Christmas Cheer For All To Miss
Christmas Cheer For All to Miss
The holidays result in many brands switching up their packaging to try and boost sales. But the question is, can your brand look festive and still be distinctive?
The holiday season is almost here, and that means retailers are getting ready to decorate their stores and loop Christmas carols. It's also a time when many brands switch up their packaging to try and boost sales. But the question is, can your brand look festive and still be distinctive? It's easy to get caught up in the holiday shopping frenzy and want to jump on the festive packaging bandwagon, but if all the packaging in your category starts to look the same, it can be hard for customers to spot your brand. And while it might seem like a good idea to borrow some of Christmas' strong distinctive brand assets, it can actually end up hurting your brand's distinctiveness.
When shoppers are in the store, they're often in a hurry and have a lot on their minds, so they rely on familiar visual cues to help them quickly find what they need. These cues are known as distinctive assets, and they can be things like character assets (like the M&M characters), color assets (like Coke’s red), or product shapes (like Toblerone’s triangle). If you change your brand's distinctive assets for the holiday season, it can be lead to confusing for customers resulting in them grab a different brand instead.
So, how different should your seasonal packaging be? It's important that your packaging is still easily recognizable as part of your brand, even when your normal packaging isn't around. Think of it as an extension of your regular packaging. You want your seasonal packaging to work with your parent brand, not against it. And, it's crucial to keep in mind that a shared name should mean a shared brand identity, or you risk confusing customers. In other words, your packaging should look like your brand first and the season second.
A brand that does festive season packaging especially well is Coca-Cola. Each year, Coca-Cola releases holiday-themed packaging for their classic Coke bottles and cans. The packaging features familiar Coca-Cola branding, such as the red and white color scheme and the iconic Coca-Cola script, but with festive touches added. For example, the packaging might feature holiday-themed images, such as Santa Claus or snowflakes, or holiday-themed slogans.
This approach allows Coca-Cola to tap into the holiday spirit without sacrificing the distinctiveness of their brand. Customers can easily recognize the packaging as Coca-Cola, even with the added festive elements, because the brand's distinctive assets, such as the red and white color scheme and the Coca-Cola script, remain unchanged. The holiday-themed elements simply add an extra layer of festive cheer.
It's important to consider how your holiday packaging will impact your overall brand identity. While it might seem like a good idea to tap into the holiday shopping excitement, it's worth remembering that using the distinctive assets of the season can come at a cost to your own brand's distinctiveness. By activating the season in a customer's memory instead of the brand, you could end up indirectly priming other, often larger, brands. To avoid this, make sure your holiday packaging is easily recognizable as part of your brand and works with your parent brand instead of against it.
N.G.