7 Rebranding Tips
NOT SO FAST!
Are you having trouble with sales? Has your distribution run into a wall? There’s a boatload of rebranding experts telling you, “It’s time to rebrand!” They have a vested interest in your decision to do so. They get paid whether or not their rebranding strategy plans...
5 Steps to Strong Brand Recognition in The CPG Space
“THAT’S THE ONE!”
When you go to any store or online retailer, there are so many choices in every category, it makes you wonder how any one brand ever gets noticed over another. If you’re like us, you recognize the brands that have consistently provided dependable value time and...
3 Steps to Mitigate Product Harm and Save Your Brand
“I LIKE HOW THEY HANDLED THAT!”
Your product has been found to be defective! You’re facing a market-wide recall! Your buyers are considering whether to continue to do business with you or not. All those years of brand building are suddenly working against you. Your brand is finally a household word. But...
How to use Ethos, Pathos, and Logos to Build Your CPG Brand
I WANT IT!
Since before the time of Aristotle, humans have been trying to convince other humans to take action. But it was Aristotle who really defined the three major ways those arguments could be characterized. Were they arguments of “Ethos,” appealing to the advocate’s credentials and authority? Were...
5 Ways to Use Powerful Symbolic Association to Build Your Brand
I GOT THE MESSAGE!
Especially with CPG brands on a crowded retail shelf or on a e-retailer’s page, your message had better be conveyed as short, powerful, and meaningful as possible. You only have a split second to catch your customer’s attention and relay your brand’s value. You don’t have...
The Trouble with Disruption
THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK!
Today the business tabloids will tell you how glorious it is to disrupt your industry. Every week there’s a new story about another successful entrepreneur who has disrupted their industry and made a billion. But that’s not even half the story. The tabloids are quick to...
5 Good Reasons Why the Marketplace Won’t Take Your New CPG Brand
DO YOUR MARKET ACCESS RESEARCH
“Go away!” “Forget about it!” “We don’t need it!” These are typical responses you can get when you try to gain access to the market with your new consumer brand. It is a shame to see perfectly good consumer package goods (CPG) brands getting shut out...
Label Design Sends a Comprehensive Message
WHAT DO YOU EXPECT?
Labels communicate not only the contents, brand, and particulars of your product, but they also set the tone, expectations, and impressions with which you want your customer to view your product. We like to say, “The label is the only point-of-purchase advertising material that consistently makes...
CPG Brand Builders Often Fail Before Finding Out What They Need to Succeed
It Takes Time for the World to “Get” Your Great Idea
DON’T GIVE UP!
So many inventors, makers, and consumer product producers get discouraged when their great idea doesn’t fly right off the shelves. They think that just because of its compelling merits, a great product should be an instant hit. And maybe it should. And sometimes it is. But...
5 Steps to Becoming an Acquisition Target
PAYDAY!
Sooner or later every startup wants to get acquired. They may not realize it at first. When it becomes clear that the next level of growth requires more time, money, and effort than they bargained for, they look to an acquirer to take their company to...
New Brands Should Lever Their Positive Prospects
SURROUND THE NAY-SAYERS WITH SUCCESS!
When many hopeful startups enter the marketplace, they are surprised by the large percentage of “nay-sayers” they encounter right off the bat! These folks say “no” because they’ve never seen your brand before. They have no history with it. They already have performing brands and limited...
“The Rule of 99” – Consumers Perceive a Penny More as a Dollar More!
DON’T LEAVE MONEY ON THE TABLE!
Crazy as it seems, consumers perceive a price that ends in .99 as a dollar less than one cent more. But it’s only one cent less. The same is true with $9.99 which is read as $9. Folks will see $99.99 as $90, rather than $100....
Rebel Coast Winery’s “Reckless Love” Honors Branding Basics
SPICY HUMOR MEETS CONVENTIONAL MERCHANDISING
Being successful in the limited and controlled wine business makes us a target for aspiring entrepreneurs who want to start their own wine labels. Many new producers think that all it takes to be a success is a compelling label, a cute catch phrase, and a...