IN Food Marketing & Design has encountered many food marketing faux pas and rounded up the worst in a two post series.
4. Skimping on photography.
We eat with our eyes first, so there’s nothing that cheapens an ad or product quite like poor photography. Companies from large to small often make this mistake, forcing existing or stock photography to cut corners. Invest in a variety of quality images of your product in and out of the packaging with nice lighting, prop and food styling.
When preparing for the photo shoot, plan each shot carefully and remember your target audience. If the setting or serving size seems inappropriate or unrealistic, your message and authenticity may be diminished.
5. Bad Packaging.
Your packaging should make your product shine, inform the customer, be cost-effective and functional. A few packaging tips:
- Look at your category. Do you stand out?
- Does your packaging fit your target audience? Kids might need something easy to open. Seniors may need a bigger typeface.
- Don’t overload your packaging with too much stuff—because that’s what it becomes when you forget the value of negative space.
- Pay attention to the hierarchy of information. Is there a specific attribute consumers look for in your category, e.g. flavor, prep time, organic?
- Do include images of the product or ingredients, when appropriate.
- Show off your product with windows or transparent packaging, when appropriate.
- Update your packaging! What worked for your company 30 years ago may be hurting you today.
Are there any major food marketing mistakes that we missed?