Add Some Fun to Your Product Label

Last week over at the Web Ink Now blog, David Meerman Scott wrote about the fun product labels used by Vitaminwater. His 14 year old daughter actually enjoys reading the product labels, and for good reason. Each flavor of Vitaminwater tells a different short story that is lighthearted and fun. Take the  Revive (fruit punch) flavor:

If you woke up tired, you probably need more sleep. If you woke up drooling at your desk, you probably need a new job. If you woke up with a headache, on a Ferris wheel at the Idaho state fair, wearing a toga, you probably need answers, not to mention this product. Its got potassium and B vitamins to help you recover and feel refreshed—kinda like in those old Irish Spring soap commercials. And if you’re like our boss, Mike, and woke up married to an Elvis impersonator, you probably need a lawyer.

Now, how many products mention an Elvis impersonator, a toga and a Ferris wheel on their label? It is safe to say that Vitaminwater is it. Sure they could have talked about how wonderful their flavored water is, and how good for you it is, but instead they decided to give their product a bit of personality. It is surprising that more companies don't try and add more fun to their labels; it is a bit of a risk, but in today's crowded retail marketplace it can really help create a unique brand for your product.

While I think Vitaminwater has done a great job with their labels, I would go a step further. You already have people reading your labels, so I would create more stories. Take the Revive example above, you could have 20 or more stories similar to this one, so that a loyal user of your product will most likely receive a different story every time they purchase. You could pay a freelance writer a few thousand dollars and you could have hundreds of these short stories on your labels. I would also take advantage of digital label printing and run all the different labels in one batch so on the shelf a customer could see that the stories on the labels are different. You may find your loyal customers start collecting the labels.

So I encourage you to take a long hard look at your product labels and see if you can add an element of fun to your product.

Comments

[terre]

That is a great idea, Peter – upsell to possible sell out!

Terre

[HOTWICKS]

HOTWICKS Candles tries to inject a bit of humor into every label (www.hotwicks.com), which really helps to distinguish our product.

Our labels are printed by Lightning Labels.