Packaging Your Business: How to Harness Image as a Marketing Tool*
U.S. Small Business Administration The Naming Process Art Expressions Gallery: Imaginative Identity Helps overcome Obstacles Autumn Harp: Outside Expertise Proves Pivotal in Crafting a Brand Strategy St. Stan’s Brewing Company: Image Changes with the Times Werk-Brau Co., Inc.: Product Catalog Packages Manufacturer for Success Sports Park: Consistent and Colorful Identity Builds Brand Equity The Latest Scoop: New Graphic Identity Reflects Essence of the Product
Cary Grant was a package. So were Lana Turner, Marilyn Monroe, Clark Gable and many more. Larger than life, these once-great stars of the silver screen were the creation of shrewd and powerful Hollywood moguls who understood the vagaries of the entertainment market.
The actors and actresses under contract to their studios were given new names, personas and even family histories. They were told how to dress, how to wear their hair and even who to date. They were products to be promoted, just like the movies in which they appeared.
While we can't fathom such a system in today's tell-all society, the basic underlying premise is as valid now as it was decades ago. That is, how you package your commodity -- whether a product, service or your business itself -- can make all the difference in today's crowded, competitive marketplace.
If you remain skeptical, look around at the most successful companies. Take Starbucks for example. The Seattle-based purveyor of gourmet coffee is a perfect role model for small businesses seeking to create and maintain their identity. Once a small business itself, with one store when Starbucks opened in 1971, the company now boasts more than 750 outlets in 17 states and 13,000 employees. Yet Starbucks' success is driven not just by the quality of its products but by the total experience of purchasing a cup of coffee. The creative look of its packaging, the friendly ambiance and clever design of its stores, and the knowledgeable, courteous service customers receive all comprise the Starbuck brand.
"When people hear the word `brand,' they usually think of consumer products," observes Michael Osborne, president of Michael Osborne Design in San Francisco. "But the definition of brand is much broader than that. A brand is like a face. It has a style, a personality, a tone of voice. Branding is how you position your company and product in trying to reach your target audience."
What's in a Name?
To create a brand, you must start with a name. And not just any name, but a name that appropriately suits your commodity. In creating its tall, dark and handsome heartthrob, MGM Studios quickly discarded its fledgling star's unthrob-like given name, Archibald Leach, and replaced it with the more befitting Cary Grant.
Cary Grant is just one of many apt answers to the question, "What's in a name?" In fact, Henri Charmasson, a patent and trademark attorney and member of the San Diego name-consulting firm ALIAS, believes that not only can a product or company name determine its distinctiveness, sales and image, but it can even help determine its survival.
"Few acts in the establishment of a commercial entity or the launching of a new product are as consequential to the success or failure of the enterprise as the assignment of the name under which it will be known in the marketplace," he postulates in his book, The Name's the Thing. "A name is a goodwill ambassador, a herald, a promise, the first thing that a consumer hears about a firm or its product. That first contact often determines the consumer's attitude toward the firm or product the name identifies.
"A company operating under an inappropriate identity is like a door hung with a misaligned hinge," Charmasson continues. "It cannot work effectively. A product branded with a poor mark is comparable to a plane equipped with the wrong set of wings. The thing may never fly. Furthermore, well-chosen commercial names can constitute a highly valuable commodity that can be independently and lucratively exploited."
Because the true value of a name lies in its distinctiveness, it's wise to avoid names that are definitions, like Day and Night Plumbers, for example. For the same reason, you should also shun names that are indistinguishable from the competition. If you're unconvinced, turn to the computer listings in your Yellow Pages, where you'll find names such as The Computer Store, Computer Merchant and Computer Mart. Are any of these names compelling enough to immediately attract your business?
In contrast, an innovative company in the early 1980s broke away from the pack with a name that on the surface had nothing to do with its product. California-based Apple Computers has forever changed the associations millions of people make with a piece of fruit. In fact, in a game of free associations, the word apple is just as likely today to elicit a response of "computer" as it is "pie."
