The Atout France seminar bags that we supplied Chances are, if you are a small business owner, you are a professional in your field. You may have forgotten that you hold a wealth of information that most people don't know. It's easy to think that after years of being immersed in your profession, that what you know is just common sense. It's only when you start talking to people outside your industry, do you realise that you are more capable and knowledgeable than you think!
Lets look at example of an Accountant (you can replace 'Accountant' with what is relevant to you). As an Accountant, you may think the 5 most crucial aspects of accounting for small business is just common sense! But you can be assured that people thinking of going into business, and those in business, might not have any knowledge of accounting. In fact, there is so much information out there, that people might be missing the basics, due to the overload of information they are given. As an Accountant, you can break it down and people will love you for it! Everyone in business knows something on a subject that others know nothing about. If you have the opportunity to teach people about a subject that will benefit them (and ultimately benefit you), go for it! To set up an event you need to consider the following: - figure out what people want to know: as a professional, you might find a common question amongst your clients or even Googling your industry, you might find people asking the same questions. If you answer these common and important questions, in an easy to understand manner, you could be seen as the professional in the field, that people needing your service will feel comfortable approaching you, because you know your stuff! - content: make sure you deliver valuable information. Although you will want to advertise your services and drill into people your points of difference over your competitors, make sure that at seminars, you introduce yourself and your business in a quick introduction, then get onto the content that people have come to see you about. Make the content interesting, easy to understand, educational and to the point. - invite: state clearly what you are giong to teach at your semiar. A good idea is list how many things they are going to learn. Example: "5 accounting basics that all small business owners need to know". Here it outlines how many bits of information - if it just said 'accounting basics' people will think they are going to get overloaded with information, and may be hesitant to attend. 'Accounting basics' is the topic - here you are clearly indicating what people are going to learn about, and 'for small business owers' - so people know that the content will be relevant to them. Otherwise, if you dont explain what it's for, people could think its for individuals for their tax returns, so you may get the wrong audience. - location: if possible, if you are a local service provider (eg Accountant), have the seminar in your office. This will mean people in your area and surrounds (your target market) will find it easy to attend. If location doesnt matter to you, try and find a location that is central (ie city CBD). - time: think about the time that would be most convenient for your audience. Would straight after work be best? you dont want it too early, so they have to leave work early, but you dont want it too late - otherwise people will go home then might not have the energy to venture out again to attend your seminar. - catering: even if you dont have the budget for a spread, at the very least, ensure tea, coffee and biscuits are available. People may be coming straight from work and need a little pick up. It will also show you are caring. The last thing you want to do is look stingy! - giveaway: it's important that your attendees go away with something - whether it's a flyer with your call to action, your contact details and even a summary of your teachings. A voucher for your service will also be well recieved. Even a promotion - like 'refer a friend and get 50% off your next service with us' can create more customers. Giveaways that are well recieved, especially in a branded bag. Everyone loves goodie bags! To make your seminars and your business look even more professional, you can brand your event bags with your business logo or even a call to action. By hosting an event, you will be seen as a leader in your field. As long as you structure the content right, and teach your adience valuable information, your generosity is bound to pay off. People attending your event where you generously share information, will see you as the go-to person / the proffesional in your field who they can rely on to give them the correct information. They are most likely to refer you onto friends and family too. Good luck!
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Our event bags at a Networx Marketing seminar It's clear that everyone loves to receive a goodie bag at an event.
