Food marketing. We see it every day. Billions of dollars are spent, millions of words are written about it and, despite all the information we have, food marketing campaigns often pass without notice and products disappear from the shelf, although not in the way intended. The reason? A product will not be successful if no brand recognition is created and no brand loyalty generated. What food marketers need, therefore, are brand builders.

So how is a brand built? How is that recognition established and that loyalty nurtured? Simply put, by developing a conviction in the customer's mind that one particular brand represents a specific product to the exclusion of any and all competitors. Brand loyalty is important because more than half of all shoppers make a decision about which product to buy only when they are standing in front of the store shelf, faced with several, if not, multiple choices. Brand loyalty turns those "any product will do" shoppers into your customers.

Food marketers who have successfully built brands have learned that packaging is an integral part of any effort to build brand loyalty. While a shopper doesn't usually see a package for the first time until he is in front of that store shelf, it's at exactly that moment when a package makes its biggest impression because its the first impression. And your product line has only one chance to do that.

Stand up bags are frequently used by food marketers who have successfully built brands. Also called stand up pouches, Mylar® barrier bags and printed stand bags, this packaging is built using multiple layers of specialty film and laminating them into a durable, waterproof and puncture-resistant barrier that keeps out vapor, odor, pests and even UV light while locking in flavor and freshness.

Stand up pouches stand up on the shelf (and apart from the competition). Available hang holes provide retailers a second display option.

Text, graphics, even a QR code can be custom-printed in 10 colors directly onto the wide front and back panels of the bag. Company labels can also be affixed. Available transparent film allows your contents to market themselves. Combining some or all of these options affords you the opportunity to give your foods that 'premium product' look, so important to shoppers who are trying to decide what to buy.

Stand up pouches: Building your brand, building customer loyalty, building your sales.