Marketing Trigger Words to Avoid on Your Food Pouches

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Marketing Trigger Words to Avoid on Your Food Pouches

Design and visual arts word cloud illustration. Word collage concept.

There are many things that you want your pouch packaging to say to your consumer.  After all, this is the first impression, and you want to make the most of it.  However, do not be sucked in by the popular, meaningless terms that can just as quickly turn consumers away as draw them in.

There are a number of trigger words that have become very popular in recent years.  The trouble is that they have flooded the market in such force that consumers are now skeptical, as they should be.  Many of these trigger words, after all, have very little actual meaning or value for the end user.  So, it is best to avoid them for the purpose of food product packaging.

It should be noted that many of these words come directly from blog posts and news articles advising customers not to be fooled by ‘marketing ploys’.  That, in itself, is one more reason to not use them on your own plastic pouches.

All-Natural This has to be the first term on our list, because it is has been so over used that is has no real meaning for the consumer any longer.  It was used, initially, as a way to point out to the consumer that the product contained only natural ingredients.  Over time, it took on a sort of ‘healthy’ connotation, except that it was used on all sorts of unhealthy food items.  Just because a product contains ‘natural’ ingredients doesn’t mean that it is healthy.  And, the term ‘natural’ has really been stretched to include some controversial byproducts these days.  Just avoid it and tell your consumer something more worthwhile with your packaging products.

Unprocessed Cook it, bake it, or mash it, and you have processed food.  The word ‘processed’ took on a negative connotation, but in truth, it means only that the food has been worked with in some manner.  Including the term unprocessed means very little, so you are just taking up space on your label that could be used for some greater purpose.

Fat Free Consumers – or at least a larger percentage of them – have caught on to the tricks of some food manufacturers.  They now know better than to expect that a product that is fat-free is a healthy choice.  By saying this, you might just be telling them to read the ingredient label in search of high sugar- or salt content.

There are still- and always be very popular trigger words in marketing, but the best bet is to work with packaging designers to make your products appear inviting without making false promises that may land your product on one of the “Watch out for these phrases…” lists.