Progressive brick-and-mortar stores want to offer their customers an experience. The stores that come to mind are: Urban Outfitters, Trader Joes, and Restoration Hardware---to name just a few. In each of these stores, a certain vibe is presented. It is communicated through the interior design, the sales staff and how the product is displayed. Shoppers come back, because they like how the store caters to their needs. They make shopping an experience.
The relationship between the retailer and the manufacturer is complicated. They both want to sell their product and make a profit however they are at odds as to the best way to do this. They both have different objectives. No where is this more obvious than in the high-tech industry.
Retailers take tech products and line them up and provide a check list of features. Some brands have the same exact features. Take ink jet printers for example. Best Buy is now requiring each manufacturer to have the exact product sticker. The manufacturer isn't able to express their unique brand personality or call out subtle differences that might be of interest to a customer.
I get what Best Buy is trying to do. They want consistency between products and brands. They don't want their store floor to look like a circus with various brand's P-O-P calling attention to itself and cluttering the environment. But this sticker was under a lid and was only revealed if a customer was taking a closer look at the product. Clearly, Canon wanted to call out how easy it is to print photos from their mobile application. Best Buy provided speeds and feeds. Something a customer could easily access on-line.
The only way for a brand to truly express themselves is to have their own store such as Apple and Microsoft. The other way is the to have a store within a store. If you have enough money, you can customize a spot for your brand in a retail store.
In this scenario, the manufacturer can control their message and provide the shopper with an experience. Department stores have been doing this for years. Of course, not all brands can afford this. Perhaps an end aisle display in key stores is a better option. This is less expensive than the store in a store option but it still requires upkeep by the manufacturer if there are moving parts or electronics.
If a brand can't afford to compete on this scale, this is when packaging becomes very important. It is the only way for a manufacturer to highlight features that may be superior to a competitors. It may be the products are equal but engaging packaging invites a customer to take a closer look. Headphones are a perfect example of this experience.
So to answer my original question: "How Can Manufactureres Present their Brand At Retaill?" It depends on how much money you have. But packaging is always a key way that a manufacturer can represent it's brand at no extra cost.
Patty Jensen is Vice President of Account Services at JDA Inc, a graphic design firm that specializes in supporting companies' branding and retail efforts with a Unified Marketing approach. To learn more, click here.
The relationship between the retailer and the manufacturer is complicated. They both want to sell their product and make a profit however they are at odds as to the best way to do this. They both have different objectives. No where is this more obvious than in the high-tech industry.
Retailers take tech products and line them up and provide a check list of features. Some brands have the same exact features. Take ink jet printers for example. Best Buy is now requiring each manufacturer to have the exact product sticker. The manufacturer isn't able to express their unique brand personality or call out subtle differences that might be of interest to a customer.
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| This is what the product stickers looked like that were placed on the platen glass |
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| This is what all of the product stickers look like for all of the printers now |
The only way for a brand to truly express themselves is to have their own store such as Apple and Microsoft. The other way is the to have a store within a store. If you have enough money, you can customize a spot for your brand in a retail store.
In this scenario, the manufacturer can control their message and provide the shopper with an experience. Department stores have been doing this for years. Of course, not all brands can afford this. Perhaps an end aisle display in key stores is a better option. This is less expensive than the store in a store option but it still requires upkeep by the manufacturer if there are moving parts or electronics.
If a brand can't afford to compete on this scale, this is when packaging becomes very important. It is the only way for a manufacturer to highlight features that may be superior to a competitors. It may be the products are equal but engaging packaging invites a customer to take a closer look. Headphones are a perfect example of this experience.
So to answer my original question: "How Can Manufactureres Present their Brand At Retaill?" It depends on how much money you have. But packaging is always a key way that a manufacturer can represent it's brand at no extra cost.
Patty Jensen is Vice President of Account Services at JDA Inc, a graphic design firm that specializes in supporting companies' branding and retail efforts with a Unified Marketing approach. To learn more, click here.
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