UNDERSTAND YOUR MARKET

Entering a flooded market, lack of manufacturing know-how, lack of logistical understanding, no distribution options and not understanding your market could cripple your launch. So solid planning is crucial.

It’s important from the onset to determine what sets you apart from your competitors and how you can exceed customer expectations. And it’s vital to realise that it takes more than just a great-tasting product to get attention from a supermarket buyer, get customers to try your product and ensure that customers buy it again.

Market research is a good way to understand your competitors. The easiest way to conduct market research is by spending time online or checking in with industry associations for their latest information and data. You can gather competitor pricelists, check out their websites and try their products to get a good idea of what they offer. Look at what they do better than you’re planning to do – investigate price, quality, customer service and the professionalism and effectiveness of their marketing materials.

If you want to go to the next level, you can try to gather information yourself by using questionnaires, surveys or other research tools. And if you have the money to spare, you could hire a commercial research agency to do the work for you.

Another useful exercise is to conduct a SWOT analysis to see where you fit alongside your competitors. A SWOT is a great way to identify your areas of strength, weakness, opportunity and threat. If you want to go a bit further, you can divide your SWOT into internal and external factors to give you a clearer picture of where your business sits in the market.

Once you complete your SWOT, you can turn the results into a list of goals for your business. One of these should be to source quality branding, something that will make you stand out from the crowd and from similar products in the marketplace and on the shelf.

IDENTIFY YOUR POINT OF DIFFERENCE

For your product to have a chance, you need to clearly define what your value is to your customer. That’s why articulating your point of difference is essential. If you don’t have one, you need to create one.

The way we help our clients do this is by working with you to build a unique story, demonstrating what sets you apart from your competitors. What makes your product different? How do you turn your product from a ‘me too’ product into something that stands on its own? Our comprehensive Q&A session – where we ask all the right questions – results in a succinct story that is unique to you and provides a focus for your future marketing, branding, packaging, advertising, online presence and more. It ensures that you’re clear about what your business offers and provides an emotive and engaging descriptor to buyers, customers and others. It also provides your designers with a basis for their creative work.

Your brand should make it clear to a customer that they’ll benefit from purchasing your product rather than that of your competitor. Defining your point of difference unambiguously and succinctly will hopefully turn into brand loyalty. Your point of difference might also help you get your product into a large retail chain because innovation is one of the key factors those retailers take into consideration. What they look for is a professional and creative balance between differentiation and association. We’ve worked with many products that have stood the test of time on retailers’ shelves.

CHOOSE EFFECTIVE CREATIVE DESIGN

Design automatically tells your customer what type of product they’re dealing with – tasty, organic, timeless, confident, classic, adaptable, environmentally friendly, fun, trustworthy, modern and more. In the same way, if it’s done well, creative design can also define the users and become a way to express their personality. Think Chobani, T2 and Boost! If you invest in a great brand and put it to work for your business, you’ll lift performance, connect with your customers, create a memorable experience and drive positive business results.

Customers care about what things look like, and smart businesses recognise it. Creative and effective graphic design is a great way to achieve your objectives and attract attention. Visuals are the best way to leave a lasting impression because they make an immediate connection. That’s where we come in. If you’re starting a new business or launching a new product, we can help you create a professional and contemporary brand that brings your idea to life. We’ll give your product and range a personality and a character that people will remember and will want to engage with.

AND THERE’S MORE

Apart from creating a brand, our highly experienced team can also assist with naming development, web design, social media, print advertising, publications, shop fit-out, expo design and any other design that you may need to help your product take off.

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