New Borbello's Pizza Box Design

A common trend in the retail world is “clean stores”. A clean store limits or completely eliminates the signage and displays provided from manufacturers. All of the stand-ups, clings, banners, shelf talkers, inflatables, and anything else that tries to get your attention in the store aisles are disappearing. The reason is stores are trying to control their environment.

Many retail marketings subscribe to the philosophy that the most important action in to influencing the buying decision is to make an impression right before the purchase is made. Remember, just because someone walks in the store with the idea to purchase one brand or product, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they will walk out of the store with that brand or product. The “last chance” to alter the decision is right there in the store.

As mentioned, in a clean store we can effectively eliminate all extraneous marketing materials to influence the buying decision. If we assume that a salesperson won’t be offering an opinion, there then becomes just three onsite factors that play into the last minute decision. The first and second factors are related: shelf space and location in the store.

Shelf space, the amount of physical room the store has allocated for your product, has always been important. If you have more of your products visible than your competitors, it makes sense that you would have an advantage in getting your item picked up. Location can include position on the shelf; being eye level is optimal compared to knee height or above the customer’s head. But also, end cap locations, front aisle, near the registers, etc., are also factors. Anyone in retail knows that these are typically items that are negotiated between the manufacturer and the retailer.

But the wildcard in the retail game is the third item on our list, and that is the package itself. If your package stands out on the shelf, it automatically gives you an advantage. Just like any advertising, we believe there are two main rules. When I teach classes or give lectures I refer to them as “Randy’s Two Rules of Advertising“. Of course, they aren’t original to me, but hey, I’m the one in front of the group and I can call them whatever I want. The two rules are: Rule no. 1, Get Noticed. If you aren’t getting noticed, you are throwing your money away. Rule no. 2, Have A Strategy. Why are you doing what you are doing, what is the objective, how are you trying to influence the viewer?

Making Borbello’s Frozen Pizzas stand out on the shelves

If we apply the same thought process to packaging, our number one job is to get noticed. We recently created a new package design for Five Star Frozen Foods in Kaukauna, WI., the makers of Orv’s Pizza, for their upscale pizza product, “Borbello’s”. We created a new logo and completely redesigned the packaging. Each box features a photograph of a quarter pie on the front of the box, and when arranged together, the combined graphics creates an image of an extra large, complete pizza. Since many store displays have an area to show four to eight boxes (or more) next to each other, this allows for the opportunity to arrange the packaging to create what is essentially an extra large sign, right on the shelves themselves.

When combined together, the Borbello's pizza boxes make a bigger graphic display.

There is no doubt that, by displaying the packaging together in this way, the Borbello’s brand stands out in the frozen food displays.

The strategy? Our strategy was two-fold. We wanted Borbello’s to be seen as an upscale, quality pizza in the same category as a DiGiorno, California Pizza Kitchen, or other higher priced brands. Second, we wanted to showcase the abundant toppings that you get on the Borbello’s pizzas.

The black background color creates a very elegant look, reminiscent of an upscale restaurant. The supporting colors are bright, but not gaudy. The new logo is refined, perhaps understated, but still gives the perception of a fine italian eatery. The packaging is simple, but creates an instant upscale perception. If you buy this pizza, expect it to be better than the cheaper brands.

To highlight the amount of toppings, we did two things never seen before on pizza packaging. First of all, we turned what is commonly a required element of the package into a product feature: the weight of the pizza. We emphasized the weight by making it larger than we legally needed to, and highlighted it on the package by putting it in a colored oval to stand out. (We actually wanted it to be higher up on the package to emphasize it more, but we were forced to put it in the lower third of the package to get FDA approval.)

Another element that we’ve never seen done before is we showed a “cutaway” of the pizza. We sliced each pizza in two and positioned the camera at “eye level” to photograph it from the side. This straight from the side viewpoint showcases the thickness of the crust and the toppings piled on top. The cutaway photograph is featured on the backside of the package as well as on two sides of the package. On the sides, it is pretty close to being actual size.