Make sure that you don't disappoint your excited delegates, by including a fun giveaway in your event bag! No one wants a bag full only of flyers and brochures advertising your business. People love getting a product that they can use or eat. Make sure your giveaway product ties in with your brand if possible. If that's not possible, then choose a product that people will use or consume, or anything that will get people talking, and always ensure your have your logo and or message printed. Think about your target market and what their needs would be; then figure out what an appropriate and fun item would be, that they would be grateful for and excited to receive from you. There are hundreds of promotional items companies out there and there are hundreds of great gift ideas that you can find that might relate to your product or service, or might not, but some of the giveaways I have found in my goodie bag, that I have loved are: branded chocolate cookie, handbag sized foldaway umbrella (very useful!), handbag sized sunscreen, picnic friendly wine glasses, wine bottle holder in the shape of a stick with a loop at the top which got people talking and discussing at the event. Even if you are offering a discount voucher, people still like to have something they can use or consume. And of course, you need to have a quality, beautiful goodie bag to give it away in. No matter what size your event - whether its a 100 person seminar, or a 3,000 person event, you should always offer a quality, beautiful, custom branded bag. All the best with your event and branded goodie bag giveaway! Image: bags we supplied for the Air France conference There are several elements you need to consider when designing the perfect bag for your conference or event. Size It is important you think about what you will be placing in the bag. You don't want the bag to be too big, nor too small. Your variety of promotional flyers or magazines and promotional give-aways should fit snugly in your bag. You should stack all the elements (magazine, flyer, giveaway)in a pile, then measure around them. This includes the gusset (side panel). Weight If you plan to give away a bottle of wine, a heavy magazine or other items that mean the deleguate's bag will end up being more than 1kg, you need to consider re-inforcing the handle holes and base of the bag, so the bags don't rip apart with the weight. Message / Printing After all the time and monetary investment you have made into the conference or event, a simple way to get your message accross and advertise, is on your bag. You could even put a call to action on your bag or advertise a competition that your deleguate can enter into by using the details on the bag. That is sure to make them remember you. Remember you need to keep in mind your overall branding colours and fonts, but you can have fun with the messaging on your bag to stand out. Colour You need to stick with your branding colours and colour palette when ordering bags - just like any other printing. Make sure your bags tie in with your brand by using the correct colour code. Shape The classic boutique bag style is very popular for conference paper bags style. If you want to make a statement and stand out from the crowd, you should consider having an unusual shaped bag. For example, a Zoo in the US have paper shopping bags at their zoo store, in the shape of animals. People will notice and talk about your bags. Here they are below: Look and feel
If you have a luxury product you should go with a thick gsm (to show quality), and a beautiful finish - such as matte or gloss lamination. If you are a budget brand, you could go for a kraft paper bag or something similar to keep in with your brand image. Timing Lastly, you need to remember to order your bags well in advance of the event. Designing, proofing, manufacturing and the delivery of your conference bags is not a last minute decision. Your conference bags need to be carefully considered, and that takes time! Hopefully these points will not only give you knowledge of what you need to remember for your next event, but hopefully they will also inspire you to have fun and think outside the square, with your next order of conference bags! Photo credit: Dion Label If your sales are low and you find your once desired product is on a downward sales cycle, it may be time to take a look at your entire marketing mix – including your product packaging.
You should look at the people that you are targeting. Do you still have a customer database from 5 or 10 years ago, that you are still advertising to? Perhaps it’s a waste of time and money because they have ‘moved on’ from your product. Perhaps their tastes have changed? Perhaps they don’t have the money they once had? Perhaps your once loyal teenage customers are now buying more ‘mature’ age products and the advertising that worked for them, is not working for the new generation of teenagers. If you have a timeless product, maybe you want to keep your once loyal customers, but they aren’t buying from you anymore. Perhaps a direct or indirect competitor entered the market with a superior product, a lower price, a great advertising campaign and more attractive or overall better packaging. There could be a mix of reasons as to why your brand isn’t working anymore or why your customers decided to switch brands or just stopped using your brand or product. So you need to decide if you need to re-brand to get your customers back or if you need to attract new customers that haven’t tried your brand before. Or maybe both. It’s time to rebrand when you realise you are losing your current customers and potential customers to your inferior competitors. The colours, pictures and graphic design on your packaging that was really popular in the 80s or even 90s is not popular now. You need to research what the successful competitors on your level are doing, what their packaging looks like, and how they are communicating to their target market and customers. Maybe