Smartphones & Smartbrands

The new purchase choice of products is mainly made on the phone screen and modified the traditional branding postulates, such as brand identifiers, brand experience, or reading time.

In the past we were clear on the time it took for a shopper to choose a product by category.

We knew that on average, in a candy store, a shopper’s decision on a product took 4 seconds because it was an impulsive purchase that was surely accompanied by a scheduled purchase.

This was worked with the simplest Brand Identities, with their own color code and a logo that covers 70% of the packaging.

Now, if we saw the pasta category in the supermarket, it was estimated that the purchase decision time was 8 to 9 seconds.

On the other hand, the average decision time of a bottle of wine in a supermarket can be 5 minutes, in which the person analyzes the winery, the origin, and reads the back labels.

And in its own retail (Starbucks for example) people spend no less than 10 minutes choosing and place their order.

These were pre-pandemic shopping times that were drastically altered in a pandemic because people didn’t really want to go to the supermarkets and when they did, these times were shortened because it was no longer a pleasant experience but associated with fear and risk, having to enter, buying and leaving as quickly as possible. So, if companies had worked their ¨brand identifiers¨ across a solid branding process to enhance brand visuals and those that people refer to, they should now be recognizable in 2 seconds.

Nowadays online shopping is set and keeps growing rapidly. Today brands are selected from a screen and recognizable brand identifiers must be enhanced.

If earlier we would approach points of sale to identify the visibility of a brand or the ¨color code¨, today we must do the exercise of choosing a product in a 15mm size on the screen

We go from a horizontal look at the supermarket shelves to a vertical tour scrolling the cell phone. We went from the sensory of the materials, the textures, and the printing details, to the brightness of the cell phone screen. So brands must detect if they are ready for the digital world or this new modality, in which they will be chosen by consumers.

And if we look at our own retail times, such as coffee shops, ice cream parlors, pharmacy chains, or wine stores; what was fundamentally worked on was the consumer’s ¨brand experience¨ upon arrival at the store. And the people’s trajectory was taken into consideration.

It worked a lot with emotions since gift-giving, indulging yourself, or being tempted by other exhibited products as part of the branding experience. Furniture, menus, music, clothing, and anything else that defines your own unique story and experience are taken into account.

Today that happens through a takeaway, and the only brand experience that the customer has is through shopping bags, coffee cups, or pots. It is something that brands must invest in today more than ever so that the brand experience effect is carried over into their homes.

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By Diego Giaccone

Founder & Director Sure Brandesign, branding and design agency specialized in brand image and packaging.

Instagram: @surebrandesign