Charmasson recommends that people begin the naming process with fact-finding. First, define your market and product or service. What are the features and advantages that set your commodity apart, and what is the most interesting aspect of it from the customer's point of view? Where will it be sold? If you plan to market your company or commodity in a foreign country, you need to be careful how the name translates into other languages. (A classic example is Chevrolet's disastrous attempt to sell its Nova compact in Spanish-speaking countries where the name translated to "no va," or "it doesn't run.")
If you are promoting a product or service, Charmasson advises that you next determine its field of use. That is, is it a household product or commercial tool, and will it be offered in the home, on the street or in a business environment?
Finally, no matter what you are promoting, who are your typical customers? What is their social and educational status and their vocabulary?
David Cramer, owner of The Latest Scoop in Berkeley, California, exemplifies Charmasson's approach. One of the early manufacturers of the Italian-style ice cream so popular today, Cramer was on the cutting edge of a nascent industry when he first set up his machines in 1979. At the time, gelato was just beginning to tickle American palates. Therefore, Cramer focused his efforts on developing a name that spoke to the quality and innovativeness of his product, and was also clever and refined.
"I wanted something that would grab people's attention," he recalls, "a name that was sophisticated while having an avant-garde, up-and-coming sense about it."
Cramer researched words and phrases associated with ice cream and innovation, eventually compiling a list of candidates. He then did some test marketing with other business owners, potential customers and friends. The Latest Scoop was their unanimous favorite.
Show and Tell
Once you've selected a name, the next and very crucial consideration is how you will present it to the world -- your logo. A logo is the graphic representation of your company's or product's identity and is typically composed of three elements: an icon, logotype and color palette.
The icon is a symbol; for example, McDonald's arches or the moon and stars of Proctor and Gamble. It is very often accompanied by the company or product name in a signature typeface, also known as the logotype. In other instances, the logotype alone serves as the firm's identity; professional service providers such as physicians and attorneys often use only a logotype. Further enforcing the brand recognition are the signature colors. Colors are usually chosen because of their emotional impact and/or relevance to the specific commodity being offered.
When modernizing its identity, Ohio's Werk-Brau sought colors that were dynamic and evocative and more accurately represented the company's position as an industry leader. In so doing, it exchanged tranquil forest green and white for the powerful combination of red and black. Likewise, the logo for Bill Berghoff's Sport Park in San Diego reflects the nature of his business. Red, white and blue, it symbolizes the "all-American" essence of the park's main features: baseball, hot dogs and beer.
Your logo, like Lana Turner's blond hair and sweaters, is the visual dressing that determines to a certain extent how the public relates to your brand. It speaks volumes about who you are and what you stand for, and -- say experts -- is directly related to your company's bottom line. With so much at stake, the design of your firm's visual identity is best entrusted to experienced, respected professionals.
"Successful companies understand the value of an effective image," observes Michael Osborne. "They have a fundamental appreciation that their identity is one of their most strategic marketing tools. You get what you pay for. The design of your logo is not the place to skimp."
Creating Your Logo
In working with the designer who is to develop your logo, research is again an important starting point. Begin by noting and collecting samples of identities you like and don't like, advises Patricia Smith, owner of Art Expressions Gallery in San Diego (see profile). Articulate your vision and share this vision with your designer.
"You can't rely on your designer to know everything," Osborne says. "You have to do your homework. Decide what the company or product will stand for and let your designer know. Also tell your designer how you plan to use the logo. Will it appear on uniforms and trucks? Is most of your advertising done in the Yellow Pages? If so, the logo must be flexible enough to be effective in both large and small spaces. Get your objectives and strategy clear up front. If you aren't sure about logo applications, ask your designer for help."
Adds San Francisco packaging designer Rita Damore, "Find a designer with whom you can communicate, someone who understands and really listens to you. Then open your mind to many possibilities and let your designer do what you hired him or her to do."
