Keep Your Product Labels Consistent

_{Ian Renton  | 21/12/2015 | Product Labels}

You may be surprised to know that I have been doing the weekly shopping for myself and in more recent times for my wife and baby daughter for many years now. As a typical male shopper I am there for a short time, not a good time. This means I rely on things being in the same place as they were last week and the product labels being the same as they were last time I bought those particular items.

Not long ago, I was looking for my regular dishwasher detergent. Alas, the label had changed. I did not even recall the brand I used. I just buy the same container with the same label whenever I need that product. So in my case, at least, product labels did influence my buying decision.

Obviously, there are times that product labels will alter but they should be the exception rather than the norm. You alter the product labels if it just does not work or if it is not selling enough products off the shelf. A re-design of a product label or a company logo must bring results in terms of sales. Rebranding is a buzz word in business but in my view it is over-rated unless the business is changing direction or changing ownership.

Just altering company logos, colours and designs especially packaging and product labels just for the sake of change is unlikely to bring favourable results. The same is good. Do not expect to see Coca Cola altering their logo and packaging of their bottles and cans of Coca-Cola any time soon. McDonald's is unlikely to alter its yellow Many time soon either. Now, you may not have the brand recognition of Coca-Cola or McDonald's but your customers will still recognise the labels on your products and how it is packaged. Always be looking to make it as easy as possible for your customers to buy from you.

I believe that consistency in packaging and especially product labels is important. In some supermarkets, there can be 30,000 items so if you have an easily recognised method of packaging, then my advice is to stick to it. don't let young excitable graphic designers change your product labels, packaging and other marketing materials just because they feel like a change. Consistency is good in packaging and marketing.