.

All of these developments make it incumbent on natural products manufacturers to understand the crucial nature of their branding and packaging initiatives. This, too, is part of developing a comprehensive business strategy for long-term growth and success.

As the industry continues to mature, so must its approach to marketing mature. Marketing managers within natural product companies have to be thinking about developing a core brand and consistently and faithfully representing that brand and its values to the world.

As the birthplace of whole and organic foods, personal care and supplements, the entrepreneurs and founders of natural product companies have committed themselves to the cause of bettering human beings’ health and well-being ahead of every other consideration. There is vision, passion and commitment at a level rarely found in any other industry, and the stories of great, individual brands should be told.

By leveraging the unique story and vision of the natural product brand, each becomes a differentiated, singularly positioned entity. Brand stories connect with people. They form a bond, empathy, and a deeply meaningful experience with the end user like nothing else can. There are great examples of natural product brands that became successes by sharing their brand stories in all of their marketing communications. Brands like Annie’s Homegrown, Stonyfield Farm, Organic Valley, Lightlife, Cascadian Farm and Spectrum Organics have been masterful at telling their brand stories. From their Web sites to their packaging, brochures, trade show booths and their other marketing communications, these brands have been made compelling through story telling.

As brands like these grew and expanded their distribution beyond independent natural product stores and the super-naturals into other channels like gourmet stores and the mass market, their stories were told to many new consumers, turning them into brand devotees, as well. Creating great brand experiences at retail is a key component of taking the customer past the initial purchase to becoming a fan and ultimately, a brand ambassador. In the latter stage, customers are so enamored with the brand, its unique assets and its consistent delivery on its brand promise, that they themselves market it to friends and family. Community or grassroots marketing like this is invaluable to many natural product brands that haven’t the human or financial capital to embark on numerous, costly marketing programs.

Brand Identity and Package Design

Nothing says “brand” like the package. Packaging is the last and best hope of reaching the consumer and prompting a purchase decision. Packaging makes every product and its brand tangible to consumers, since it can be delivered directly into their hands. In order to be truly effective, brand packaging has to do much more than communicate product differentiation, features, benefits and quality. It has to literally deliver the heart and soul of the brand in a way that forges strong, emotive connections with the consumer.

The core values of the brand now come into play. The presentation of the brand identity, package structure, brand cues, color, typography, communications hierarchy and every other design element all present an opportunity to align with the core brand in a tangible way to the consumer.

By identifying the point at which the consumer experiences the brand in a positive emotional manner, we can begin to consider packaging solutions that will heighten that customer experience. The formation of an emotional connection with the consumer builds the foundation for brand loyalty, thus its importance cannot be overestimated.

Packaging can, and should be, the ultimate brand communicator. While tangible, it can deliver the intangibles of the brand like nothing else since the customer can see it, touch it and be engaged by it in a physical manner. It should speak to the heart, not just the mind, of the customer. Packaging that dutifully lists features and benefits alone seeks out an intellectual response—that prompts the customer to think and employ reason: “Should I purchase this brand vs. the other brands here?” It does not, however, elicit a prompt decision. Decision-making is a process. 

Packaging that unabashedly appeals to the emotions of the customer leads to action. The package structure, typography, use of color and symbolism that evoke an emotional response can stop customers in their tracks. We humans are emotional beings and if brands do not align themselves within our human experience, or touch us in an emotive way, how can they appeal to us?

Savvy brands elicit strong emotional responses from consumers. These brands do not sell specific products—they sell the intangibles around their brands. The very core values that natural product brands offer consumers are the intangibles today’s consumers value, need and want. Unlike some cheap, copycat mass-marketed brands, which might have more sizzle than solid nutritional value, brands in the natural product industry offer the consumer a real lifestyle choice.

Appealing to Families

Parents can feel good about giving their children the benefits of whole foods. These products offer consumers more peace of mind about the foods they are consuming and a sense of well-being. Many of these products are now packaged for convenience, catering to consumers’ increasingly hectic lifestyles. These are brands that support organic farming, environmental causes, educational initiatives, and grassroots community food banks, among many other worthy organizations. These are brands with heart and soul.

Are these factors all present and apparent in the way your brand is being marketed, communicated, packaged? Have you leveraged the core attributes of your brand so that it is truly unique in the eyes of your targeted customer? Does your packaging compel the consumer to pick it up and connect to your brand story? Has your brand lost touch with the consumer? Does it need serious revitalization? Will your brand extend itself successfully into additional channels of distribution? If you can say “no” to any of these questions, a new brand identity and package design is in order.

Brand Packaging Check Points

Natural product packaging should continue to extend brand values by:

Utilizing recycled, biodegradable packaging materials as much as possible, and being printed with soy inks. 

Just as important as what should be done with packaging is knowing what not to do. First, don’t try to imitate competitors with the use of similar color, typography, etc.

When the consumer is confronted by a “sea of sameness” at the retail shelf, it is not helpful to making informed purchase decisions. Packaging projects should be initiated after category audits, customer research and core brand research are conducted. This methodology ensures uniqueness since it relates back to a one-of-a-kind brand.

Also, in an evolving marketplace with more educated consumers, it is not necessarily beneficial to appear “homespun”, folksy and back to the earth. Farm and field scenes are not required. Nor are smiling animals, flowers and Utopian landscapes. It is not necessary to use the color green prodigiously and in every case to make the point of the goodness of the brand products, either.

Finally, don’t attempt to list every product feature and benefit in the communication hierarchy. The key points that truly resonate with the consumer should be communicated. Since the consumer spends a precious few seconds scanning the retail shelf, communicating the few, single most important aspects of the brands and products is the order of the day.

Since packaging delivers a product like nothing else since the customer can see it, touch it and be engaged by it in a physical manner, shouldn’t it be viewed as the ultimate communicator of the brand? 

Ted Mininni is president of Design Force Inc., a metro New York consultancy that specializes in brand identity, package design and consumer promotion design for the food and beverage, and toy and entertainment industries. Design Force can be reached at (856) 810-2277, or online at www.designforceinc.com.