packaging
Archer Farms
02/24/09 10:45 AM Filed in: Nutrition
I had Archer Farms Instant Oatmeal for breakfast this morning and I tweeted about it on Twitter. Wasn’t sure if they spell it “Strawberry Creme” or “Strawberry Cream” so I did a quick search for it at Target.com (it’s a Target brand). As it turns out, it is called “Strawberry Créme”.
Anyway, while I think the food is good and tasty, I was thinking about how Target does a great job with their image. We are big Walmart shoppers in our house (to the chagrin of some of my college buddies
) but we love Target. This Archer Farms store brand is a great example of how they do just the little bit extra to give the perception of higher quality. They also have the “lower quality” brand of Market Pantry, which is imaged in a way to give the perception that it is good quality, but not quite as much because of its packaging.
Walmart actually knows exactly what they’re doing with their image (I think). Their discount brand “Great Value” looks like it should be the least expensive and it is (typically). If it was packaged the way Archer Farms is, I think many of its purchasers would feel alienated in the sense that they couldn’t “afford” something that was so “nice”.
It brings out the point that while there certainly are advantages to purchasing the “higher quality/more expensive” brand from time to time, a lot of it is just positioning and marketing to different audiences. Take a few minutes to get to know the products you buy frequently. Read the nutrition label and the ingredients list. These are the best clue as to the real quality of products.
p.s. Walmart does have a higher quality brand called “Sams Choice” that is packaged and positioned to compete against the name brands with more unique product offerings.
Here are some images from Google Image search of some of the brands listed above:
Anyway, while I think the food is good and tasty, I was thinking about how Target does a great job with their image. We are big Walmart shoppers in our house (to the chagrin of some of my college buddies
) but we love Target. This Archer Farms store brand is a great example of how they do just the little bit extra to give the perception of higher quality. They also have the “lower quality” brand of Market Pantry, which is imaged in a way to give the perception that it is good quality, but not quite as much because of its packaging.Walmart actually knows exactly what they’re doing with their image (I think). Their discount brand “Great Value” looks like it should be the least expensive and it is (typically). If it was packaged the way Archer Farms is, I think many of its purchasers would feel alienated in the sense that they couldn’t “afford” something that was so “nice”.
It brings out the point that while there certainly are advantages to purchasing the “higher quality/more expensive” brand from time to time, a lot of it is just positioning and marketing to different audiences. Take a few minutes to get to know the products you buy frequently. Read the nutrition label and the ingredients list. These are the best clue as to the real quality of products.
p.s. Walmart does have a higher quality brand called “Sams Choice” that is packaged and positioned to compete against the name brands with more unique product offerings.
Here are some images from Google Image search of some of the brands listed above:
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