WHEN THE PRESSURE’S ON, ADD VALUE

The pressure of the cost of living crisis and faltering economy brings on significant revenue, margins and investment budgets, often with predictable results, explained the business director of Brother Design, Jenny McMillan.

McMillan continued that the problem with being predictable was that it does nothing to differentiate a business's offering and get consumers to buy more for more money. The only way for that is to stand out and give a sense of added value to what products businesses are selling.

New product development and technical innovation can yield strong results, but the sums involved can be substantial. And usually, it involves further investment in telling the added-value story. There are different ways to do both, but it comes with different price tags.

One of the most cost-effective ways of standing out and delivering perceived added value is through excellent packaging design. A prime example is the work Brother Design recently completed for Delmaine. High quality and authentic, nothing changed in terms of product. But when the redesigned range hit supermarket shelves, the improvement in sales was dramatic and immediate.

The ROI was off the charts. And this was for a brand that was already doing very well. McMillan added that while today's pressurised business environment could seem complicated to do anything other than hunker down, cut back and prepare for the worst, a cost-effective way to break the negative cycle and steal a march on the competition was to add value by design.

For more information call Jenny McMillan of Brother Design on 021 193 214. n