Packaging Your Great Ideas Properly

Years ago my neighbor Sue worked for M&M/Mars. Periodically, she’d ask us to bring to our workplaces new products the company was testing so she could gauge public reaction.

It was wonderful! Twix bars, new flavors of M&Ms…a host of decadent goodies appeared on our doorstep disguised as market research.

So no surprise when she arrived with bags of Easter-themed 3 Musketeers bars deemed obsolete post-holiday.

Given the outdated packaging, she chose creating good public relations over tossing product in the trash. Smart move!

I’m reminded of this every time I see someone tying their marketing to a holiday or special event. Inherently exciting and generating great amounts of attention, such days are VERY tempting marketing tools. Only if handled incorrectly, your merchandise immediately loses value the next day.

Like those candy bars, cereal in a box with an Olympics theme doesn’t expire the day after the games end, but it suddenly has less value in the public eye. And what happened to all those products when the 2020 Olympics got cancelled?

Seems to me like numerous bottom lines got hurt.

Vons recently re-learned this lesson, selling NBA Dynasty Oreo cookies on the Clearance shelf. These are regular Oreos imprinted with the logos of six professional basketball teams. Regular season’s over, so the cookies are now obsolete.

Recognizing this, many firms develop promotions using holiday-themed materials (stickers, banners, dump-bins) that expire without impacting the packaging. It’s why the same cars can be sold on and after Independence Day. Once the holiday promotion is over, the signage is stowed away and it’s business as usual.

But could you imagine if those cars had to be thrown out on July 5 because the holiday had ended?

As you’re examining your sales promotion schedule for the next 12 months, look for both opportunities and seasonally-related risks and plan accordingly. Use the Super Bowl or Thanksgiving to market your products or services, but recognize that the pretty package you have designed could easily end up being a liability a few days later.

To avoid this, coordinate your marketing, sales, and operations strategies first, finding ways to extend each brand’s market reach without needless losses.

Because foresight and adequate planning can prevent today’s great idea from being relegated to the Clearance rack tomorrow.

With that said, I wish you a week of profitable marketing.

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