How Important Is a Soup Label? Very!

How important is a soup can label? Important enough that Campbell’s soup spent two years studying the ‘neuromarketing’ of how people decide to buy soup. A story in yesterday’s WSJ by Ilan Brat dove into the details of how to tweak a label to nudge up sales.

Illustrations showed the original Campbell’s Cream of Potato soup label with a dowdy spoon above a soup bowl that looks like it would be perfect nestled in your grandmother’s pantry. At the top of the can is the familiar red Campbell’s logo.

On the same page the remade, sexier, and more sales-oriented label. First steam was added, emphasizing the warmth of this comfort food, and the old spoon was ditched. A newer, more modern bowl, that looks like something you’d find in Ikea, was added, so long dowdy design around the rim.

Researchers tracked people’s eye movements, finding that the red labels all look the same when they’re at the top of the can. So at the top, instead of the red Campbell logo, appears a gold “Classic Favorites” type, providing a color-coded way for soup buyers to understand the various types of soups Campbells sells.