As they face more aggressive national and global competition, innovative businesses rely increasingly on strong creative and brand design communications to keep current customers loyal and to find new ones while launching into alternative markets.
« Two trends today will have in the near future an affect on the way creative and brand communications are implemented to reach target markets and consumers or customers, » said Gary Pettis, principal of Pettis Creative.
« First, the warehouse club stores and Supercenters attract more and more shoppers. The number of these types of stores is growing as people explore non-traditional ways to enjoy value, buy the brands that they prefer, and unearth some ‘treasure hunt’ buys as they cruise the aisles.
« Second, many new and existing businesses will want their share of the Baby Boomer generation. It’s a huge market opportunity. Boomers will live longer than any other previous aging generation, in greater numbers. They will reject the notion of being labeled a ‘senior’ or a ‘retiree.’ They are impeccably brand smart but will seek out value. They pursue non-traditional choices, » Pettis said.
According to Hoover’s, the great successes of warehouse club stores and Supercenters has taken a heavy toll on the supermarket industry, for example, which lost share to these discounters. Wal-Mart Supercenters and Costco Wholesale have clinched the number one and three spots in North America.
The U.S. Census Bureau and Bureau of Labor Statistics have estimated the spending power of Boomer buyers will reach 2.6 trillion dollars by 2007. Mass merchandisers, product makers and service providers will commit resources to beef up their branding, creative media and communications muscle to tap into this target market.
“The opportunity for creative concept developers, such as art directors and brand designers, will be to rethink completely the role of package design in alternative customer buying environments,” Pettis added. “It will be critical to manage brands smartly and to maintain brand equity while looking at package designs for warehouse club stores and Supercenters in an entirely different light, as opposed to mimicking what was used for in traditional channels.”
For more than a year, Pettis performed as an independent brand design and creative packaging consultant for General Mills, Inc., working in conjunction with Valentine Design, a Twin Cities-based graphic design firm.
He served exclusively General Mills’ warehouse club store and Supercenter packaging design initiatives that explored ways to increase a product offering’s brand communications and creative package design dominance while being displayed in wide shopping aisles on pallets, on shelf or behind frosty glass windows. He coached marketing management associates on creative concept development, design selection and project execution. He spearheaded the efforts to manage a large number of brand design projects representing the majority of General Mills’ product categories in a channel that expects creativity and results in a short timeframe.
He was part of the team to explore ways to « tile » or create a billboard effect across package panels to create a breakthrough presence or brand « pop. »
“Now that the requirements of this assignment are fulfilled, I look forward to offering clients the insight and experience gained while being part of the process to enhance a product’s competitive position in locations that are considerably different then typical brick-and-mortar business establishments,” Pettis said.
Pettis also finished a number of writing and design projects, studied the Active Seniors and Baby Boomers markets, and developed campaigns to promote the sales of advanced hearing-assistive technologies. Pettis Creative will be dedicated to clients who seek inventive ways to reach non-traditional markets and wish to build their standing in the warehouse club store and Supercenter store markets and/or make a run at the buying potential of Baby Boomers. Expertise resides in the areas of marketing and communications strategy, brand design consulting, project planning and the delivery of a full range of creative services.
Warehouse club stores include Sam’s Club, Costco Wholesale and BJ’s Wholesale Club. The most recognized Supercenters are Target and Wal-Mart. General Mills’ world headquarters is located in Golden Valley, Minnesota.
Contact:
Gary Pettis
PETTIS CREATIVE
651-387-1483
http://www.pettiscreative.com
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