Other Promotional Media
Consistency is central to the brand equity discussed previously. Starbucks again serves as an example of an operation that has remained vigilant in the application of its identity. Each visual communications element - from napkins to coffee bags, store fronts to window seats, annual reports to mail order catalogs, table top promotions to thermal carafes - is consistent in the message it projects.
"If you think about it from an efficiency perspective, you can't have someone out there, day in and day out, telling customers who you are and the benefits of buying your product," notes Osborne. "Your brand has to be able to talk for you. Every item must look like it comes from the same company with a clear, concise, consistent message. If this doesn't occur, you run the risk of confusing your customers, and they might well turn off."
Consistency starts with your stationery system, which typically includes letterhead, envelopes, labels and business cards. These pieces are sent out into the world constantly, and therefore constitute an excellent vehicle to reinforce your name and market presence.
The application of your identity in newsletters, brochures, catalogs and all other printed materials must also maintain a consistent look and feel. So should building and vehicle signage, uniforms and packaging. If you advertise on the Internet, don't overlook your World Wide Web site. And if you offer more than one product, there should be synchronicity among all of them. That is, they should speak with one voice, yet that voice must also speak several languages.
Major corporations such as Bank of America, Autodesk and Chevron have developed corporate identity manuals that provide application standards and guidelines detailing how the company's logo, typeface and colors are to be used. Many have also set up departments whose sole purpose is to protect their company's name and identity from infringement. Our culture is virtually littered with examples of firms that lost their identities because they failed to safeguard them. For instance, aspirin, escalator and thermos, once proprietary names, have now become generic terms.
Small businesses must remain just as vigilant. Because theirs was a small firm with few competitors, the owners of Werk-Brau had never considered trademarking their identity -- until a new Canadian competitor appeared on the scene, using the same initials and a logo that was a direct knockoff of the Werk-Brau brand. Werk-Brau was forced to undertake lengthy research to verify that it, in fact, was the originator. The result: the Canadian firm had to find a new name and identity and Werk-Brau finally obtained a trademark. Favorable outcome aside, the extensive time and effort expended would have been unnecessary had Werk-Brau simply trademarked its identity in the very beginning.
Wear It Proudly
Would Cary Grant have attained such star status if he had stayed Archie Leach? Would countless books have been written and a special stamp created if Norma Jean Baker had refused to be called Marilyn Monroe or not dyed her hair platinum blond? While hindsight can be deceptively conclusive, if these cinematic legends had not agreed to act out the roles and adopt the identities so carefully contrived by their Hollywood promoters, the answer to these questions is "probably not."
Don't underestimate the power of packaging. Successful companies such as Starbucks are committed to coveting and nurturing their identity, for they well understand its power as a tool that strongly fortifies overall marketing strategies.
"Don't shortchange your product or company," urges Rita Damore. "Think big and let your vision and uniqueness shine through."
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When Patricia Smith opened Art Expressions Gallery in San Diego 13 years ago, the site she chose flew in the face of conventional wisdom. Constrained by limited capital, she placed her high-end gallery in an out-of-the-way office park. By necessity, the adage of "location, location, location" was replaced with "overhead, overhead, overhead."
Undaunted by this apparent obstacle, the optimistic Smith took a determinedly positive approach. "I decided to think of the gallery as you would a fine restaurant. If the restaurant is good enough, people will make the effort to find it and come back again, no matter where it is located. I didn't have a lot of money so I had to be creative."
Calling upon her background as an artist's representative, she made Art Expressions Gallery a destination for collectors of fine art. The gallery's 13-foot-high ceilings and skylights set off the pieces to fine advantage. Smith's staff of three dress professionally and imaginatively, as befits their surroundings. The open front door bids visitors and clients welcome. And to make it easy for people to find the gallery, she had business cards designed with a map on the back.
