CONCEPT. CUSTOMIZE. CREATE.
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Private labels and customized solutions continue to gain popularity
By: Jillian Hillard
Reinforcing your brand is imperative in today's market. More and more companies are finding that clear and concise branding can better establish your company and also provide consumers with a sensory loyalty to your brand. As businesses evolve, private label and customized messaging are becoming more and more mainstream as a means to effectively and efficiently build and maintain a brand.
Private label and customized messaging are, however, two vastly different areas to understand when defining your brand. The former relies on protecting the brand and maintaining consistency, while the latter concentrates more on the perception and visibility of the brand. Types of private labels and custom messages run the gamut as they pertain to the industry in which they are being produced. In the reality of the specialty dessert world we live in, the approaches to these two areas are also abundant but inherently focus on private label ingredients for dessert production as well as messaging in terms of visibility from packaging to serveware.
Private Label for Specialty Desserts
There are three major reasons why specialty dessert businesses would consider private label:
- Brand Consistency
- Creating a Defined Product Mix
- Streamlining the Process for Operations
The first two reasons go hand-in-hand. With so many dessert-focused operations out there (think the popularly coined “FroYo Wars,” “Cupcake Revolution,” etc.), standing out in a crowd is important. Private labels allow businesses to select their exact product offering without any other company touching their unique formulations or knowing exactly how they make their finished products. Standardized formulas also yield consistency, which ensures that consumers will experience the same product every time. The third reason is simply that it can assist with product procurement, proficient production of the finished product and overall packaging preferences, all of which contribute to seamless operations and efficiency. It can also ease the headache of dealing with multiple vendors, coordinating shipments and storage capacities.
Customized Messaging
Considered a part of private label in terms of branding packaging, customized messaging extends itself to all areas that affect the output and consumable side of the product. The idea here is to exert brand visibility at every opportunity from private label packaging to serveware. Customized messaging can extend to a greater mix of marketing tactics as well, but for the purpose of this article we will focus on the concept only in regard to consumable food products. Think about large quick service restaurants such as McDonalds, Wendy’s, etc. – everything from the cartons the fries are served in to the bags and trays is branded. From the minute you see the “golden arches” to the minute you complete the meal there is brand awareness built into the entire experience. And, if customers are on-the-go, that message is also exposed to other passersby as well bringing a whole new meaning to the terms “walking advertisement.” Consider the scenario of a highly saturated area for frozen desserts such as beach pier. As you stroll down the pier, you see multiple frozen desserts in a cone or a cup. If those cones, cups, etc. are all unbranded and unmarked, what separates your store from all the others in the area and stops consumers from walking into the nearest one? Now consider this, if a consumer sees multiple branded cones, cups and napkins, etc., that visibility is more likely to resonate with them and will help steer the traffic to the same store. While quantity of users doesn’t always prove quality, it is the extra effort and brand reinforcement that can create the illusion of such in many cases. Another great scenario is the Starbucks cup. You simply see a white paper coffee cup with a cardboard wrapper and your mind channels Starbucks, which is exactly what the company wants you to do. This is why more and more businesses are seeking out custom solutions to everything from cups to spoons to napkins.
It’s no secret that private label and customized messaging are growing every day and are a viable way for businesses to refocus their energies on the core of the company – the brand. From carefully crafted product mixes that define your product offering to customized messaging and brand reinforcement on the cups you serve it in, these are options any specialty dessert company should consider.
Learn more about PreGel AMERICA's Private Label and Custom Cup Programs by downloading our brochure, CLICK HERE!
