They tasted better. They still do.

Raisins that come in the little red box – you know the one I mean – they quite simply are better.

It has nothing to do with the logo with the smiling gal, holding a bunch of raisins. And it isn’t the color red. I suspected it might be. But it wasn’t.

I recently bought what I thought was a Giant Warehouse Package of little boxes of raisins. Complete with the famous logo. I honestly thought the Mega Box was full of little boxes. Nope. It was only full of little raisins.

And yeah, they were good. But not great.

I suspect, when my siblings and I were growing up in a single-wide trailer in the middle of the vast prairies, taking a yellow bus to school every day, that my mom hung on to the empty boxes. And refiled them with not original raisins. I’m pretty sure once, it was with those terrible yellowish, gooey-textured Sultan raisins, which were mysteriously repackaged in the coveted red boxes.

That was when I began to suspect.

But I ate them anyway. Who was I to question the allure of the Proper Packaging?

Still… I think that might have been a pivot point for me. I developed trust issues. Specifically, as it relates to raisins. And yeah, there was a trickle-down effect, no doubt about it. I generally still avoid raisins.

Packaging matters. Trusted packaging means we are going to feel good about what we buy. And we will keep buying it.

We could also talk and compare notes about the only real ketchup brand we all know, love, and prefer… and that one time everyone experienced. Yeah, when our parents decided to try the much less expensive “off-label” brand.

You remember the time. The one time. It just simply didn’t taste right. Of course, we had to use it up before we could buy the real version of ketchup again. But everyone remembers how long it took to use that “other stuff” up. And how glad we were that our parents agreed – the cheaper version just wasn’t great. It just wasn’t worth it.

Packaging, as it relates to manufacturing and distributing food, is obvious. But packaging is always a part of any, but particularly, your business model. Your business. Packaging holds your reason to talk to, service, and help all the people who should come to you for what you and your staff uniquely and with joy create for them. It’s how your people know that yes, this is you.

It includes how your staff answers the phone, how welcoming your entrance and front walk are, and the unique-to-you marketing messages that proudly proclaim, “This is Who We Are – Accept No Substitutes.”

As Roy H. Williams has patiently explained over and over, “You can’t know when someone will need what you are selling. But when they do, be the provider they think of first.” No substitutes.

I also love that Roy understands business owners have a hard time “reading their own label from inside the bottle” of their business.

Yes – all business owners know their business. I mean, you know yours, right? You even know your competitor’s business. And why people in the market for what you are providing should be coming to you. Not them.

All the things you know, and wish your prospects knew. Including all the parts that no one actually cares about, except mostly you. The details. The boring parts. The ingredients.

But each recipe for a business has something wildly unique. A reason prospects and even your long-term clients and customers need to know and remember so that each time they need what you sell, they think of you first.

These are the kinds of things you need a trusted, driven advertising professional to help you find. To help you frame. They will help create packaging that is yours, and yours alone. So no other business can ever be mistaken for you.

Even if they try to buy your name in those terrible online word auctions, as they try to trick the people looking for you into picking them.

Yeah, you need a Wizard. And interestingly enough, I know where you can find some.

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