Branding

The Packaging should always convey what the end benefit is to the user.

If you promise a sparkly clean, as good as new finish, then your Packaging should portray this promise to the consumer.

Have a look at this example from Spontex. The Packaging feels like it’s been untouched for decades. Compared to some of the more benefit lead competitors, it lacks that newness and sparkle that isso important in this sector.

Rather than communicate as good as new this locks the benefit into standards from a different era

Now, that can be okay if a particular area is noted for cleanliness but it doesn’t fit modern lifestyle and expectations.

What the consumer takes in subconsciously can dramatically affect their interaction with a brand and how it is perceived.

Always make sure you are on the right side of the benefit.

#Marketing, #Design, #BrandDesign, #Packaging

Regular readers of my posts will know I’m not a massive fan of following fads or trends as they tend to be incredibly transient.

One of these trends from earlier this year was that the world and his lobster tried to capitalise on Dubai chocolate.

This was fine when it was confined to the chocolate aisle but it has now seemed to have gone into a flat panic and made a leap out into brands and products it probably has no business being part of!

Introducing today’s case in point. this popped up on my LinkedIn feed over the weekend. It’s common to see foods influencing fragrance, it happens in the perfume world quite often.

These foods tend to be powerful background notes known for their aroma rather than their look and feel.

If the products look and feel start to take over and you use a literal interpretation taken straight from the chocolate pack, this can then start to work against you. Especially if it is smeared over the front of what is ostensibly a laundry cleaning product.

Relevance is key. If the fragrance starts to work against the format, you’ve got a hard job on your hands convincing a consumer.

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Too much visual clutter means your pack disappears on shelf.

Standing out in the coffee aisle can be quite tricky as packs have small canvases on which to work and tell your story.

Standout is gained from contrast. This is either the contrast of adjacent elements on pack, say a light logo on a dark background, or contrast against the competition, such as by using unique colour.

Stuffing lots of things into gaps in the background tends to reduce this contrast and create excessive noise

Creating a busy pack where it’s difficult to distinguish elements such as brand logo or communication, as here on these Nescafé packs, sacrifices that all importance standout.

The net result is that the pack simply disappears into the background.

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Here is a really confusing pack. One of them is full sugar and the other sugar-free.

The main signpost for this difference though is the reversal of the colours of the brand logo.

Now, some brands allow some flexibility to their colourways but the Fanta logo relies on the dark blue in the logo to be the shadow in the letter form to make it 3-D.

This reversal then creates a negative of the primary brand logo.

Less a colour variation, more an inconsistent treatment of a primary asset. 

In a world of copycat brands, this relaxation of rules can look counterfeit.

The other issue is on-shelf impact. Take a couple of steps back and the reversed logo is much less effective at creating stand out.

Great brands are consistent in their treatment Dilute brand assets and dilute recognition. 

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If your brand has a unique offering, it’s up to you to tell the consumer what that is. That may seem a very obvious thing to say but there are many brands out there that aren’t fully clear with the consumer.

If the consumer doesn’t know the meaning or origin of something, they may tend to make something up based on their limited understanding.

Take the Pack below for example. On first inspection, because there is nothing obvious on the can you may assume that this is a statement about sustainability or the environment. It’s actually because the coffee is made from green coffee beans!

The next thing you then have to explain to the consumer is what the benefit of it being made from green coffee beans is. These are two incredibly important pieces of information.

If these aren’t presented, then the consumer is going to take the information that is there and make something up based on the assets and communication used.

The other easy error to make is that it’s a derivative of Coca-Cola. Probably because of the lines going up the side of the pack cueing the old Coca-Cola can Design.

So if you don’t explain what makes you different, the consumer may do that work for you and it may be wrong.

#Marketing, #Design, #Sustainability, #Packaging

What is the most important part of your pack? Is it the product that you’re selling? Is it the descriptor? Or is it the brand?

In a world of own brand, it’s important for big name brands to stand out and explain to the consumer why they cost more than their own brand equivalent.