Using the sides of the box gives us another chance to sell the product. In some stores, the extra stock is seen from the sides. By utilizing the side view in this way, we create another opportunity to get our strategic message to our potential customers.

On the back we included a cross-selling message that there are other toppings available. If you examine the boxes on the back closely, you will see that they don’t specifically name any topping combinations, giving our client the opportunity to change recipes down the road. On the back we also included very simple (and large) baking  instructions. No need to get out the reading glasses to make a pizza here.

It makes a difference

Sometimes a new look is enough to create excitement. It must have worked with the new Borbello’s packaging as Roundy’s stores decided to pick up the brand after reviewing a sell sheet featuring the new packaging, before the packaging was even completed. Roundys is a Midwest grocery chain that includes the Copps, Pick’n Save, Rainbow, Marioano’s and Metro Market brands of stores. We’ll make the assumption that with the simple addition of the new retail stores that Borbello’s sales will undoubtedly increase.

PDF of other Gunter Agency Sackaging Samples.  << Link to http://www.gunteragency.com/library/agencyinfo/ga_packaging.pdf >>

PDF of other Gunter Agency Food and Beverage Samples.  << Link to http://www.gunteragency.com/library/agencyinfo/ga_food_beverage.pdf>>

Joan Gillman, Jody Glynn Patrick and Randy Gunter in the studio

I will be on the air on September 22nd, interviewed by Jodie and Joan on WTDY 1670 in Madison at 6 p.m. The following day you will be able to access a podcast at feed://ibmadison.com/extensions/podcast-rss.jsp .

And if you’re wondering how I already have a picture, the show was taped in advance.

They also produce their own exclusive line of specialized tools for manufacturing. And, as a sideline, Jack Klopfenstein (company President) is coming out with a new line of games. We like to think of our agency as creative, but I’ll tell you what – these guys are creative and smart in a completely different and amazing way.

You can get contact info at www.ptsproducts.com (be aware, a new website is on its way.)

The trade show display, light boxes and video for Swiss Valley Farms/Faribault.

We had about a month to pull everything together. Finding willing partners down the street from us at BrightBox Industries, Inc., we set out to the task. As BrightBox’s name implies, they make custom light boxes. But they’re also known for a variety of display work; primarily in-store displays, but they are also up to the trade show task.

The Fancy Food Show is an important show for The Caves of Faribault, a subsidiary company of Swiss Valley Farms, so they wanted to showcase a variety of their cheeses in this quality setting. Our design reflected the upscale nature of the show, including a cherrywood display reminiscent of a parade of homes quality kitchen, complete with a granite solid surface backsplash. (Well, at least it looked like granite.)

Lauren Albracht, Marketing Specialist at Swiss Valley Farms, was heavily involved throughout the design process. One of  her goals was to make sure the display worked extra hard for her company by being multi-functional for other shows. She explains, “We are very excited about the flexibility this booth provides. We can change the lightbox graphics and video reel to adapt to new product introductions and speak to different audiences at the shows we attend.”

There was one added challenge in designing this custom display: the final assembly of the display had to be accomplished without any tools and all parts needed to be shipped in one crate.

This wasn’t some kind of test just for the sake of it, it is a substantial cost consideration. When you set up a display at some union facilities, if you use any tools, you are required to hire the union to do it for you. This can be quite expensive. So each piece was designed to be put together with wing nuts and bolts. The LED display simply hung on a bracket with customized bolts that could be hand tightened. The TV bracket itself was first affixed to the display with eight bolts secured by wing nuts on the backside.

The shipping crate was also designed with cost-savings in mind. By combining everything in one box, our client saved hundreds of dollars in material handling fees on just this one show.

For the video to be played on the LED display, we loaded everything onto a USB flash drive that could be played through a laptop. The computer was hidden behind doors on the front of the display. By putting the video file on a flash drive instead of a DVD we were able to retain the HD quality of the video. (A regular DVD would have to be burned at Standard Definition.)

With the orange "cow crossing" signs on every side of the shipping crate, Swiss Valley Farms should be able to find their crate amongst others quite easily.

