CAMDEN – Recently, Campbell’s has been experimenting with different designs on their soup can packages. While Tomato and Chicken Noodle packages seem to be so classic they would never change (perhaps thanks to Andy Warhol), Campbell’s has tested other designs that clearly are made consumers buy more.
Put a spoon on it, and it sells more. That sort of thing.
Great story, so what’s the lesson?
Certainly, if a brand needs some sales, it is appropriate to tweak the packaging so that it sells more. But the long term way to sell goods is to get your packaging and design to a place where the product is so known that you don’t have to do tricks to make it sell. The less you have to change the packaging, the less you confuse consumers.
That being said, we can’t be seen to be complaining too about Campbell’s. They are smart to keep their “classics” classic, and then play around with other more trendy parts of the product line. In any brand mix, you want a bit of the classic, and a bit of the fashion forward. That keeps it fresh.
Just don’t get messin’ around with the Tomato, please.
