In an age of hundreds of cable channels and tens of thousands of websites, your best advertising dollars may be spent on the front of your can, bottle or case. Think of it as a miniature billboard – a way to set your brand apart from others on the same shelf.
There are some obvious success stories in this realm. Red Bull, for one, heralded the emergence of the energy drink category by showing up in coolers with the now-standard slim-can. Bawls and Bomba set themselves apart from the rest of the category with their distinctive glass bottles, and Fuze incorporated its bottle’s sleek curve into its brand image.But clever packaging ideas don’t pop out of the ether. They take time, energy and artistic talent. Enter the packaging designer. These professionals do nothing but help make products look better, and BevNET Innovation went into the field to learn more about them.
The Ransom Group
INTERVIEWEE: Tim Ransom, president of The Ransom Group
What facet of beverage packaging does your firm focus on?
We have extensive experience with designing full shrink sleeve packaging. A full shrink sleeve allows you to maximize the available real estate on shelf.We’ve also done a lot with aseptic packaging and Tetra Pak products which allow for a long stable shelf life.
Are you capable of taking products from design through manufacture?
We have a very strong forte in beverage branding, packaging and design, having created and launched dozens of name brand beverage products sold by the major distributors. Through this experience over the last decade or two, we have been fortunate to have worked with some of the best people in the business along the way. So yes, we have extensive experience and we know the right people to get things done.
What is changing in the beverage packaging business and what trend do you see coming in the next couple of years?
The three big TV stations I watched as a kid no longer dominate the US viewing audience. Media has fragmented into hundreds of tiny segments fighting for limited advertisers dollars. Today, cable stations, radio, magazines, newspapers, millions of internet sites and even now video games, own a share of the media pie. The bottom line is that even big ad dollars must narrowly target specific sub cultural groups to be heard.
The result of this is that your package on shelf has become the most important investment you will make. Your package is likely to be the sole representation of your entire marketing effort. The 20 square inches your bottle displaces on shelf must now must alert the customer, function as your sales team to deliver your pitch, and get into the shopping cart.
If you want to know where beverages are going, they will will always reflect needs and desires created by cultural trends around us. Our job is to identify the areas of maximum return within these constantly shifting trends and to create and place these products in front of the direct path of this cultural movement. At the same time, we want to avoid being too late to the party by placing products behind the cultural curve, such as creating yet another version of Red Bull.
What piece of beverage packaging has your company produced that you are particularly proud of? Why?
Our work developing the Florida’s Natural not-from-concentrate line of fresh juices is selling extremely well in airports across the country. Its a good product, with good solid packaging. People love it and it makes money for our client. In my book- that’s a good job.
How will you help beverage companies make their product stand out?
First the product must have a good reason to exist- comprised of a unique selling proposition. Then we utilize our proprietary “Pick and Stick “ branding method. A customer purchase is comprised of two parts: The “Pick” where a product is recognized and selected, followed by The “Stick,” where customers judge the product and place it into their cart. We work through a process to identify and forge both Pick and Stick factors into our designs.
What should beverage companies know before they hire you?
What customers don’t often know is that it is nearly impossible for a design form to add real value to a client with a one project job. The value comes from establishing a long-term relationship where the design firm is compensated over time and is allowed to think, eat and breath your brand and given the time to throughly know your target audience. Strong relationships will deliver real value to your brand over time. A “one night stand” project with a designer cannot yeild a great brand that will maximize your investment.