Advertising and labeling

Advertising to children has always irked me. Pester power no doubt, but why at the cost of such innocent lives?! We are only helping shrink their childhood further - as if we did not do enough already.

Recently I read about some initiatives by Kraft foods, where they consciously refrain from advertising to below six year olds and to the older bunch six through eleven, they only use what may be referred as 'benefit for you' products which abide by the stringent norms laid by the food authorities. These are products that pass stringent nutrition norms. Isn't that a good initiative!

Another process they follow is a specification of 8 key ingredients in all products on the label - energy (calories), protein, total carbohydrates, sugars, fat, saturated fat, dietary fiber and sodium. They use front-of-pack labeling that delivers meaningful information at a glance and fits local needs.

Packaging - English or multi-lingual?

Heard of 'Creator's bias' ? This is when the creator sees things from his mind's eye, where he believes that everyone around him sees things the way he sees them. Technically it would be defined as the tendency by the class creating a product to imagine that those consuming the product are very similar in orientation to themselves.

So accustomed to seeing the brand on the pack mentioned in English, I always gave this thought a miss. Is it a better idea to have the brand name on the pack, in a multi-lingual country like ours, in English or some other language???

Now let's imagine ; you walk into a store to pick one of your regular brands of toothpaste and other than the familiar red and white pack, the font seems unfamiliar. Not just unfamiliar but just not fit for my consumption. Imagine purchasing a pack of toothpaste which reads "colgate" (in hindi or telugu or even urdu for that matter). Just does not feel like your brand of toothpaste....does it? This is precisely one of the reasons that marketers of fmcg and such use English so profusely on the pack. They feel the same way - people associate English with some degree of premiumness.

Another reason that some leading fmcg companies provide for not having a non English pack is because it can prove to be a logistical nightmare. Just imagine, as a marketer, when you need to spend money not only on printing packs in different regional languages but also ensuring that the right one reaches the right region. One interesting observation by a Strategy officer from an ad firm - "how are multi-language newspapers managing logistics?!" so why is it so difficult for an fmcg marketer. Hmm good question!

The marketers however defend their stand by stating that the brand name in English, over a period of time and exposure, serves more as a mnemonic and what matters at the end is communication, which anyway is executed in various languages - whether it is PoPs, danglers or even inserts or instructions for use.

So what if the brand name on the pack is in English, so long as the brand gets identified, and the English language provides that 'dash of premiumness' to the brand!, marketers are smiling all the way :)

Spruce up Window Display

When was the last time you actually stopped by a window display to carefully look at trends in fashion, or a new technology gizmo, or even some jewellery designs.

Gone are the days, says Paco Underhill - the retail expert, who specialises in studying shopper behaviour, when passersby took time out to inspect a window display to understand fashion trends and be informed of the new brands on sale.

The reason as he explains is quite interesting. These days owing to high traffic conditions - both human and vehicular, there is always a cluster of people waiting/ moving at traffic signals (and on roads). This cluster is dense in some patches and sparse in others, and moves with a steady momentum. Any member of the cluster who might wish to go the other way or change tracks is likely to end up bumping, brushing past, or getting pushed around. So it is unlikely that people moving in a cluster will stop short in their track to look at a window display unless ofcourse it is eye-catching.

Most displays today, are cluttered. The intent of most shop-owners being to display all brands/ wares in the two by two ft space available. Paco observes that to make display truely eye-catching, one could use it to display social messages, jokes which could have brands as part of the message. A better idea than cluttering the space with merchandise!