In today’s world, almost every new product becomes a commodity tomorrow. In such a scenario, it is not the product but the brand that sells. For this very reason, any average product from a top FMCG or consumer goods company finds a place for itself in the market.
On the other hand, even a great, improvised or innovative product finds it hard to be identified from the crowd.
Since the brand is not established, new companies need to spend more on making the brand visible.
But not every company has huge budgets and are unable to afford long-term campaigns.
Therefore, new companies often use product packaging to get those eyeballs.
It is no secret that attractive packaging is a big sales booster in fast moving consumer goods segment.
While designing the packaging and promotional campaigns, one needs to decide what should be projected as the brand.
Should it be the company or product name?
New businesses often overlook this aspect and end up paying a high cost. So, let’s understand what is the right way to do it.
Let us consider a common product “chocolates”.
Going by the market trends, a business needs to create many varieties of chocolate, catering to different tastes of consumers.
So a company making chocolates decides to launch its first 4 products – white chocolate, dark chocolate, chocolate with nuts, and chocolate with caramel. The company decides to keep its company name as the brand name.
When the packaging is designed, the product name becomes more prominent than the brand name (in this case the company name). Most first timers also ignore what their competition is doing.
In this case, the market leaders (who have established brands), create a new brand for a specific range of chocolates.
As a result, the smaller company “brand” which is a company name is pitted against a much more catchier name like “molten center” (say for caramel based chocolate). They may not realize but this is where they lose the game.
Branding by company name is ok if there are just a few flavors of one product. But if you intend to roll out newer versions, types, and flavors (which is inevitable in FMCG industry), you will just be stuck within the boundaries of your own brand.
For a company that is well known and carries a brand image can still get the product recognized using its brand image and coverage (if it is a one of its kind or innovative product).
Companies must remember that the market is overcrowded. Their audience wants a cool and distinct product and is not affected by the company brand (unless there is a brand loyalty, like in the case of established age-old brands).
So the takeaway here is to look around and see how others in your industry are doing it. Also, take into account your product range and geographical targeting. Your seriousness about brand creation decides whether you succeed or get lost in oblivion – the choice is yours!