If, as in the example attached, the brand and descriptor are cramped towards the top of the pack and so collapse only exposing a photo of the product inside, then you’re not really explaining to a consumer why they should pay the extra for your product. Especially as due to the reduced visibility of your key brand components it’s going to be looking like one of the own brand equivalents that it’s trying to differentiate from.

The best place for primary communication on these sort of packs, especially in the freezer sector is front and centre so that it avoids this type of crumpling.

#Marketing, #Design, #Packaging, #BrandDesign

With the drive to more sustainable packaging, both in substrate and substrate reduction, it’s often worth bearing in mind that artwork needs to be set up differently to accommodate these challenges and ensure the pack looks is best from both a standout and appetite appeal point of view

It’s possibly a little tricky to see on this shot, so I’ve left in the white pack to the left-hand side so that you can see a comparison to true white.

The thin substrate means that transparency of packs can become an issue. This is often mitigated by putting a couple of hits of white down first before printing the graphics.

Think of it as putting an undercoat on a wall before you paint it

Failure to do that bit of housekeeping before the product goes to print means that you can have packs, as the one above, that looks very washed out because the translucent substrate means you’re looking through directly to the product in the bag

The white balance gets sacrificed by the product in the bag so you end up with food photos and the bowl as you can see on the food shot becoming very yellow and unappetising

Always set your print and expectations based on the packaging limitations. There are always workarounds.

#Marketing, #Design, #Sustainability, #Packaging

Having a robust pack architecture is hugely important, especially if you’ve got a wide and varied range. That said consideration should be given to ensure that it works in every eventuality and for every iteration of a pack, license packs included.

A robust architecture ensures that everything has its place and all the information can be accessed in the right order. That rigidity however can sometimes be at the detriment of the overall pack and things can get shoehorned in in completely the wrong place. 

Sometimes, rigid rules need to be flexed in order to allow for variation, especially when you have to build in pre-existing licensed elements

Have a look at this example from Kellogg’s for a Pokémon licensed product. The consumers eye first goes to the wide open space above the logo and below the Kellogg’s logo type.

The Pokémon logo seems to be swimming around in a huge abandoned area of the pack. The rest of the communication is pushed out to the peripheries creating overcrowding and competition between important areas. The net result, that all important product shot gets covered by the character. 

The character is executed in a similar hue and tone to the background so when you step back from the shelf, it disappears in to the background of the pack rather than standing out as a beacon to all of those Pokémon fans

The architecture is there to provide a framework on which to build consistency. For this reason, it’s important to look at negative space on pack and the size relationship and ratio between the elements.

Rigidity provides consistency, but that should never be at the detriment of differentiation

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Craft is all about care, consideration, experience and pedigree. The packaging has to hit the consumer with all of that brewing know-how and convince the consumer of it

This means playing certain category rules and if you’re going to break them in order to force some differentiation then ensure that this craft, experience and artisanship is fostered through the packaging design, storytelling and quality of print

Consumers use all of these quickly decoded signals to make an immediate purchase decision.

If as per the rather strange example below you miss out on all of that, however good the product, are you going to struggle to convince the consumer.

In this individual products instance it’s the fact that the IPA is made with surpless fresh pasta.

Poor execution can steer a consumer away before they have had a chance to understand an interesting brand story.

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There is a huge difference between how a pack looks on a design visual versus how it looks and behaves when it is in an in store environment.

What may appear as sleek, sophisticated and elegant at the Design stage may not have the presence that is necessary to make it stand out and get noticed in a busy supermarket fixture

Have a look at this example. The communication is screen printed directly onto the bottle rather than onto a paper label. This means that the canvas it is painted on is prone to the different reflections and refractions of supermarket lighting. 

This base canvas is incredibly difficult to build accessible communication onto, especially if in addition,  there is little contrast with the translucent liquid inside the bottle.

Always test designs in store. Supermarket shelves are a busy and competitive environment made even trickier by the harsh lighting. Make sure the Design allows for that otherwise you may, as here, go completely unnoticed. 

#Marketing, #Design, #BrandDesign, #Packaging