You know us marketers: we’re always looking for that BIG statement – the one that will get our clients noticed. Those front-and-center, bold-type, above-the-fold ideas that will elicit “oohs” and “ahhs” from sea to shining sea.­
The big guns, the show-stoppers, the Super Bowl commercials everyone’s talking about at the water cooler the next morning.

And yet.

And yet, it’s often the smallest ideas that get the most attention. The user interface that just makes sense. The fun use of irony that hits our funny bone. The pun used in just the right spot*.

Sometimes, like a Miss America Pageant, it all comes down to amazing packaging. Take for instance the latest and greatest use of packaging design: the barcode. Rather than just stick to the obvious and keep the barcode looking like a series of jail cells, designers have begun implementing their design right into the package itself, often with whimsical, note-worthy, and just plain fun results.

And the results from those results? Packaging that is shown around before being tossed out. Packaging that’s “remarkable” only because, as Seth Godin says, “it’s worth remarking upon.”

But it’s not just barcodes that are being tweaked. Other packaging ideas are springing up around the globe, too – tiny little tweaks that make a product stand out, and, most importantly, be remembered.

*So you see? You don’t need any fancy “tackle” to get attention – just some small tweaks to lure them in.

We all love the Super Bowl ads, but remember that often, the solution to a branding problem is not a huge touchdown, it’s a small punt.