"Everything you do must accurately and effectively represent the image you want to project," Smith underscores. "We sell contemporary and traditional art, so our logo has a little bit of flair yet is classic. We developed it first because we knew we could apply the logo to multiple media. It appears on our business cards, ads, presentation folders and stationery -- including fax cover sheets. We also had special labels designed that incorporate our logo, which we put on the back of all pieces of art and on the paper with which we wrap them.
"Last Christmas, many of our customers purchased art for their significant others, and we wanted to do something different -- something that spoke to our artistic and creative image," continues Smith. "We bought packages of large, plastic-coated paper tablecloths in bright colors and used them, along with multi-colored ribbon, to wrap the art. We then personally delivered the gifts to our clients' homes. The reaction was fantastic. We did a lot more business than usual in December, and are convinced our wrapping contributed to the month being so successful."
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A former flower child of the 1960s has turned his cottage industry business into a thriving 21st century enterprise, while managing to retain his brand equity, company culture and values. He did this by pulling together a "brain trust" of experienced professionals who helped him forge a strategy for the 1990s and beyond.
Kevin Harper first began making Autumn Harp natural skin care products in 1978 on his Bristol, Vermont kitchen stove -- using herbs, fruit and other natural substances like beeswax. "We were a hippie, mom-and-pop operation," he recalls humorously. "It was very low-tech. We went along that path for about 12 years. And with each new product, we had a new look.
"At the time," says Harper, "we sold primarily to natural food stores, whose customers were more concerned about integrity of ingredients than the look of the product. But as the natural food industry became more sophisticated and product development became more refined, we realized we had to tune up our image."
The problem was that Harper didn't know where to begin. "It wasn't in our nature to be slick. We used ages-old formulas to make our products. And we were concerned about how we would be able to keep our corporate culture, which is family-based, environmentally sensitive and socially responsible, yet appeal to today's consumer."
Harper turned to a group of consultants for the answer. Assembling people with expertise in product development, natural-products manufacturing, design, packaging, marketing and financing, he conducted a day-long brainstorming session and reimbursed the experts for their time. The cost was affordable and the payoff big.
"The idea was to create a brand strategy," Harper explains. "Over the years we had marketed a family of `Unpetroleum' products to specifically compete with Vaseline's petroleum-based offerings." It was decided that the "Unpetroleum" identity would serve as the foundation of the brand strategy.
"One of the consultants, who worked for a local design and marketing firm, then helped us translate that strategy into new logos for the corporation and the product line, both with the same visual tone," adds Harper. "We wanted the corporate image of Autumn Harp to convey something chiseled out of stone, beautiful and lasting, while the product line logo is intended to symbolize a true alternative. The two work well together because they both represent something crafted and natural that comes from the earth."
Another very important result of the brain trust session was the company's first five-year business plan. It proved so successful that Harper brought in another group of professionals to help him develop a plan for the five years thereafter.
"Our goal is to become an international leader in skin care products," he asserts. "We expect to be in at least seven countries by the end of 1996. Autumn Harp has also entered into an alliance with The Body Shop (a like-minded British company) to develop and manufacture products for its multiple stores around the world."
Harper credits his brain trust for the company's success. "Surround yourself with creative thinkers," he urges. "Tap into their expertise. Once you've clearly defined your vision and what makes your products more valuable, let these people do what they do best."
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Gareth Helms knew it was time for a change. His industry had evolved and so had the consumers who bought his product. When he and partner Romy Angle founded St. Stan's Brewing Company in 1984, theirs was one of just six micro breweries and the only altbier brewery in the U.S. For the uninitiated, altbier is made in the old German, pre-1700's tradition. Thus the word alt -- old -- bier. The name, St. Stan's, was derived from the county in central California in which the brewery resides: Stanislaus.
"Micro breweries were an unknown concept in our market area -- our local country -- when we started out," Helms recalls. "So we designed our label to reflect the only beers perceived as quality at the time -- imported beers. To separate ourselves from national brands, our tag line was 'The Unimported Import.'"
