When people think about merchandising, images of a product that has been oversold quickly come to mind. However, merchandising is all a part of branding a product line and it can be a fantastic way to retain customer loyalty, get customers to easily recognise your product, and raise awareness about your brand. If done creatively, you can create a campaign that helps sell a lot of units of whatever it is that you are selling through your company.
Learning how to merchandise products begins with having a vision for what you want the public to feel about the products. After conducting thorough market research and establishing standards for the demographic you seek to attract, the logistics of putting together a campaign involves a number of different tasks to be completed. Merchandising companies can pave the way in showing your business how to accurately assess and target the public you want to attract to your brand.
Keep reading to learn how you can use merchandising to ensure that you give the best possible impression of your company and your brand.
Use Slogans As Memory Cues.
We have all heard them, and when they are used as in other cultural contexts, they can be pretty funny. However, these slogans that usually accompany some jingle remind the consumer of the business, but specifically, the product. While it might seem cheesy, these sayings linger around, and in many ways, subtle cues trigger emotions from the public. Moreover, to avoid overuse, consider changing these slogans over time to provide variety in the campaign.
Don’t Forget A Company Logo.
Logos are a very simple way to get the public familiar with your brand. The logo should be presented in the right colour, size, shape, and feature content that reflects the sentiments conveyed by the company. In fact, the logo is probably the biggest way that a company can merchandise its products as logos typically feature on just about every medium you might use in your merchandising plan, such as paper, fabric, online, etc. Your logo should, like any slogan, leave a lasting impression on the consumer.
Use Music.
Music is a great way to get consumers to remember your product line. Think about all of the jingles that you have heard over the course of your lifetime. These tunes, with or without accompanying words, made an impression on you, and do so on the consumer simply by connecting a certain style of music with the product.
Look At Store Design.
One of the things that makes many stores recognisable and separate from each other is their design. For example, the placement of fitting rooms and cash registers in some retail stores immediately let consumers know the brand. Wide aisles and bright lights in some reasonably priced grocery stores are much different from the dimmer lights and narrow aisles found in high-end grocery stores.
The placement of mannequins in the store is another ploy used in-store design that immediately alerts the consumer of their location. Some stores choose window displays to advertise clothing by placing mannequins in the window while other stores will place them around the store. Next time, you visit the store to pay attention to its layout. In most franchises similar to it, this store is organised similarly to others, and it is a part of merchandising the whole brand to consumers.
The Magic Of Merchandising.
You have two products with the same value and cost. One is from a brand that is being merchandised and the other is doing well but does not employ the same techniques. The biggest difference that you will see in the two products is that the product being merchandised is being well-received and probably has something of a following. Conversely, the other one, while still a great product, might or might not find traction in a field of contenders. Merchandising is the difference and in order to put your best foot forward, it’s important that you employ the right techniques to ensure that your products or services are a roaring success in the marketplace.
