Branding

If your brand is lucky to have pedigree and heritage, it’s always advantageous to show this off.

From a consumer perspective it adds credibility. If you’ve been around for donkeys years chances are, there’s something to trust.

I stumbled across this brand recently and for me there were a couple of things that it lacked. The first, as above is to dial up, its heritage. The brand has been around since 1921 and its safe to say, there aren’t many brands on the shelf that can use that in their bragging rights!

The other factor, and this is a consistent theme in this sector and that’s a lack of personality.

The brand prides itself on its organic origins but seems to have utilised a logo type that feels like it’s been scratched into the back of a bus seat on the top deck number 29 bus.

The choice of colour also works against its natural and organic origins. Natural colours tend to be more muted, much less vivid. This choice of Green appears much more ‘chemical’, the opposite of what it should be trying to signpost.

The choice of logotype and colour, although small can make a huge difference in trying to successfully communicate what you do well. Introducing heritage then cements that with trust.

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He is a great example of how if you don’t get your pack architecture and communication right, you can easily disappear on shelf.

Slimfast has two fundamental problems. Firstly, for a functional food it lacks a huge amount of appetite appeal and desire.

Secondly, as this example shows, there is a huge amount of dead space on the pack which is somewhat accentuated when the design is on an awkward shrink sleeve.

The first point is probably due to the background colour being too similar to the product so that there is no contrast. Colour combinations and variations can be a great way to introduce appetite appeal. In this instance it becomes quite monotone and bland.

The second point can be addressed, by reworking the pack architecture so that the logo creates much more punch. As you can see in this image, when the pack is placed on the middle shelf below ticket strip much of the logo is thrown into shade.

The other big issue here is that it doesn’t highlight what the main benefit is for the consumer.

Clearly people know the Slimfast brand, however why should I buy this product above and beyond a supermarket own brand equivalent?

That is a tricky question to answer and if we mere mortals, that have been staring at this for the last two or three minutes don’t know the answer, then you can be sure your consumer won’t know either.

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It’s not always what you say, but how you say it.

If you’re trying to evoke clarity, warming and soothing with your brand naming, your choice of letterform on the logotype should also support that.

Have a look at this example from Buttercup cough syrup.

A letterform has been created that works against the main benefit of the brand and product.

The logotype looks very oily and ‘bunged-up’. The choice of font has meant much of the letter form fills in so you can’t see it clearly from a distance.

This lack of legibility and clarity will also hint towards the efficacy of the product.

Every component on your pack should help support what you’re trying to say and the consumer benefit you’re trying to meet 

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It’s not often I’m lost for words, but this pack has been stumped!

Introducing characters onto packaging is a great way to create either strong visual shortcut to the brand or talk about the individual attributes or flavour of the product inside.

If however, you opt for the cross between a Power Ranger and a boy band alongside a ‘grown-up’ pack design, it’s probably fair to say it plays neither of these roles.

I can’t quite fathom if this is meant to be serious or tongue in cheek, but it certainly grabbed my attention!

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Always optimise your layout to suit the surface that you’re on.

One of the major differences between editorial type layout and packaging typography layout is that in packaging you’re dealing with a three dimensional surface.

Ultimately, this means that you need to optimise the layout in order to suit this curvature.

Have a look at this hair care product which suffers from a couple of issues.

Firstly, is the left ranged typography which causes readability issues on this cylindrical surface from some angles.

Ideally in this instance, type should be centralised so as to maximise accessibility from different viewing angles in store.

Secondly, as I’ve mentioned on posts before, the use of generic typography creates a very stripped back and bland pack that lacks personality, uniqueness and recall.

It’s always advantageous to test these packs out on an in-store mock up before they are released into the wild, in order to capture these issues before you get to print.

Ignore these fundamentals and your pack will disappear into the shelf.

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Always create your own assets, never borrow another brands.

If I were to show you this piece of packaging, chances are it would remind you of a rather famous battery brand.

