Brand Building

The Power of Packaging: Why Good Label Design is Crucial for Small Brands

Quality packaging and label design should be a top priority for small-scale manufacturers right from the start. You can run your business from your bedroom and still look polished and upscale with the right product branding. Great design doesn’t have to break the bank, but it makes a world of difference in how consumers perceive your product.

Design is especially crucial when it comes to packaged goods. Your product has to visually stand out on crowded store shelves before shoppers will even consider picking it up and reading further. More often than not, people make snap judgements and buy the packaging and marketing message first, before ever trying the actual product inside. I’ve purchased many items solely based on aesthetics – I loved the branding, packaging, and messaging. Even if you have an outstanding formula or product, ugly packaging and labels can doom your success, no matter how much you invest in the actual product quality or marketing efforts.

This mistake is very common among many new skincare, cosmetic, and supplement brands. Some brands funnel tons of money into product development and marketing but completely neglect the visual design. The result is a mediocre or amateurish look that fails to resonate with consumers, regardless of how much is spent on ads or social media. First impressions matter tremendously in the consumer goods space.

If you don’t have an innate eye for good design, try not to make final branding or packaging decisions alone. Seek outside input from graphic designers or creative professionals. Hire a contractor to create visual assets even if you handle the rest of the business yourself. A small investment here goes a long way.

Minimalism and simplicity have become very trendy in modern product design across all categories. As the saying goes, less is more. Clean, sparse designs tend to look more upscale and appeal to consumers. Likewise, product names and branding guidelines matter just as much as the visual look.

Let me share a detailed example with a past client – DarelSkin. She dreamed of launching a small cosmetics line from home. Custom molds were far out of her startup budget. These molds ensure efficient, scalable production while controlling the final shape, size, and visual aesthetics of containers. Without molds, we’d have to rely on generic packaging.

Rather than let this limitation sink the business, we got creative. We decided to use simple, affordable generic plastic bottles ordered online, but make them stand out with custom designed labels. Since the bottles themselves were plain white, we chose transparent labels with an elegant minimalist design. This allowed the product color and quality to shine through while still elevating the look.

For the typography, we stuck with clean, calligraphic fonts and ample white space instead of cluttered text. In the end, the Thoughtful Self-Care line exceeded all expectations. I also subtly incorporated botanical elements hinting at the natural formulas. The affordable packaging looked far more high-end than expected thanks to the branding details. This just goes to show, excellent design is possible even on a shoestring budget if you get creative and prioritize it.

In summary, packaging and labels create a vital first impression. While formula and quality matter tremendously, great branding and design is the key to initially attracting consumer interest. Prioritizing this aspect from the start can make all the difference in how a new product line is perceived.

The Power of Packaging: Why Good Label Design is Crucial for Small Brands2023-10-03T13:00:34+00:00

How to name your brand

This is actually where most people get it wrong. Your business name serves as the foundation for your business, upon which every other thing is built upon. If you get your business name wrong, then you are starting on a faulty foundation. I’m very glad I have the chance to write about this, hoping that it helps someone who is battling with this step. 

The goal of building a brand is to build positive brand equity, that is all. To build positive brand equity, your brand needs to be memorable. For your brand to be memorable you need a memorable brand name. Many times when we run ads, our goal is not only to sell but to create awareness for our brand, so our prospective customers can remember our brand. 

Let’s assume you own a skincare brand with a funny name like (Beautyofficialgram__) and you are running ads, we all know that only a few percentages of those that interact with your brand actually buy. The other percentage you want them to at least memorize or remember your brand. With a funny name like (Beautyofficialgram__) I doubt if they will. 

The sad part is that I see founders make this mistake a lot. If you are like this, just know that you are losing a lot of money. When you have a good name, it becomes very easy for people to recall and memorize it, which ultimately leads to better brand awareness and equity. 

I like to always use myself as an example when the idea of a fertility startup came up, I began searching for a name and after sometime, I came up with the name Reprovive Which simply meant Reproductive – Revive. This is simply a compound word, coined from two words. I was lucky enough to secure the names across every social networking site and even the .com domain. Watch closely, there are a few tips I would like you to take out from this example. 

I needed a short name: 

Shorter names are easier to memorize and remember. They are even easier to type out as a web address. When setting up your Twitter account, I don’t think you can pass 15 characters. 