Lastly, as you can see in the photo, we created some customized graphics for the shipping crate’s exterior. The reason? Our client shared a story from trade shows past where, upon arrival at their assigned booth space before the show, their crate was not there. When they told the trade show event people about the problem, the reply was that everything had been delivered so our client would have to “go find it”. (Helpful, huh?) This entailed walking the  trade show floor trying to figure out which shipping crate was theirs. Without any identifying marks on the crate, they had to resort to looking at the manifest sheets on each and every one until they found it. But now having an identifiable crate (with the “cow crossing signs”), if this ever happens again, it will take them a fraction of the time to find their crate and display materials.

ADDY judges in Tampa Bay. L-R: Leslie Haines (Nashville), Randy Gunter (Madison), Judy Thompson (Cincinnati) taken in front of the Columbia restaurant, Ybor City, Tampa, FL.

Recently I was in the Tampa Bay area judging their local ADDYs, the advertising awards sponsored by the American Advertising Federation (AAF.) The local advertising club’s entries were down significantly this year, almost half of what it had been in previous years. In fact, all of the clubs in Florida were down this year. (And I am going to be inquiring about other clubs across the country, so I’ll keep you informed.)

I predicted that the local clubs were going to be hurting with lower entries four months ago. No, I’m not much of a psychic, I was just included on an email from the national headquarters of AAF announcing that they were going to raise the prices of the entries and they expected the local clubs in turn to also raise their prices.

From my knowledge of the entries on the local level in Madison, and the fact that the economy isn’t getting better that quickly, I knew that this was a major mistake. Higher prices would mean that participants would lower their number of entries, or decide not to enter anything at all.

National AAF claimed that the reason that many agencies weren’t participating at ADDYs was that winning at the national level didn’t have the prestige of other awards shows (Emmy, Clio, Cannes, One Show, NYAD, CA, etc.) This is probably true for larger agencies who are competing for those prestigious awards (where a single entry can cost $500.) AAF decided that they needed to spend more money on marketing and advertising their awards in order to garner a better reputation, and they needed to raise the fees in order to spend the money on marketing the brand.

There is one fatal flaw with this thinking: a brand does not get to decide what it means to other people. A brand can only try to influence the perceptions of others, but it cannot actually create perceptions. In other words, if a person believes a brand is one thing, it is near impossible for any amount of advertising to change their mind. For instance, it would be fruitless for Timex to convince people that they are a luxury watch. The perception of Timex is that it is a good, middle of the pack watch, a good brand but not in the same category of luxury brands like Bulova, Rolex or even Seiko.

ADDYs are the Timexes of the advertising awards world. What ADDYs are all about is bragging rights of creativity in your local market. Who’s the best in Tampa Bay? Madison? Peoria?

I do believe that the ADDYs can do some things to make it more viable for local entries to enter it and also make the national awards have more meaning. But to try to make it more important than Cannes is a mistake, it has to carve out its own niche.

Here are my suggestions to the ADDY national headquarters to make ADDYs more viable:

1. Get involved in judge selections at the local level. I’ve heard numerous complaints about how judges aren’t always qualified and I’ve noticed this myself. This becomes a real problem for agencies that might want to compete at the national level, but it first has to win at local, then regional, before it even gets to be seen at the national competition. If you don’t have confidence that the judges are qualified the first two steps, you’re not very enthused about entering. Why not just enter the other shows where you know the judges are qualified and you are automatically competing at the national level?
2. Make the local ADDYs mean more in regards to the national awards. I propose that the Best of Show (and possibly other recognitions) at the local level automatically competes at the national level, regardless of what it does at the regional level. This gives the local competition more meaning in regards to the national competition.
3. Label all Regional ADDY winners as “National Finalists” (with appropriate certificates.) That’s what they are, when they win at Regional, they go on to the National finals. So what has more prestige for the local ad agency or advertiser, a Regional ADDY winner or a National ADDY finalist? It’s nothing but different verbiage, but as marketers we know that how things are packaged can make a huge difference in their value.