your fluro design on your packaging is not communicating that you use only natural products in your soap. Keep in mind, as you would with any marketing decision –marketing is about psychology. Many people are adverse to change, especially as they ‘mature’. So keep in mind that if you do want to keep your loyal customer base but want to re-brand, you need to communicate to them before you change your brand, you need to communicate to them during your new brand launch, and you need to communicate to them after the re-branding has taken place. Although this will still upset some people, you need to decide what is best for your company. You may lose 10 customers that can’t cope with change, but if you need to increase sales and attract new customers, and if the re-brand is going to potentially attract hundreds of new customers, then that is the risk you need to take. Never make decisions without carrying out a lot of research. Use common sense in your research, and ask lots of questions. Put yourself in your customer’s shoes. Why would they choose you (your brand) over a competitor’s product? Go and visit the shops where your product is stocked. Try to figure out why customers are reaching for your competitors products over yours. Take note of their packaging, their positioning on the shelf, their communication on the packaging, their brand image, their price points and advertising or promotional deals in-store. Be realistic. You might know that your product is superior to all the other brands on the shelf – but are you communicating that to your customer on the packaging? Is your branding shouting ‘superior product’? is your price point correct? If you are selling your product too cheap, people will assume it is an inferior product. But you cannot price it out of the market either. Again, research needs to be done into the correct pricing for your brand image and product positioning in the minds of your target market. Remember, product packaging is a billboard for your product. In the few seconds that you have to attract your customer when they scan the shop shelf, your packaging needs to communicate your brand image, what the product is, be interesting enough and desirable enough for the customer to take the time to pick your product up and examine it for a few seconds, then make the decision to purchase it. It has to communicate the solution to the problem that the shopper is looking for. People purchase products to fulfil a need. If you can communicate how your product can do that, showcase your brand image and be aesthetically pleasing, then you will be on the road to more sales with your re-branding efforts! Reference: Photo credit: http://www.dionlabel.com/blog-archive/tag/Rebranding%3A+Before+%26+After.html Please note, Custom Printed Bags & Boxes does not specialise in food packaging. Photo credit: www.guardian.co.uk Creating the right packaging design for your product is one of the most important decisions businesses of all sizes can make to increase their sales. If start-up businesses get it right from the start and invest in their packaging design, it can bring numerous benefits;
including establishing your desired brand image through your packaging, cutting advertising costs via traditional marketing vehicles and securing more sales. Why you should invest in product packaging: 1. More sales. You need your product (i.e. packaging) to be distinguishable and stand out from your competitors on the store shelf. You only have a few seconds to grab your target customer’s attention through your packaging design. Remember that most people are time-poor, and have dozens of distractions around them already – so you need a packaging design that will attract your target customer, and stand out from your competitors. You need to spend time researching your competitor’s packaging to ensure your packaging design is not going to blend in and be indistinguishable from all the other brands on the shelf, or be confused with an inferior brand. You need to invest in a great Packaging Designer and/or Graphic Designer to ensure your packaging design attracts your target customer’s attention and curiosity and quickly communicates to them what your product is. If you have a great product, a stand out package and a great brand image and identity, it should lead to sales. “Evidence confirming that the shopper appreciates and in fact explicitly wants to receive stimulation for the buying decision he/she is making when standing in front of the supermarket shelf, often even preferring this to other forms of communication. He/She is keen to be informed and inspired, tempted and pampered by surprising and persuasive functions, emotions and sensual impressions.”[1] The right packaging can increase sales, whereas the wrong packaging can destroy your brand and could mean few sales. “Packaging is one of those crucial steps that is often neglected in business. Ask yourself this question, would you buy a plain looking item or something excitingly packaged that makes anyone drool?”[2] 2. To attract and keep customers. Customers can have an emotional connection with packaging. It can become iconic which can increase sales, assist you to gain free publicity, and create a loyal customer base. Think about the classic Coca-Cola glass bottle. This has become iconic and people have an emotional connection to it – oftentimes it reminds them of happy times during their youth. Again, you should work with a good Packaging Designer and spend time looking at different packaging designs to form an idea of a packaging design shape and graphic design that creates the correct brand image for your product / company, that would attract your target market. Don’t forget you need to have a package that be appropriate to contain your product, and make it easy for customers to consume the product inside. (Remember the term ‘wrap rage’ – you don’t want your customers to get annoyed by the packaging before even getting to your product!). “Through the right mix of art and engineering, your product packaging can be used as the protective barrier that will keep content in great shape and make sure that it will still have the same quality upon reaching the customers”[3] 3. Cut advertising costs. Beautiful and unique packaging can assist keep your traditional advertising costs down. You can showcase your packaging on your website, Facebook page, Pinterest and so on. If your packaging is really beautiful or unique, people may comment on it online and to their friends, desire it, and you may even get free publicity. 