Regulars / Branding and design | 33greater their infuence and the higher their customer value. Relating that back to packaging design and development, if I suggest a fnishing technique that makes the packaging more share-worthy but cuts into margins, I steer the conversation toward customer value and the brand’s social media goals, brand loyalty and customer acquisition. 6: Return on investment (ROI)Our last term in ‘the business six’ is ROI – return on investment. I’m assuming you’re familiar with this term as a calculation that brands use to measure the proftability of an investment. But have you considered the differences between tangible and intangible ROI factors? Tangible ROI factors are quantifable costs and benefts, such as production, materials, and design fees measured against the cost of conversions, sales and market share, for example. Intangible ROI factors are more qualitative and include factors of a customer’s experience, such as social sharing, brand loyalty and customers’ feelings of delight, satisfaction or frustration. Intangibles are more diffcult to measure and are often undervalued in fnancial-based companies. However, intangible ROI factors are extremely valuable to the brand in terms of brand loyalty, brand trust and brand equity. I like to call these factors ‘return on impact.It’s not just packaging; it’s packaging strategy “As soon as the client gets caught up in I’m sure you could add your own go-to business terms to ‘the business six.’ (Email a conversation about cost, it’s no longer me; I’d love to hear!) a conversation about value. When your It’s not only about what the terms are; it’s also about how you use them to client is focused on price comparison, strategize with your clients. Listen as your clients talk about their business challenges your print services become a commodity and objectives. Ask questions. Explain why the work you do has the potential to instead of an innovative solution”achieve their goals. Share success stories from your other projects. And keep the 50 cents to 2 USD an ounce, the average Yes, we care about that. But what gets your conversation focused on ‘the language of price of loose dried basil without branding). client excited? When you keep showing up business’ and the value you bring to support In this case, the packaging contributed as a true partner, providing solutions to help your client’s business goals. to McCormick’s pricing strategy and its them achieve their goals. premium positioning. Vicki Strull is a design 5: Customer valuestrategist with more than 4: Market share The ffth term is customer value. This is 25 years in the industry Market share is the percentage of sales the calculation of how much a customer designing packaging, within an industry that a particular brand is worth during their relationship with a brand identities and a achieves over a set period. For example, brand. It’s not only what the customer is multitude of packaging Domino’s, Papa John’s and Pizza Hut each currently spending, but also the amount and online touchpoints. Vicki have a certain market share in the pizza they are projected to spend in the future. co-founded MarketWise Academy industry. If the business goal of the print Additionally, customer value relates to to help fellow designers and marketers piece I’m creating for a client is to help how much and how frequently a customer accelerate their impact, level up their design increase market share, I talk about how posts online because social sharing can strategies, and thrive in a world dominated brand design and packaging can drive that. signifcantly infuence others to become by business. That’s where the idea for The We discuss how improving conversions customers. The more a customer posts Business 6 originated. To learn more about can increase sales to capture more market pictures or videos about a brand, its The Business 6 and other strategies, visit share. This conversation is not about special products, and the unboxing experience, marketwiseacademy.com or contact Vicki inks or foil stamps or how fast we can print. plus the more followers they have, the directly at vicki@vickistrull.comOct - Dec 2022