’Tis the Season: Can Your Small Business Benefit From Seasonal Packaging?

By Katie Shabi

It's that time of year. Since October the shelves at the grocery store have been stocked with food, drinks, and household items covered in packaging featuring the colors and themes of the season.

Special seasonal packaging has become an important part of the holiday season for big brands over the last few years, but is designing and producing seasonal packaging really a worthwhile endeavor for your small business?

Getting seasonal packaging right can be difficult for companies big and small. Interestingly enough, big brands like Hershey's and Coke seem to have made the biggest blunders in their holiday packaging.

And while many think seasonal packaging is an easy way to engage and bring in new customers, some big companies have proven that there are a lot of ways you can mess up a seasonal packaging campaign.

Seasonal packaging: Get your numbers right

Getting your numbers right in terms of both demand and distribution is very important for a special holiday packaging initiative. In 2011, Hershey's took a hit when they overestimated the demand for candy with Halloween packaging. Being forced to discount leftover Halloween candy in grocery stores across the country severely ate into the candy company's profit margins. Hershey's has since learned to make its packaging more generic to extend a product's shelf life.

Have fun, but don't lose your brand identity

Seasonal packaging is a fun way for companies to let loose and mix up their traditional brand identities, but going too far may cause you to lose customers, not gain them. The now infamous Coke "white can" from Christmas 2011 may go down in history as one of the worst thought out marketing campaigns of the new millennium. Coke's confused and annoyed customers complained that the white can looked too much like Diet Coke. Coke ended the campaign two months early, resulting in leftover stock and shrinking profit margins.

Seasonal packaging for small business

Huge corporations can afford to make mistakes with seasonal packaging, but small businesses may ultimately have the most to gain with this type of marketing campaign. While big brands have the leverage to offer lower prices, small businesses are usually forced to put a higher price on their products.

Clever seasonal packaging may be the deciding factor for a customer trying to choose between your product and a cheaper, more generic option. This has become very evident in the alcohol industry, with brands like Johnnie Walker and the craft brewery Shiner taking seasonal packaging to the next level by integrating personalized messages and even pop-out coasters into their product packaging.

Making your packaging part of your product will also increase your desirability and, as in the case of Kleenex, may even lead to full incrementality. What more can you ask for from a marketing campaign?

Should your small business try seasonal packaging for your product? What it all comes down to is if you're going to do it, make sure you do it right!

Other Articles From AllBusiness.com:

• The Complete 35-Step Guide for Entrepreneurs Starting a Business
• 25 Frequently Asked Questions on Starting a Business
• 50 Questions Angel Investors Will Ask Entrepreneurs
• 17 Key Lessons for Entrepreneurs Starting a Business