Costs of new packaging

Hi everyone!

I am currently working on a case study at my university. My group is
wondering how much it would cost for a major brand to introduce a
mascot/character (like the Tiger for Kellogg's Frosties).

Of course an agency will be paid for creation and development of the
character. But apart from that only changing the setup of the printing
machines and having the new packaging in the shelves nationwide (in
our case France) on the day of the launch would be additional costs,
right? But it's especially the latter that we don't have the faintest
idea about.

Any experts who can shed some light on this (and maybe enlighten us
about all the other stuff we might not have considered)?

TIA,

Matthias

"Matthias" <mail@makaio.de> wrote in message
news:c4q937010fj@enews3.newsguy.com...
>
> Hi everyone!
>
> I am currently working on a case study at my university. My group is
> wondering how much it would cost for a major brand to introduce a
> mascot/character (like the Tiger for Kellogg's Frosties).
>
> Of course an agency will be paid for creation and development of the
> character. But apart from that only changing the setup of the printing
> machines and having the new packaging in the shelves nationwide (in
> our case France) on the day of the launch would be additional costs,
> right? But it's especially the latter that we don't have the faintest
> idea about.
>
> Any experts who can shed some light on this (and maybe enlighten us
> about all the other stuff we might not have considered)?
>
> TIA,
>
> Matthias

Changing your packaging to display a new mascot without getting the message
out would be a mistake. For example, if Kellog decided to get rid of Tony
and replace him with "Harry the Horse", most customers wouldn't recognize
the new packaging.

So you need to budget for:

- an advertising campaign to produce visibility for the new character (Hi,
I'm Harry the Horse)
- change all marketing support materials (add a picture of Harry to
everything we do)
- train your employees (Who is Harry?)
- train your distribution chain (Here's why we're doing this)
- promotion for the new character (a free Harry the Horse model in every
box)
- "personal appearances" for your character at events

These characters are at the heart of a brand, so it's not something to be
undertaken lightly. More than just creation and printing, it's a complete
makeover of the entire marketing and branding strategy.


--
Greg Leman
Carolina Sauce Company, Inc.
http://www.carolinasauce.com
A wide variety of sauces and specialty foods over the web.