The name is descriptive: 

If you can get a descriptive name by all means do so, it saves you the stress of people having to second guess what your business is all about. Descriptive names help people to understand what your business is all about just by hearing or seeing the name. Some great examples of descriptive compound names are Pinterest (Pin your interest) and Facebook. 

On the other hand, there are also constructed words like, Instagram, and Microsoft. Some brands use real words like  Apple, Staples, Windows, Caterpillar, Oracle. I don’t advise you to go this route, it will be almost impossible to trademark and you will spend a fortune trying to market it as yours. 

There are also misspelled names like Flickr, Dribbble, Awwards, Tumblr – these are very common with tech startups, not consumer goods, I personally don’t like them. Some people also tend to use family names. For example, H. J. Heinz Company, Ford Motor Company, Schmidt, and Colgate.

Some brands tend to use suffixes – good examples are Onesies, Spotify, Pampers. Some brands go as far as using Mythical Names like Nike, Pandora, and Hermès

The name seems memorable enough:

A brand name doesn’t have much value if no one can remember it. You need your name to be simple, easy to pronounce, and evocative. Most importantly a phonetic name, not a name that is pronounced one way and spelled another way.

 

Above all you need a name that is available across all social networks and on a .com domain. Reprovive passed this test. If someone is already using your brand name, chances are that most of your leads and prospects will find them first when they try to reach out to you. 

If you wish to know more about any brand, I bet the first thing you check out is name.com. Is one thing for you to get a name and it is another thing for the name to be available for use, so you need to do a lot of work here.

The next type of name is the Invented Brand Names. I took this approach with one of my brands Reviveron, the brand is a skincare brand. I made up the name using the word Revive, luckily enough the name was available on the .com domain. 

Invented names are etymological fabrications that are nothing if not distinctive. Some established brands that took this approach are: Kodak, Google, Verizon, Adidas, Microsoft and alot more.

How to name your brand2021-11-29T17:01:09+00:00

How to build a Supplement Brand

So you want to launch your supplement brand? You are at the right place. After reading this article you will have a better understanding of the market here. One thing I can tell you is that the business is booming and you can never go wrong investing in it. Generally, health and wellness is a lucrative niche. Over the years I have helped well over a dozen people launch their supplement brands and I’m very excited to be sharing everything I have learned while on the journey. To scale your business, your major focus will be breaking into the Idumota drug market, that’s where everyone buys from. 

Even your neighborhood pharmaceutical store probably buys from them too. The good news is that the market is wide enough and there’s enough room for new entrants. Before we proceed further, below are some of the different types of supplements.

  • Vitamins
  • Minerals
  • Herbs
  • Acids
  • Dietary substances
  • Food additives
  • Protein

Step 1 – Identify Your Target Audience / Niche

The first most important step to take is to identify who your target audience is, in most cases your niche. You can afford to target everyone, that is a simple recipe for failure. When you market a niche you create a sense of community. People in the community will likely feel heard – with a strong belief that you have expert knowledge in that subject. People love to be part of communities where they can meet other people that share the same belief systems and challenges as them. Even if you plan to expand, start with a niche first – find success with that niche, then expand. A big mistake you will make is to establish a target audience after manufacturing your product. 

With properly defined target customers, you should be able to answer the following 5 questions:

1. Who are they?

The first question you should ask yourself is who are your target audience? These should be a group of people who are united by one common activity or health issue. This can be a group of people who suffer from infertility, insomnia, vitamin deficiency, obesity – or athletes and sportsmen.

2. What are the pain areas that you can focus on?

The next step is to ask yourself the pain areas you can focus on. For instance, in our infertility example, a possible pain area might be hormonal imbalance, Polycystic ovary syndrome, ovarian cyst, or endometriosis

3. Where do they buy their products?

Another good question to ask is where do they buy their products from. Do they buy online? Do they buy from pharmaceutical stores? or from distributors? You have to keep all in consideration before embarking on this journey.

4. Where do they obtain information about their products?

This information is necessary to determine where you will likely place your advert. It might be on social media, magazines, television, trade publications, or blogs. If you are selling to new mums you are better off looking for those publications and blogs they hang out and read the most. 

5. Will I be able to solve my target customer’s problem?

The next most important question is, will I be able to solve my customer’s problem? It’s one thing to identify a problem and it’s another thing to solve the problem. The whole idea of starting a business is to solve a problem in exchange for money, and the only way to get repeat customers is to make sure that your product delivers on its promises. I can recall a client of mine who claimed that her herbal tea can shrink any size of fibroid. I went ahead to brand and launch the product – she sold out at first and after that those who bought came back to give bad reviews about the product, saying it didn’t work. Although she is still in business, I don’t think she ever gets repeat customers.

