It's a fishy game and it stinks.

How many of you have experienced this? You decide to buy some tuna cans- easy, right? You go down to the supermarket and look for the tuna aisle. You walk towards it, it's quite clear and catchy from a looooong way, all the different tins and colors stacked, you swiftly get there and then ..........um, you just keep staring! You are suddenly bombarded with choices. An infinite number of colors with an infinite number of descriptions with 0 explanation of the real differentiator between them, at least visually. The issue that it is not just one brand that does this, but it's the entire industry. I honestly feel sometimes that the entire industry sat together on one day  and unanimously said, "LET'S JUST CONFUSE THE SHIT OUT OF THEM!" 

You see, if you are a tuna fan like me, you know there are different tuna types and variations in the contents of the packs. For starters, there's the grade of the tuna meat. Yes, apparently, there is a grading system for the fish meat itself. Then there are hunks vs. the flaky type of tuna. Then there is also the type of oil/water around the tuna in the tin. Now why the tuna industry fails miserably in differentiating their product lines from each other simply BLOWS MY MIND OFF EVERY DAMN TIME I visit the supermarket. It frustrates me enough as a consumer to write about it today. 

I honestly thought it was just me who is not getting it, but last Friday, as always, my curious mind decided to act upon this dilemma. I decided to go to the supermarket during rush hour and just stand there and watch- a marketer habit. As soon as I was there, I saw a couple approaching the tuna section. At first, they seemed to be happily enjoying their time, each picking up a can and staring at it, then putting it back on the shelf. After a minute or two, they decided to ask each other what is what and which one does the other thinks they should get. It was a very confusing matter. I kid you not, it took the couple exactly 7.5 minutes to pick a couple of tuna cans, and they were as frustrated and confused as me whenever I go through that experience. 

Some may argue that their artwork space is quite small, and hence it is challenging to get a proper pack space to truly differentiate between the different variances. Yet, I  beg to differ on that. There are a lot of brands in different categories with much less artwork space that make it happen. Take tea, for example, or chewing gum. We are talking at least 25% of the artwork space, yet they can easily differentiate their various product lines, and they have plenty of those.  

You see, this is where good branding/packaging artwork agencies play a huge role. It's cracking this, no matter the obstacle. And I mention this again, it AIN'T ABOUT LOOKS. Meaning, it really isn't how beautiful the artwork is, but more importantly, what is your consumer getting about your brand from that artwork. Which, in my opinion, the tuna players in Egypt FAIL MISERABLY at. 

Now you ask me, why is this is a real issue? Because our attention spans as consumers are getting shorter and shorter every single day, and we are bombarded by so many brands that you don't just need to cut through the clutter, but you got to do it and do it FAST! The shopping experience is as important as the product itself, heck in some categories, it's more important than the actual product. Think Amazon prime.   

Now, does anyone want to create a tuna company? There seems to be an easy way in! :) 

Hope you have enjoyed this week's blog. Please leave your comments below, and you can now subscribe to the blog by entering your email address. If you have any cases that you would like me to discuss or have any questions, please email me at Shereba@brandmeup.co. 

Until next time, let's BrandMup.