Real Estate

Working in advertising can make you view just about everything differently. Call me crazy, but I actually watch commercials. And the packaging – whether it’s from Amazon or a snack from the grocery store, makes me appreciate and/or question it.

The best place to be as a brand is in someone’s head. Brand awareness is a real thing – and can be supported by frequency. The big yellow arches (or any fast food chain, really) are a great example. When you go to a McDonald’s, there’s an ‘M’ on the sign, the cups, the ketchup packets, the boxes and wrappers your food comes in. The average person may not think much of it, but everything that comes with your service or product is valuable real estate for your branding.

Me too, Lucy.

If you’re a pizza place, what goes on the box for take out orders? What’s printed on your placemats when someone dines in? The more you enforce your brand, the stronger awareness you’ll have. The ultimate goal is to not only nail your physical real estate options for branding, but to be top of mind when someone thinks ‘pizza.’ Which in my case, is a thought I have on average, 4 times a day.

Some of the most well known brands are embedded into our brains. Real estate of the mind. You’d have a hard time finding someone who doesn’t recognize the Amazon, McDonald’s, Disney, Google and Apple logos. You can even try your luck asking a 5-year-old.

Since the majority of brands aren’t embedded into our brains, most businesses need to stand out somehow. Using packaging is a great way to do so. While I can’t remember the brand’s name – I ordered a bed frame off of Amazon and while I attempted to assemble it without reading the instructions (because who does that?), I got to a point where I needed a tool in order to complete the set up. They had a package with the booklet that read, “it’s in here :)”. It’s just a bed frame, but for the price I paid and the character their packaging had – I continue to recommend it to others, (I search past Amazon orders since I can’t remember the brand).

Start to think outside the box, (get it?) and use your product or service to stand out. Utilize what resources you have and make them count. It can be simple – the best things are.