Whilst this may provide a visual shortcut to attributes such as “energy“ another brands assets also come loaded with values that may not be relevant, or that you may not want to associate with your particular brand.

Whilst the battery with the copper colour top maybe relevant for the gym going community at whom this product is aimed, disposable batteries also cue many negative connotations.

Not the sort of thing you want to put in your body, particularly after you spent a gazillion pounds on your gym membership!

Brands should always create assets and colour combinations that consumers can only ever associate with their product or brand. Otherwise you are helping push other products to the front of consumers mind rather than providing a vehicle for them to remember yours. 

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The toothpaste aisle is a confusing old fixture.

In order to command more shelf space with what is ostensibly a very small canvas, brands are increasingly introducing lots of new offerings.

This is potentially great news from a consumer point of view, however, it would only be successful if those brands can effectively differentiate their offers and match them to specific needs.

Have a look at this example from OralB. This is a small section of the fixture, there are in fact many more varieties from them that all suffer from a very similar issue.

What is it, and what does it do?

In this particular instance it’s unclear what one variety offers over the other, does it meet a particular need or is it just a different flavour alternative?

In fact, the naming strategy on one could be said to cannibalise the naming strategy on the other, if this one is advanced is the other one basic?

If you’re not clear with the consumer you’re not going to build trust with them. Ultimately, the consumer wants to know what need you are meeting. If you end up with two products potentially meeting the same need you only serve to cannibalise the offer.

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Be the brand that solves the problem rather than accentuates it.

When you have a limited canvas area, in order to get the brand name large and accessible, we often look at running the logo type vertically, as on a book spine.

This works in most instances as long as other elements of the communication work horizontally in order to make them accessible, especially if they are much smaller.

Here’s a great example of were this approach doesn’t work so successfully. Voltarol is a brand aimed at people with back and neck muscle pain, so there is some irony in providing an SKU where you have to tilt your head in order to read the information that’s on the pack!

Should you take this vertical approach, it’s also worth ensuring that the logo is visible above the SRP!

If you are a brand with empathy and therapy at the heart of your offering, you should always endeavour to show this and make it front of stage communication, rather than accentuate the problem they came to you for in the first place.

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Personality is important in branding.

Even more important is picking the correct personality for the type of product you’re trying to sell.

Your consumer will decide emotionally and justify rationally. Therefore ensuring that your story resonates and is relevant means you can create a connection.

Take this brand of bin liners for instance. Bin bags need to convey errrrrrr, well…….. oh yes, durability and convenience.

Anything that detracts from this will dilute this primary message.

‘A beast’ amongst all its traits is arguably scary first, angry second and strong way, way further down the list.

In fact as you can only see his head, the strength part is questionable as he may only be the same dimensions as Tom Cruise.

So, the moral of the story is choose your personality to match the character of your lead benefit, or end up with the B movie that consumers avoid. 

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A Lesson in Hierarchy and Clarity

I recently came across these immunity drinks and it summed up the pitfalls of getting hierarchy and clarity of information wrong on pack.

1. Brand Architecture:
If you are not a well established brand, your logo needs to punch on pack. It’s your opportunity to introduce yourself to the world, make it count and make it memorable.

2. Variant differentiation:
The products differentiation ‘recover’ vs ‘boost’ gets lost. When line extensions aren’t clearly defined, consumer decision-making becomes a guessing game.

2. Visual Hierarchy:
Large, eye-catching graphics are great, but not when they overshadow key information. Here, abstract shapes dominate while crucial details like benefits and functional differences take a back seat. Remember, in packaging design, size equals importance in the consumer’s eye.

3. Legibility of Benefits:
If your audience needs a magnifying glass to read your product’s strengths, you’re doing it wrong. Critical info like vitamin content should be front and centre, not hidden in fine print.

Prioritize information ruthlessly. Not everything can be or should be emphasized.

Never sacrifice legibility and accessibility of information for aesthetics.

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