St. Stan's cruised along with its "import" identity for four years until U.S. beer drinkers experienced a national consciousness-raising. Micro breweries and premium beers took center stage and the beer market began attracting a more discerning audience.
"We did a survey in California and found that consumers wanted micro-brewed products on store shelves," Helms notes. "We also learned that they were passing up our beer because they thought it was an import."
The evidence was plain: St. Stan's needed a new image. So the partners brought in Michael Osborne Design, a San Francisco firm that specializes in corporate identity and packaging.
"We told Michael we wanted a micro-brewery look," Helms says, "in addition to an upgraded identity. A lot of handwork goes into making our beer. We produce it in small volumes to control the quality, and our price reflects this. So the approach had to bring together flavor, quality and image."
The resultant identity garnered tremendous results. St. Stan's has grown more than fivefold, and Helms is lavish in praising its creator.
"Michael Osborne bridged the gap between the consumer's consciousness and our product," he says emphatically. "There is no way in the world we could have come up with the solution he brought us. Today we have six different beers and Michael designed packaging for each of them. He even helped us develop one of the product names.
"The services of a professional designer are invaluable," Helms concludes, "someone who knows how to put your product in front of the right customers and understands how to create a connection between the two."
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It was like white 1960s "go-go" boots paired with the latest Armani creation. That's how ill-suited the old Werk-Brau image looked in contrast to the company's totally modernized Findlay, Ohio facility.
"We had been marketing almost on luck for a long time," admits Charlotte Cullum, marketing director for Werk-Brau Co., Inc., a manufacturer of tractor loader backhoe buckets founded in 1947 as a small blacksmith shop. "Our brand equity was pretty strong around the U.S. so we didn't recognize we desperately needed to change our look. It wasn't until we undertook a complete facelift of our facility that the realization hit us -- it was time to modernize our identity as well.
For assistance, Cullum called upon one of her former marketing professors from Bowling Green University. He interviewed employees and developed a customer survey. The answers he received provided the impetus for a new approach to the marketplace and a more dynamic visual look incorporating an updated logo and powerful signature colors.
"The survey asked customers what they wanted from Werk-Brau and how we rated against the competition," notes Cullum. "It was a real eye-opener. We learned that our customers were very busy and didn't want their time taken up with salespeople. We responded to their concerns by asking how they would feel if we put the very best information at their fingertips and set up a system by which they could handle business with us over the phone."
Customer response to the idea was overwhelmingly positive. Out of the process came an 80-page color catalog of Werk-Brau products, complete with pictures, specifications, recommended applications, and compatibility with major equipment -- even photos of the firm's order desk employees. Each page bears Werk-Brau's new red and black logo and can be used as a stand-alone piece. Cullum also convinced company president Paul Balinger (who is also her father) to write a letter, which appears on the first page, accompanied by his photo. A final professional touch was provided by including the firm's fax and 24-hour 800 order numbers.
"We wanted to put Werk-Brau products and personnel in front of every customer," Cullum emphasizes. "Not surprisingly, therefore, when the final bill came in for printing of the 100,000 copies, it was a humdinger. My father was furious, so we all wisely decided to stay out of his way. "At the end of this volatile day, my father received a phone call from a customer," continues Cullum. The client said, "I didn't know who to contact until I saw your photo and decided you were the best person. In all the years I've been in business, I have never before been provided with a more valuable, helpful product guide."
"My father was thrilled," Cullum remembers. "And that customer's response was just the first of many such calls and letters. The success of the catalog has been fantastic: our customer base has increased 35 percent, while sales have gone up 41 percent. That's very gratifying proof of the validity of our new market strategy."
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"We've got thousands of walking billboards traveling around Southern California," boasts Bill Berghoff and with good reason. The owner of Sports Park adult recreational facilities in San Diego and San Clemente, California, has built a level of brand equity that has turned his competitors an envious green, all by following some basic rules.
