See me! Shelf Presence - The Key to Sales?

Posted on April 24, 2009 | Permalink

By Lane Casteix

In packaging for sales, the first order of business is shelf presence. If they can't see your product on the shelf they likely won't buy it. This is especially true for brands trying to break into the category and steal sales from the more established competition.

You must get notice, and the best way to do that is not just slap a bright florescent color on the label, which may get initial notice but can be harmful to brand image, depending on the brand, category, and price point, of course.

When considering the design concept, look for the pattern everyone else is using and don't copy it but find a way to break that pattern yet still maintain some harmony with the established category packaging standards. At least this is true with beverage/alcohol packaging. In some cases it may be necessary and even safe to completely depart from all established norms and standards, but those cases and opportunities are generally quite rare.

A good example of maintaining continuity to the category yet breaking the pattern is Buffalo Trace Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey. Bourbon labels are often rectangular. The designers at SPAR broke that pattern on the Buffalo Trace package by introducing a "torn" label with an irregular shape positioned off-square. The result is immediate visibility on the shelf in the sea of rectangular sameness of other bourbon packages.

It is also important to consider the overall appearance of the package and not just the labeling. The custom designed Buffalo Trace bottle also contributes to its strong shelf presence. Most bourbon bottles are taller and, in the case of those with shorter bottles, they are usually squared off. The organic flowing lines of Buffalo Trace were purposefully chosen to break the traditional pattern of bourbon bottles, yet at the same time remain true to traditional bourbon bottle design as seen in the Oscar Getz Museum in Bardstown, KY. The design team spent many hours in that museum studying antique bourbon packaging. Another consideration for the Buffalo Trace bottle design was to represent the hulking shape and power of a buffalo in glass without being literal. Thus the overall package design is compatible with the brand, remains true to the category, yet breaks the pattern for strong shelf presence.

The Rain Organic Vodka package was also designed for strong shelf presence but with the focus less on the labeling and more on the package shape. Vodka bottles tend to be tall and elegant but straight and cylindrical. The Rain bottle of course mimics the organic shape of a rain drop, but that shape was also chosen to differentiate it on the shelf from its high end competition. It isn't just the labeling, but it is also what the lawyers call "trade dress", the overall appearance of the package.

If you are not dominating the competition with advertising and promotions, then your package had better dominate the shelf set and sell the product at the point-of-sale, where most purchase decisions are made anyway. Better yet do both, good strong packaging and advertising.