 

Naming Your Dietary Supplement Brand

Now that you have determined who your target audience is the next step is to get a name for the brand. Here, you will need two names, the actual product name, and the brand name. A lot of work needs to be done at this stage to avoid any mistakes. This is actually where most people get it wrong. Your business name serves as the foundation for your business, upon which every other thing is built upon. If you get your business name wrong, then you are starting on a faulty foundation. I’m very glad I have to chance to write about this, hoping that it helps someone who is battling with this step. 

The goal of building a brand is to build positive brand equity, that is all. To build positive brand equity, your brand needs to be memorable. For your brand to be memorable you need a memorable brand name. When you have a good name, it becomes very easy for people to recall and memorize it, which ultimately leads to better brand awareness and equity. 

I like to always use myself as an example. When the idea of a fertility supplement came up, I began searching for a name and after some time I came up with the name Reprovive Which simply meant Reproductive – Revive. This is simply a compound word, coined from two words. Another good example I was able to get is Reviveron. 

It’s not just enough to get a good name, the most important thing is to get a good name that is available on the .com domain and other relevant social media networks. Anyone can get a good name but what is hard is getting a name that is available online. Always ensure that the supplement business names you have chosen are not similar to one of your competitors. Make sure that the name you choose for your brand has no negative connotations attached to it.

Packaging Design

Packaging design plays a huge role in determining if your brand will be successful or not. According to a Harvard University study, 95% of consumer purchases are subconscious. Most people make 40-70% of their purchase decisions at the point of sales. Even if you have an amazing product and you fail at your packaging design, then work done is equal to zero. A lot of factors affect your packaging design, starting from your choice of name, font, pattern, and color. A longer name will always affect the look and feel of the design, sometimes making it less visible in the final work, stick to shorter names. 

No matter how beautiful your brand is, a busy logo alters and makes the design look clumsy. Your color choice is also another key determinant in the outcome of your product, please don’t color riot. 

Choose colors that pass the intended message and make sure they are matching colors, combining colors like green and pink is an awful decision. Whatever you do, get the design and branding right, it goes a long way in determining the success of your brand.”

The mistake I see most entrepreneurs make is that they start without having a brand guideline and boy this mistake will cost you a lot. You have an idea of one supplement, immediately you go on to design a label for it, without putting into consideration the product you are likely to launch in the future, after a while, you decide to add two more supplements with a different design. You then end up having different products with different look and feel. This causes a lot of disparity in your design which will not resonate with your audience. 

Too much clutter

Simplicity speaks volumes and class. If you want to market a premium product, then keep it simple. An overcrowded label is a huge turn and will make your product appear cheap. I know a client of mine who tried to fit in all the names of the component of her supplement in front of her label. I advised against it but she insisted. After the packaging was made the design wasn’t so good and we have to start all over again. Yes, I know that the FDA’s dietary supplement labeling guide and regulations want you to fit in a lot of data into a very small space, but there’s a way to accommodate it all while still making it look good and appealing.

Alform is a Russian brand of health supplements including vitamins, diet shakes and gels created to boost natural immunity. Designed by a Moscow-based studio Redo, the visual identity & packaging concept is minimalist yet futuristic. Inspired by the shapes of cells who are basic building blocks of all living things, the plastic containers include sterile cut-outs offering a peek of gradient sachets.

Unattractive Color and Font

This is certainly not a design article, but the goal is to point out those likely things that might hinder the growth of your brand. You have spent quite a lot on product development; don’t mess that effort up with a poor design. I see this a lot in the market, supplements with shabby designs and it hurts. The best way to kill a good product is to do a slapdash label design, trust me on this. An amateurish design will horde of other supplements on the shelf and might even drive your customers away. The major difference between a product perceived as premium and effective to those perceived as fake and cheap is just design and packaging. If you are not a designer don’t try to do this yourself. A lot of work goes into creating a unique design. Keep things simple and having enough negative spaces will make your brand eye-catchy. 

Unusual Shaped Dietary Supplement Packaging

There are already generic bottles in the market which most people use in other to save cost. No matter how beautiful your label design is there’s a limit to how eye-catchy your supplement will be. Unusually shaped supplement packaging is more likely to stand out on the shelf and give a unique identity to your product.