"The Sports Park message is about having fun," he says enthusiastically, then ticks off the advantages that support that message. "We provide top-of-the-line facilities. They're clean and in excellent condition. Our concession stands serve the food our customers want -- hot dogs, pizza, soft drinks and beer -- and it's good quality. After they finish their games, customers can drop into our sports pub and watch the pros play on big-screen TV. We're also active in the community. We sponsor youth clinics every year with players from the San Diego Padres baseball team and the San Diego Chargers football team."
Berghoff also keeps his red, white and blue identity in the public eye. The Sports Park logo appears on napkins and cups, on brochures and team schedules, and on the baseball cards that carry a photo of the facility and a map for getting there. It can also be seen on the batting cages and outfield fences of the baseball diamonds and on signage that greets visitors as they enter and exit the facilities. And that's not all.
Every year, Berghoff has an artist design a T-shirt for the league championship series in which the many Sports Park-sponsored teams compete. Each player receives a shirt, and Berghoff claims those shirts (or walking billboards) are a hot item. The T-shirts also carry the Sports Park logo as do the plaques awarded to the series winners.
"You have to stay consistent," he advises. "and shouldn't change your logo every few years. We have 250,000 customers coming to each park annually. The goal is to make as many impressions as possible on these people, and the way to effectively do that is with your logo and message."
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A confluence of circumstances led David Cramer, owner of The Latest Scoop in Berkeley, California to upgrade his company's identity six years ago. He first bought out a competitor who had been dogging his heels for years. Then, in an effort to improve the marketability of his newly acquired brand, Cramer hired a graphic designer in the same office park to redesign its old-fashioned logo. During the process he realized his own image could use a facelift. Therein lies the tale.
"When I purchased Figaro Gelato, I decided to retain the product name but wanted a more updated logo than the one I inherited," Cramer explains. "However, because I put less emphasis on this brand than I do on my higher-quality Latest Scoop products, and spend far less time promoting it, I didn't want to invest a lot of money. I just wanted the job done."
Soon after, Cramer realized that the colors and styling of The Latest Scoop identity had become outdated as well; after all, it had been created in the 1970s. He also wanted a visual look that reflected the excellent quality of his brand. This time Cramer hired Wang/Hutner Design, a San Francisco firm that had been recommended to him because of the identity work it had done for other businesses.
"We pride ourselves on producing the highest quality Italian-style ice cream," says Cramer with great enthusiasm. "Most American ice cream is 50 percent air. Mine has no air whatsoever. Our customers are premium restaurants, hotels and cafes in Northern California and Nevada -- for whom we'll even create custom flavors. Therefore, we needed something that would both portray the nature of our product and enhance our presentation when we visited clients."
Wang/Hutner enlisted the services of a papermaker who spent a day observing Cramer and his employees mix ice cream. She subsequently handcrafted a sheet reflective of the swirls of color that occur when flavors are added to the ice cream base. This pattern became the background for the packaging. A calligrapher was then brought in to create the lettering and stylized graphic symbol of an ice cream cone.
The new identity drew raves of delight from Cramer's clients. "We heard words such as `classy' and `sophisticated,'" he says, "which was exactly the effect we were trying to achieve. One restaurateur even called me on the phone because she was so excited about our look.
"A graphic identity is a reflection of your company and product, so it's important to have one that effectively represents what you offer," emphasizes Cramer. "If you are promoting quality, for example, then your image must substantiate that.
"Although at the time I didn't think it was necessary to invest much money in updating the Figaro Gelato logo, if I had it to do over again, I would invest it," Cramer concludes in retrospect. "You get what you pay for, and the low-cost Figaro Gelato logo has been done many different times before. In contrast, Wang/Hutner came up with something new and highly creative for The Latest Scoop. I got just what I wanted -- something that is out of the ordinary and visually touts our key selling points.
*Excerpted with permission from "Small Business Success" magazine, Volume 9, produced by Pacific Bell Directory in partnership with the U.S. Small Business Administration and the Partners for Small Business Excellence.