4. It establishes your product positioning. Your packaging is the first thing people come across – so make it ‘speak’ your brand. “Packaging plays an important role as a medium in the marketing mix, in promotion campaigns, as a pricing criterion, in defining the character of new products, as a setter of trends and as an instrument to create brand identity and shelf impact in all product groups.”[4] If you are a Fashion Designer for example, and are sending your clothing in apparel boxes to your online sales clients, when they open the courier satchel the first thing they will see is your apparel box, containing their purchase. You need to ensure your apparel box ‘speaks’ your brand. If your customer receives an ugly, cheap looking box, they will immediately have negative thoughts about your brand / clothing quality before even reaching your product inside! If you have a beautiful, quality, branded box, it will become a pleasure to your customer’s eyes and they will see your brand in a positive light before they have even reached your product! If your packaging is on a store shelf, it is your advertising ‘billboard’. You need to invest wisely in your package design – both shape and artwork. Again, it needs to ‘speak’ your brand and be of good quality. People make assumptions on first appearances. You may be selling the best quality, most beautiful candles in the world, and your competitor’s products may be inferior, but if your candles are boxed in a sub-standard or ugly package with a terrible design, people will not even take the time to look at (or pick up) your product to take a closer look. 5. Packaging will help create your brand image and identity. This is especially important for start-up businesses that are taking their product to market for the first time. You can create your brand identity by making the right packaging design decision from the start. It is time consuming and difficult to re-brand so make sure you have your packaging done correctly from the start. Make sure the shape of your package and the design and wording on your package portrays the brand image you want for your business. If you are an already established business and your sales are low, it would be a good idea to review not only your product, but your product packaging – and maybe even carry out focus groups with your target market to get their idea on desirable package design, and why they would chose a competitor’s product over yours. You may find out that your target customers prefer your competitors package design over your outdated one. Or maybe they are not even noticing your product on the store shelf because it blends in too much with all the other brands. 6. Great packaging will add value to your product. If you have a great product, then great packaging will compliment your product and add value by confirming in your customer’s minds that the product they bought is a good quality, beautiful product. Check our Contact Us page to connect with our 2 great Packaging Designers who can assist you to create the right package for your product. Good luck! References: 1. Interpak www.interpack.com/cipp/md_interpack/custom/pub/content,lang,2/oid,7773/ticket,g_u_e_s_t/~/Product_packaging_plays_an_important_role_in_the_marketing_mix.html 2. David Kam http://marketingdeviant.com/the-importance-of-packaging/ 3. Envoca http://www.articlesbase.com/investing-articles/reasons-to-invest-on-product-packaging-6155052.html 4. Interpak www.interpack.com/cipp/md_interpack/custom/pub/content,lang,2/oid,7773/ticket,g_u_e_s_t/~/Product_packaging_plays_an_important_role_in_the_marketing_mix.html Source: www.bizrice.com We often get asked the question "do I need to engage a Packaging Designer for my package design?" It's quite hard to give a quick or direct answer, because everyone's packaging or bag needs, marketing strategy and branding is so different. The most simple way I can explain is, it depends on how complicated the packaging design is. It also depends on how complicated the artwork design is. If you really want to stand out from the crowd, we suggest getting the work done by a professional. As you can see from the two pictures below, the packaging template design would be complicated and would require a professional packaging designer to design. Source: www.looks.gd Source: cclearance.blogspot.com However, if you just require a simple design like a boutique bag or a shirt box, then we are often able to create the die cut template, and place your artwork design or logo where you require on the bag. We can do this as a complementary service, so that you do not have to enagage a Packaging Designer or Graphic Designer - however this is on a case-by-case basis, because it is our manufacturers who can advise if it is a straightforward job for them or not. For example, we work with event managment companies who need event bags for their clients. They just send us their bag size requirements, the colour of the bag they require (CMYK colour code- if not white or black), and the logo they want printed. We can offer to create the die cut template and organise the logo placement at no cost. The above bag is one of the bags we made for our client. They supplied us with the bag size specifications, their logo in a .jpeg file, and logo placement directions. We were able to make the bag without having to ask our clients to engage a Packaging Designer to create the bag template.