The Madison ADDY awards

At the local level, my agency has decided not to participate in the Madison ADDYs the last two years. Previous to that we’ve won a Best of Show, three different Judges Choice awards, several Best of Category awards, and have won 9 Regional ADDYs (what I am suggesting can be changed to “National Finalist ADDYs”.) So it certainly isn’t sour grapes on our part that we aren’t participating.

My biggest concern is the internal workings of the Madison AAF organization. I was (briefly) on the Board of Directors and was the only person to vote against approving the annual budget. I think there is a major problem when the club asks for very high dues, very high ADDY entry prices, gives very cheap awards (paper awards for Gold ADDYs, and they often don’t look very good), and yet can pay an outside organization $50,000 a year to basically keep their books and take notes at the meetings. This particular organization doesn’t even get involved in the ADDYs, the most time consuming program of the year and the one with the most impact monetarily on the club and the most visible program in the community. The club last year even approved to hire their previous executive director to come in to help with the ADDYs to the tune of several thousand additional dollars. This organization was supposed to take the place of the executive director, but they charge more money and do a fraction of the work.

I think this is very irresponsible to the club members and should be made apparent to all within the club. Until that time, it is doubtful that we will participate in ADDYs or other club programs.

In addition, the club has to do a better job of engaging the bigger agencies in the community if they want to get them back to the ADDYs. The type of judges are one concern to these agencies. (Although I know that they had a world-class judge in Tom Lichtenheld last year.) For several years now, the biggest and best agencies in the Madison area have not participated in the ADDYs. (Not to say that some of the remaining agencies aren’t talented, but I think they would also agree that the overall show has declined immensely over the last several years.) It’s a Catch-22, because some of the agencies have dropped out, the other agencies have also dropped out. Until they can convince some of these bigger agencies to participate again, the others won’t either. It’s a vicious cycle.

I have always been open to discuss any of these things with national or local ADDY clubs. And, I hope by speaking up I don’t jeopardize my opportunities to judge the ADDYs or NSAC events, I do enjoy seeing the work and meeting new people, and for the NSAC, interacting with the college students who are interested in an advertising career. But, sometimes when you want to see improvement, you need to challenge the inner workings and thought processes of organizations like these.

Some of the most common mistakes we see are simple ones.

First, you need to have an “opt-out”, an easy way for your email recipients to be taken off of your email list. (And then make sure you take them off!)

Second, you need to state within the email where you are located. This includes your address. (Not just a website address or phone number.)

These are two of the most common mistakes we see in emails that we receive. But, there are other requirements.

You can learn more about the CAN-SPAM act at the Federal Trade Commission website. They have an easy to understand page that goes into more detail. View it at http://business.ftc.gov/documents/bus61-can-spam-act-compliance-guide-business.

We have several clients that over the last few years have had record-breaking sales and profits. Although we would love to take all the credit for this, it really is more about their leadership and attitude than anything else.

For most companies, the end of the year becomes a measuring stick on their success, and also signifies a time to reevaluate their business objectives and strategies. Most are looking at one main goal: increase profits. For that reason, I’d like to share basic thoughts on increasing profits that should work for most businesses. I’m doing it in the context of a retail establishment, but the principles are the same for business-to-business (B2B) or other consumer oriented businesses (B2C).

And, to be honest, there is nothing ground-breaking here. This is all common business knowledge, but being reminded of basic business principles is probably a good idea when planning out the coming year.

Ways to increase profits

There are really only three ways to increase profits:

• Charge more
• Decrease costs
• Sell more

Charging more

Charging more for your products can increase profits if you maintain the volume that you sold before. The problem comes in that by charging more you could decrease the numbers of units sold. However, sometimes charging more can be a strategy that changes perceptions and can actually increase sales. We will explore pricing strategies in an upcoming blog post, but it is a little more complex than what we want to get into here. (If pricing is a concern of yours and you want more info, send me an email.)