Packaging Dietary Supplements in Custom Bottles

In a bid to look different or unique, you might consider using a custom supplement bottle – they come in different varieties, from transparent bottles to white, black, and amber-colored supplement bottles. Just bear in mind that the higher the level of customization the more it will cost you as a supplement brand owner. Using a custom bottle and an excellent label design could be a winning strategy. Just make sure you do your research well on what best suits your audience. 

Where are most suppliers located?

With all that has been said, it’s time to find a manufacturer to work with. You can find a contract manufacturer just by doing a Google search. To be more specific most suppliers and traders can be found in most Chinese provinces and most of them are based in Xi’an Shaanxi province. Shandong, a coastal province, is also a production hub for supplements and food additives.

How to build a Supplement Brand2021-11-27T12:59:57+00:00

How to build a baby skincare brand

After two years of managing Babymed and Bouchou’s baby skincare brand presence, I have come to understand what mothers are looking for when they choose a skincare product for their baby. 

When it comes to Baby Skincare, your major target audience are mothers, and they are more likely to trust a product that is natural or organic. For some, buying a well-known brand with a strong reputation is a more important purchase motivator than price. 

I have also noticed a pattern, most parents will most likely go for a brand that was used on them when they were children, and this explains the reason why Johnson’s baby is still the market leader. This is mostly because of their strong brand heritage. 

If you are very observant, you will see words like hypoallergenic and fragrance-free being associated with baby skincare. Hypoallergenic simply means that the product is unlikely to cause an allergic reaction. 

Fragrance-free! Is that such a good thing? Most skincare products out there contain a decent amount of fragrance, and everyone loves a good-smelling baby. The truth is that when manufacturing or buying a baby skincare brand, it’s best to keep it fragrance-free. Fragrances can cause an allergic reaction, including rashes and breathing problems. Some babies are sensitive to products with fragrances. 

If you intend to go into this niche, some products to consider are baby bath Care, baby creams, baby cream, baby shampoo, baby oil: baby massage oil, baby hair oil, baby powder, baby lotions, Kids Toothpaste, Baby Petroleum Jelly, and Baby Wipes.

Branding and packaging play a major role to determine how successful to brand will be. You should never try to cut corners with this. Work with an expert that understands branding and packaging.  

The first step to this process is to get a befitting name for your brand. A very good example I love is the babyganics,you can easily tell that this is a descriptive name that was formed from the words (Baby and Organics) 

 

 

The name already signifies that products are made with organic ingredients. This alone can instill trust in the mind of your consumers. Another distinctive factor about the name is that it’s short and memorable. 

I wrote a very elaborate article about naming here, feel free to check it out. Another thing I love about the brand is their choices of color and how they were able to incorporate vibrant characters into their packaging. I also noticed that they have the name babyganics on the major social media platform.  

The level of consistency and attention to detail is outstanding. It is also clearly written on their website that the product is made without parabens, phthalates, or synthetic fragrances. The product comes in custom unusual shapes which is a huge plus because it will help it stand out from the crowd.

The same goes for the brand Babymed. The name is simply a combination of two words ( Baby+Medical) – Which I think is brilliant. 

People tend to trust anything that feels or sounds medical because they feel it is safe and well tested. If you also look at the Babymed color scheme you will see it embodies the medical color palette and a lot of white spaces were used in the product design, therefore giving it a minimalist look. 

 

All these product design attributes help build the right perception in the mind of your prospects. It’s not always enough to get the formulation right, getting the branding right will play a key role in your product adoption. The packaging will attract the user and content is what will keep the user.

Pay close attention, when it comes to a baby skincare brand, try as much as possible to stick to a typographic logo. Typographic logos builds recognition and make your brand name memorable. For your typographic logo to stand out, your brand name needs to be short and simple.

I strongly suggest you get a brand identity manual, where your font style, color guide, and patterns are well specified. Doing this will help keep you consistent throughout your brand-building journey. 

The final part is, how do you choose to manufacture your brand. To manufacture at scale you will be needing a factory and that does not come cheap – if you have the funding, by all means, go for it. If you don’t you can do a private label. There are tons of manufactures in China, with so many amazing products, do your due diligence before picking one. If you find this article interesting feel free to drop a comment.

How to build a baby skincare brand2021-11-26T13:25:14+00:00