This morning at the MKTG office we have been discussing how annoying it is when food does not look like what is shows on the packet. Obviously we are not the only ones annoyed as a German website was established for a project on this very topic and accepted examples from around the world - www.pundo300.com if you want to see their experiences.

As marketers, we acknowledge making the most appealing packaging does not always translate to what’s inside. However, to reduce incidents of post purchase dissidence, we recommend to all product managers to keep this in mind. Yes, you want customers to see the packaging and find it appealing enough to buy the product, but what keeps them returning to purchase will be what is inside! And the greater the mind stretch to identify the product and packaging the least chance of repeat purchase.

Purchase expectations need to be managed - if a customer is expecting a delicious looking apple pie, then it better not appear (or taste!) as all pastry and runny apple sauce (with a few tiny bits of apple) out of the packaging. And hence this morn’s chat.

One of the team had Mighty Soft Fruit’n'Spice muffins for breakfast and although we do acknowledge financially times are a little tough, we still expect to see FRUIT in the FRUIT muffins. As you can see there was about 3 sultanas in one muffin - none in the other! And the entire pack was the same (we cut them all open). We will be contacting Mighty Soft this morning and will get back with an outcome shortly.