Decreasing Costs

Decreasing costs is another way to increase profits. If you can sell as much as you did before, but it doesn’t cost you as much to provide those products, basic math means that your profits will go up. Here are some ideas for decreasing costs to think about as you review your plans for the upcoming year…

Going Green/Saving Money

Can you cut down on expenses by using less electricity? Energy efficient fluorescents use a fraction of the wattage as incandescents. (We recommend buying “daylight” bulbs as they simulate natural sunlight better.) How about zone heating or timers to lower the heating of unused space during off hours during the winter? Once again, this could be a post to itself, but think about electrical and heating expenses in this next year’s planning. It’s good for the environment and for your bank account!

With a different approach, we have a client called The Industrial Athlete that has saved companies millions of dollars on their healthcare costs. (If you are a company that has people and an environment with the potential for injuries on the job, you should look at www.TheIndustrialAthlete.com.) It’s all about looking at what you are currently doing and then seeing if there are other ways of doing the same thing…but better and cheaper. The trick is to take nothing for granted. “We’ve always done it that way” is not a good approach to saving money.

Staying open longer

This may seem counterintuitive, how is this decreasing costs? Well think about it this way, you are paying for every square foot of your building. Anytime it is not open, it cannot pay for itself, so this is a cost. If you stay open later, you simply need to sell enough to pay for the costs of staying open at that time plus a little profit. This obviously could be included in our “sell more” section, but wanted to include it here to get you to think about every square foot as a cost.

Staff

Okay, this is going to be controversial, I know it before I even write it. And please believe me that I don’t recommend paying anyone anything but good, competitive wages. I believe that you attract quality people by having a reputation of treating your employees well, and in turn, your business grows with hard-working people that are happy to work for you. But, sometimes you can find some people that are looking for a chance to prove themselves and are willing to work for a little less just for the opportunity. Have you considered hiring someone with a disability? How about a retired person? Looking beyond the ordinary talent pool can offer benefits in many ways.

Getting deals

Looking at how you can decrease other costs can involve some creative thinking. Can you buy more from a supplier and get a better price because of it? Can you partner up with another business and pool your buying power, getting a better deal because of it? Can you buy used products (and recycle, another green initiative) allowing you to save money? Although we like the idea of buying locally, we all have to face the fact that the world has changed to more of a global community, and with the internet about anything can be purchased from anywhere. How does this affect you? Does it help you?

Marketing

As a marketing company, we look for ways to decrease our client’s costs. Above I talked about pooling with other companies to get better deals on supplies, can you also partner up with another company and have a joint promotion, splitting the costs but both benefitting from the marketing effort? Or, can PR be more effective than ads? Can you gang print and save money on printing? Anyone that has been to my seminars knows that I’m always looking at ways to save money on your marketing. (And I typically share these ideas when I meet with people.)

All in all, there’s probably something that you are doing that can be rethought to bring down expenses. Can you buy a trash compactor and have garbage pickup decreased? Can you use new technologies to lower your phone bills? The act of exploring your expenses and brainstorming cost-saving ideas is probably worthwhile for every business.

Increasing Sales

Okay, this is the part I like because it most directly relates to what we do…marketing! When you increase sales, good things happen. At least as long as you can maintain your level of service for your customers.

In order to sell more, there are certain things you can do:

• Increase traffic/exposure
• Offer incentives
• Offer new opportunities/products
• Educate
• Sell more per transaction
• Make the offer/Ask for the sale

Increase Traffic

You can increase traffic in two ways:

• Bring in new customers
• Increase buying opportunities for your current customers

New Customers

The most common way that people create an uptick in sales is to bring in new customers. This is typically done with marketing. People won’t buy from you if they don’t know who you are. Bringing in new customers starts with defining who your target is (who is likely to buy), educating them on who you are and what you sell, and creating a compelling reason to stop by and give you a try. This is the “what’s in it for me?” question (from the customer’s point of view.) We use it as a litmus test in analyzing whether your advertising and marketing materials are appropriate for your audience.

Current Customers

One of the most overlooked components of increasing traffic is simply giving your current customers reasons to shop more. A loyalty program is one way to increase their patronage. Let’s face it, they’ve already experienced your store and like it, so let’s give them reasons to shop more frequently. Also, don’t forget that your current customers are a good resource for bringing in new customers.

