USA Today reports that internet searches that include value words such as “coupons” rose 161% in December vs. 2007 to 19.9 million and “discount” rose 26% to 7.9 million.

As a result, spending by marketers on such search words is up, too. Google, which controls 60% of the paid search ad market, says ad spending on value-related words such as coupons rose 30% in the fourth quarter over the same period a year earlier.

Kraft foods added “cooking on a budget” and “value” to its search roser. Offers include $1 coupons for Kraft Macaroni & Cheese. Procter & Gamble initiated a campaign whereby a brand search for Crest Whitening Strips will yield a $7 coupon. And Unilever developed a search campaign linking coupon terms with Bertolli’s Oven Bake Meals.

As you’re executing your 2009 marketing campaign, be sure to ask yourself, “Are we highlighting the ‘value’ aspect of our product or service? Are we providing ways for prospects to get a discount? Are we tapping into the emotions of our consumer to help drive sales for our brand?”

By asking these, and other, questions, you can be sure that 2009 will be as successful as possible — given the economic challenges we’re all facing.

Doctors George and Michael Belch have recently released the eight edition of their classic textbook “Advertising and Promotion: An Integrated Marketing Communications Perspective.” One of the topics they discuss is how Heinz reinvented packaging as a communications medium. Here’s what they have to say on the topic:

“For years, consumer marketers thought of packaging as containers for shipping products, focusing on size, cost, and protection.  While some attention was paid to the ability of the package to differentiate the brand, develop new market opportunities, and catch attention on the store shelf, the advertising aspects of the packages themselves were not a priority.  Well, all that has changed.

Consider that Pepsi, which had changed the look of its bottles and cans only 10 times in a hundred years, now will switch designs every few weeks. Kleenex tissues, which has been sold in a rectangular box for over 40 years, will now be available in an oval package, and Suave Shampoo has made its first packaging change in 25 years.  Luvs diapers has redesigned its package to revitalize the brand by making it more attractive and providing more “shopability” – including more information on the package to help speed up the purchasing process.  Pepsi is also considering putting scents in their soda cans, so that when they are opened they give off the smell of the drink (e.g., cherry soda).

What’s underlying the new emphasis on packaging?  A number of factors including increased competition, changing consumer lifestyles and attitudes, creative marketing approaches (Orbit Gum now comes in a bottle that will fit into a car’s cup holder), and technology itself.  Add to this a fragmented media market and lower attention spans among youth, and better communication becomes a necessity.  Packages are reinforcing ads as a means of presenting the company’s selling propositions.
Consider the new Coors Light can.  As a result of advanced technology, the label contains thermochromatic ink that changes the color of the mountains on the label as the temperature of the can changes.  The message?  You know when the beer is at the right temperature to drink.  Or, consider Huggies’ Henry the Hippo hand soap bottles that include a light that flashes for 20 seconds so that children know how long to wash their hands (while at the same time offering the brand a competitive advantage!).  Mountain Dew is test-marketing an aluminum bottle that will change in design 12 times from May to October.  Marketers and designers say these changes are necessary to attract attention and communicate in a media-saturated environment where television commercials are deemed less effective.

Not all packaging designers and marketers agree with these constantly changing messages, however.  They cite the success of brands that have seemingly been around forever, and that may be noted by their packaging as much as by any other thing they may have done.  They consider these package designs to be icons that have endured through the ages.

Two of the most iconic packages they refer to are those of Coke and Heinz – perhaps two of the most recognizable package designs in history.  It has been estimated that over 90 percent of the world’s population recognizes the Coke bottle, according to Rod Tabert, group director of packaging for the Coca Cola Company. Heinz’s major change was to a twist-off cap decades ago.  The plastic bottle still looks like the original glass one, and the label is the same as it’s always been.  While it is conceded that the product inside these packages is also of very high quality, their advantages accrue from the fact that the packages are different, use bold, yet basic colors, are simple, and have endured from the beginning with only slight modifications over decades.

These clearly recognizable packages communicate all that is necessary about the brand and its contents, they argue.  Opponents of constantly changing package designs say that they will never lead to iconic status or evoke feelings of nostalgia that can only be built over time.
So, the question is, “Who is right?”  Is the consumer of today different enough from those in the past that they require ever-constant stimulation and novelty?  Or, does a package design and label that endures lead to more loyalty, trust, and credibility?  I guess only time will tell!

Source: Louise Story, “The Latest Grocery Ads: The Packages Themselves,” San Diego Union Tribune, August 10, 2007, pp. A1, A6; Stacey King Gordon, “Isn’t it Iconic? Brandpackaging, September 2007, pp. 1-4; Jennifer Acevedo, “Revitalized Packaging Emphasizes Quality, Value, and Fun,” Brandpackaging, September 2007, p. 1.

Many of you who are reading this have noticed that we put “Marketing That Works” in the headline of this post. (Note: “Marketing That Works” is the name of this blog.)

Why would we do that? And, more importantly, why should you care?

Let’s start by mentioning the two reasons most companies have a blog:

1. To share useful content with their constituents/readers/prospective customers;
2. To generate awareness for their cause/company/organization.

Unlike our other blog, which can be viewed by clicking The 60 Second Marketer Blog, this one is just getting ramped up. And when you’re just getting ramped up, you’d better do everything in your power to write sizzling content that’s worth reading and to make sure that everything you do is SEO-friendly.

We’ve already claimed this blog on Technorati (although that darn site has been having some glitches lately). So now we’re doing the next most important thing, which is to stir things up a little with content that mentions our name in the headline.

Yes, yes, that’s a little self-referential. And if you’re not careful, you’ll turn off your prospective readers with too many entries that are designed to highlight your blog. On the other hand, if you don’t do something to stir things up, you’ll get lost in the shuffle.

As someone said in a meeting we were in recently, “What’s the point of having a blog if nobody sees it?”

Well said. Which is why in this blog post we’ve:

1. Shared useful content with our constituents/readers/prospective customers;
2. Generated awareness for our cause/company/organization.

Onward!