We usually ask our clients to supply us with a picture of the packaging design they require (a photo from Google images, or even a hand drawn design is fine). From that, we can indicate whether our client would need to engage the services of a designer. Businesses that have been successful with their initial product offering often look to expand their product line either by adopting a multi-brand strategy or a multi-product branding strategy to gain more market share to grow their business.
MULTI BRAND STRATEGY: Multi-brand strategy, as defined in the Business Directory[1] is the marketing of two or more similar and competing products by the same firm under different and unrelated brands. While these brands eat into each others' sales, multi-brand strategy does have some advantages as a means of: 1. obtaining greater shelf space and leaving little for competitors' products 2. saturating a market by filling all price and quality gaps 3. catering to brand-switchers who like to experiment with different brands, and 4. keeping the firm's managers on their toes by generating internal competition. Multi brand strategy advantages, as explained in Finance Maps of the World[2]: 1. generates economies of scale 2. in every market, there are some customers who frequently change brands in order to experiment with products of different brands. By adopting the trick of Multi Brand Strategy, a company can serve effectively to these Brand Switchers. 3. when a company undertakes Multi Brand Strategy, the Managers of the company are bound to operate efficiently as internal competition is generated at a high degree. 4. if the initial brand becomes successful, then through franchising and retailing, a company can develop a second brand without generating much expense. The marketing department of the company can market the different multi brand products just in the way an agency works for multiple clients. All these advantages of Multi Brand Strategy can generate economies of scale. Multi-branding strategy disadvantages: 1. it can fail because of poor management 2. it can fail due to the wrong choice of business model MULTI-PRODUCT BRANDING STRATEGY Multi-product branding involves releasing multiple products with the same brand name - for example Revlon. They have Revlon lipstick ranges, eye shadow ranges, foundation ranges etc. These are different products, but all branded as Revlon. Luke Arthur from Demand Media[3] explains that when offering products to the public, branding can help enhance customer loyalty and help the company be more profitable overall. While this strategy can be simple to use, it can lead to some problems. Advantages include: 1. Easy adoption of the new product by your already loyal customer base. For example, if Revlon brings out a new lipstick colour, women that already by Revlon lipsticks will buy the new colour without too much decision making or checking the price / colour against other competing brand's offerings. 2. Facilitates the acceptance of new products by the retailer that is already stocking your other product(s). Disadvantages include: 1. Dilution of brand name: one of the potential problems with using multi-product branding is that it can delete the effectiveness of the brand name (but not in all cases). When consumers see the brand name everywhere on many different types of products, they may not necessarily put the same faith in the brand as they once did. This can lead to lower sales in all of the different product categories a brand encompasses. By sticking to related products in a brand, you often can grab more market share of that particular niche. 2. All products tied together: another potential disadvantage of using this branding strategy is that it ties all of the products together. In some cases, this can be good, but problems can arise. For example, if your brand covers household products such as soap and cleaners but it also covers chainsaws, one chainsaw malfunction could lead to a bad perception associated with the other products in the lineup. You have to make sure all of the products in your line share the same level of quality. 3. Difficulty managing: when you put your brand name on many different types of products, you eventually may have a hard time managing them all. If you restrict your brand name to items that are similar to one other, such as soap, shampoo and conditioner, it is typically easier to manage them. If you start dealing with products that are completely unrelated to one another, such as soap and automobiles, you may have a hard time effectively managing your resources. 4. Expectations on new products: another potential problem you may run into using multi-product branding is expectations on new products. For example, if your brand has a certain standard of excellence in the eyes of the public, every new product is scrutinized. If the new products do not meet the standards of the old ones, it can lead to a negative stigma surrounding the brand. Every new product must have all of the kinks worked out before you release it to the general public. References: Photo courtesy of www.global-customer.com
