Labels are a product’s “front door.” While websites, social media and collateral materials support promotion of a product, its most powerful and up-close marketing tool is the omnipresent label.

Of course, it isn’t always used in a promotional manner. Prescription medication containers by and large carry labels that only provide information. Over-the-counter supplements, in contrast, generally include branding and other promotional elements on their labels.

Then, there are products that “live or die” by their labels. When you’re staring at a store shelf full of competing products, how often have you selected the one with the most graphically bold label when no other factor is paramount?

Because labels can pack a powerful promotional punch, it’s advisable to stir the imagination periodically to see what innovative ideas emerge around use of that valuable real estate.

Supermarket labeling supersedes individual products
In some cases, supermarkets develop their own labeling scheme to address product promotion. One current case is supermarkets adopting a product rating system developed by Brooklyn, NY startup HowGood. It scores food products on “feel good factors ranging from employee pay and livestock conditions to pesticide practices and distribution methods,” according to a recent Wall Street Journal article.

The article notes that HowGood’s scoring system emphasizes the operation behind the product’s ingredients: “The Greek yogurt has a lousy carbon footprint. The ancient jar of mustard was produced with substandard labor practices. And those innocent-looking carrots? Raised by an evil, chemical-crazed agrimonster…While consumers can research products on the HowGood website or app, the company’s main offering is its in-store labeling program, which marks products with a ‘Good’ ‘Great’ or ‘Best’ tag. Products scoring below the ‘Good’ benchmark aren’t labeled.”

This “labeling beyond the labeling” is proving to be a powerful driver (or deterrent) to product purchases and supermarket profits. Notes the Wall Street Journal article, “[HowGood chief executive Alexander Gillett] says supermarkets using the labels see a 4% increase in spending for each order because it encourages shoppers to buy more of the pricey, top-rated products. Items rated ‘Best,’ for example, see an average sales boost of 31%.”

‘Nutty’ label-oriented promotion
Sometimes, the label substrate itself can form the basis of a product promotion, or co-promotion. Such is the case spotlighted in the Huffington Post article, entitled, “How to Remove Wine Labels Using Peanut Butter.”

The article describes an unconventional “marriage” of wine and peanut butter, noting, “Wine bottles are a perfect craft supply, but their labels can be a real pain. What can you do with a lovely glass bottle when it’s covered in sticky label residue? That leftover residue can ruin your craft.”  The article then describes – step-by-step – how to remove all label contents, with use of peanut butter taking center stage.

This prompts the idea of a wine and peanut butter manufacturer co-promotion. Creative marketers no doubt can come up with some entertaining and engaging ways to cross-promote the two products, perhaps each offering a discount for the other.

Wine purchasers can use their proof-of-purchase to get a deal on a specific peanut butter; peanut butter purchasers can do likewise. To tie it together, the co-promoters can develop a menu of items featuring a pairing of both products.

Heart-felt label promotions
Continuing the wine-centric theme, an article in Vermont’s Valley News tugs at a few heart strings: “The other day, when I spotted Chateau La Paws on a grocery store shelf, my inclination was just to walk on by…But what really got my attention on the labels, more than the fetching face of Mia, a Catahoula puppy rescued from Tennessee, wishfully licking her nose, or the pleading eyes of Rodney, a mountain hound saved from Virginia, was the declaration that some of the proceeds from these wines support no-kill shelters…the producer of Chateau La Paws…backs up its pitch with a lot of money and some very good wine. The money goes to the North Shore Animal League America…It reaches across the country to rescue, nurture and place 20,000 pets in homes each year.”

Any animal lover will be moved by these images, and impressed by the good works behind them. That can drive a lot of first-time sales. But, don’t just do it as a sales ploy. There’s nothing worse than a “supposed” good deed that clearly is aimed only at selling product.
It’s time to dig into fertile imaginations to see what new and noteworthy label-related promotions can blossom.



Tammie MacLachlan contributed to this report.
Mark Lusky is a marketing communications professional who has worked with Lightning Labels since 2008. Tammie MacLachlan is the customer service manager of Lightning Labels, an all-digital custom label printer in Denver, CO, USA. She has been in the printing industry for 21 years and with Lightning Labels for more than nine years. Find Lightning Labels on Facebook for special offers and label printing news.