Offer Incentives

When most people think of incentives, they usually think of “sale pricing”. That is certainly a way that gets people’s attention—price and value is important. (More on that later in a future blog about what motivates people to buy.) But don’t stop there, we like to think of “incentives” as a way to influence the decision to buy, where the buyer may not have made the purchase otherwise or are doing so in a more favorable time frame for the seller. Think creatively. Can you offer a special opportunity for customers where they can hear from an expert in the field and participate in a special event at your store? (Think cooking class—where you are then going to sell them all the fresh ingredients for the dish that they just learned to cook.) Or how about an extra gift when they purchase something else? Or a special offer when they bring in their friends to shop at your store? Incentives don’t just have to be discounts, what items of value can you offer your customers beyond just a discount?

New Opportunities/Products

Another way to increase sales is to offer something you haven’t offered before. Typically this is something that fits the needs of your customers while not straying too far from the brand image of your store. We don’t think that a coffee shop should start trying to sell computers. But if their customers come in to use the free wifi while having a cup of coffee, and there are quite a few people that come in by themselves, selling cool headphones to use with their computers might be something of interest. What is it that your customers want that you can provide for them (and be profitable while doing it)?

Education

Sometimes you simply have to educate people on what your product is in order to get them to buy. Why is what you are selling better than the competitors? Or maybe the competitor’s product doesn’t even play into it, why buy your product rather than buying nothing at all? Back to our mantra: “what’s in it for me?” or “why should I care?” We need to educate our customers. Education can be done in many ways: create a blog, provide sampling, provide printed educational materials or videos. Don’t buy in to the notion that people don’t read anymore; people are more educated about products than ever before. You have to find a way to get your marketing materials in front of your prospects.

Sell more per transaction/make the offer/ask for the sale

It has become a punchline: “Do you want fries with that?” Although everyone jokes about McDonalds, no one is joking about their success. The idea of increasing sales at the register is a smart idea. It’s not exclusive to fast food: “do you need batteries”, “do you want to purchase a warranty”, “this tie would look great with that jacket”. The idea of suggesting suitable additional items is a way to increase sales. And when done correctly, I think people are genuinely appreciative. When it becomes a problem is when sales people are forced to utter a phrase that they aren’t comfortable saying. So when the salesperson (or McDonalds’ counter person) doesn’t believe in what they are saying, it comes through as a chore to them and then becomes annoying to you. But, if your people truly believe that they can offer something of value, and your customer would appreciate owning the product that they are suggesting, this is a wonderful way to increase sales and profits.

We were recently in a store where they were offering a sampling of one of their products. The salesperson was right there when I asked my wife whether she liked the product. The salesperson heard her say she did and he heard my reply that I liked it too. And then he didn’t do anything else. A simple “can I show you where to find the product” or “can I get one and take it to the counter” would probably have made a sale. Instead, we walked around the store some more and forgot about it, leaving the store without making the purchase.

Although it isn’t retail related, a study done in the agricultural world revealed that the number one reason that customers bought a certain product was simply that they were asked by the salesperson to make the purchase. Don’t be afraid to ask your customer if they would like to buy what you’re selling!

Review

I know that everything here you have probably heard before, but I still think a review of these ideas as you look into the upcoming year’s plans is appropriate. Sometimes we know what to do—we just forget to act on those things that we know, and a reminder is in order.

In upcoming blog posts I will touch on the motivation behind people’s buying decisions, the sales process and how it affects your marketing messages, pricing strategies, and how to reach new customers through emotional marketing messages and storytelling. I’m also planning a post on B2B selling. In the interim, don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions about these subjects, this post or any other marketing question.

One agency mentioned that a good portion of their growth has been in digital, search and analytics.

Our agency is seeing more of this type of work too. Although we build websites that are easily managed by our clients and are proponents of enabling our clients to perform many of the updating and maintenance type tasks, we’re finding many of them simply prefer that we do that maintenance and analytic analysis for them. We’re also offering more retainer-based programs where we help with public relations and social media on a consistent basis.

Read the original article on nypost.com