Packaging can make or break a business. Below are a variety of packaging failures. Although the below 'packaging fails' will probably not make the businesses fail, it will make people annoyed, or see you in a negative light - and we all know it's easier to keep return customers than try to gain new ones! So don't annoy your customer! You need to do a lot of research before launching your product (in its packaging), as with any marketing move you make. Amongst other things: - you need to get a sample of the packaging before allowing it to go into bulk production to test it - you need to engage with your Graphic Designer / Packaging Designer to discuss what the finished product will look like (including where the handle holes will go etc) - you need to spell check - if you need the information on your packaging translated in to another language - make sure you engage a professional translator to do the job - you need to think about the 'customer experience' when dealing with or opening your package. Don't annoy them by making it hard, or wasteful or time-consuming. This is why it's important to incorporate any hand holes or anything else in your packaging design, or at the very least, get a sample made up before it goes into major production!! It's more important than ever to have clear and concise warnings on your food or allergy prone products. If you are not a native speaker of the language you are printing on your packaging - you need to get a professional translator (not your friend) to translate for you. You could put someone's life in danger! As you can see, they didn't spell check! Again, if the language used on your packaging is not your own native language, you need to invest in a professional translator. Also, get a sample of the box made up and sent out to you before going into bulk production or check with your translator the packaging images / wording is correct/ok. Frivolous, annoying, time consuming, wasteful packaging can make people annoyed! Your end product might be great - but if it comes in a massive package, your customer will be thinking that maybe you have added an additional product or gift! Always think of the customer experience when creating your packaging. Most people are time poor so creating easy to open packaging is best. Again, this kind of frivolous, wasteful packaging just makes people mad. You need to understand that even if your target market customers are not the type to be environmentally friendly minded, there are people that will view your product on the shelves that are. They will not be amused! Think about the environment and the impact your packaging will have on it, and also about your costs. Some things - like bananas, don't need packaging! so don't waste money were it isn't needed. Best of luck with your packaging design! References:
Thank you to: 1. http://failblog.org 2. http://pelfind.com/photos/38050 3. http://www.cartridgesave.co.uk/news/10-absolutely-pathetic-packaging-fails/ After spending probably thousands of dollars (or even tens of thousands of dollars!) on your event materials, products to display, furniture, maybe more staff, and the booking fee or stall at the expo itself...amongst numerous other costs, you then realise you need event bags.
Having worked in event management and marketing for years, and having ordered event bags for numerous events and expos (before starting my own bag and box business) these are my thoughts and tips for what you need to consider when you want to order event bags: 1. What is going in the event bag? Do you need the bag to fit a bulky magazine and a water bottle, or just a few little flyers and small give-away? Make sure you gather all your collateral together and measure them to figure out the size of the bag you want. There's nothing worse than having a massive event bag with a few flyers hiding down the bottom. It feels weird for the delegate carrying it around too. Nor should you make the bag too small. Make sure the gusset will be wide enough to fit your give-aways in. For example if you are giving away a bottle of water and a magazine together, make sure they can both fit snug in the bag, by ensuring the gusset (side of bag) is wide enough. You don't want your bottle busting the bag, or if you do manage to squeeze it in, having an outline of the bottle that has obviously been wedged into the bag! My advice: measure, measure, measure! 2. How heavy are the contents? Again, if you've got a 750ml bottle of water and a thick magazine, you could be looking at over 1kg. You probably don't want to go for a 70gsm (thin) kraft bag. You will need a sturdy bag (probably a classic boutique style bag), and you will need to think about reinforcing the handle holes and the bottom of the bag to ensure your contents don't rip through the bag and land on the feet of a very embarrassed delegate! My advice: tell your packaging supplier (preferably us at Custom Printed Bags & Boxes!) what your contents weigh. We will be able to reinforce the bag to ensure non-breakage. 3. The bag design. If you don't have the budget to engage a Graphic Designer to create a fantastic stand-out design for your event, then you should just go with printing your logo on both sides of the bag, (and even print on the gussets). If you buy in bulk, you can use the generic branded bags throughout the year for other events. Otherwise, to really stand out, you can print a message on the bag relating to the event itself. My advice: custom printed bags are so important because it shows you're a professional organisation, and when people walk around with your bag, it gives you brand exposure. Best of luck with your event! We are excited to announce we got a two page spread in the December 2012 issue of the 'My Business' magazine!
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August 2021
AuthorClara Cassidy, Founder and Marketing Manager of Custom Printed Bags & Boxes, is a marketing professional with years of experience in branding, promotions and events. Categories
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