Thursday, June 16, 2011

day 27
Don’t Eat Me!

Business Lessons 101:  #9 in a Continuing Series


Many years ago Harvard University conducted a study on scents that men find both appealing and alluring. Much to the horror of the hipsters over at Dolce Gabbana and Calvin Klein, it was not bay rum and veviter. Instead, it was pumpkin pie and donuts.

River Girls Lavender Lemon Tea Cake Soap
River Girls Lovely Limbs Sugar Scrub
For those of us laboring in the soap and toiletries industry, this was not entirely surprising. Bakery and food scents seem to extend their welcome beyond seasons and years.  It’s not simply because they make your mouth water but because often, they evoke warm memories  of the childhood kitchen.

During  River Girls’ 11 year history, many food scented products have wandered on and off our menu. Currently, we sell:

~ Lovely Limbs Sugar Scrub in Cranberry, Fig and Brown Sugar

~ Sweet Entice Body Beautiful Cream in Warm Vanilla Sugar (Think of vanilla bean and white cane sugar whipped into frosting.)

 ~ Sierra Sunset Gel and Soap in Orange Ginger and Honey Peach

~ River Girls Bath Truffles in Oregon Raspberry and Chocolate Orange

~ Italian Mocha Orange Specialty Cup Soaps in Chocolate Orange and Coffee

~ Lavender Lemon Tea Cakes Soap; and

~Thai Coconut Lime Soap in Sweet Coconut, Vanilla and Lime

Inhale any and you will simply want to lie down, lick, spoon, consume or otherwise indulge yourself. While intensely delicious in scent, none, however, are meant to be eaten. And therein lies the issue. 

River Girls Divine Bath Truffles
As a seller, it is critical to prevent the consumption of your non-edible products.  What may seem obvious sometimes eludes buyers who either fail to read labels or who leave their products where those who cannot read, ingests them.  Customers who need special focus are children, the elderly and the attention challenged friend who may be brilliant and madcap but also ditzy.

1. ALWAYS Label with extra care, products that are sweet or smell like food, but especially bakery goods.  River Girls has begun to use red ink for the cautionary text of the sugar scrub and bath truffles. The label should read: Do NOT Eat Me! It’s gorgeously plain, simple and to the point.

2. Use a larger than usual font. Label writing tends to be small because product containers are limited in space. But beware that a 55 year old lunging into the world of reading glasses may struggle with a four point font. If it’s too tiny to read, it’s too tiny to be beneficial. Likewise, avoid script or fancy cursive fonts when designing your direction or use labels. These fonts may be beautiful but are difficult to read, especially when small. Reserve them for larger titles and product names.

3. If selling children’s products, be particularly vigilant. Consider that a bubble bath that smells like strawberry sponge cake or chocolate fudge ice cream can be dangerous if left on a bathroom counter for a 4 year old to slurp.

4. Remind your buyers that even if your products –and many of River Girls' are predominately natural-- they can still cause harm if consumed internally. Natural does not mean go hog wild with a five senses experience. Force gale winds and some digestive tract bacteria are natural, but they can also harm you.

5. Finally, consider a pet warning. Dogs for example seem to love the scent and taste of chocolate, but it can be highly toxic to them. Some natural soap users use cocoa in their chocolate soaps as a colorant, scent and mild exfoliant. Such a soap may benefit from a clear pet warning.

To love you is to warn you!

1 comment:

Unknown said...

I would agree with the study, Pumpkin Pie is a delicious smell!

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