Branding

When your product is renowned for being in a certain format, it’s difficult to break that connection, especially when the format is embedded in the name. Have a look at this flow wrap noodle pack from Pot Noodle

Pot Noodle is synonymous with the foil lid plastic pot from which it inherits it’s instantly recognise brand-name. Yet here it borrows from a format more frequently used by international instant noodle brands and dispensing with the pot.

Would this have worked better as an endorser brand, ‘Brand X’ by Pot Noodle?

Possibly.

The key takeout for me here is that when you are looking at brand naming you should always look to Futureproof your portfolio.

Always make sure you are not restricting yourself and locking yourself into something that may become difficult as you extend the portfolio.

#Marketing, #Design, #BrandDesign, #Packaging

Something I’ve mentioned before on posts is that brands need to explain clearly what consumer need they are meeting. However, that shouldn’t be at the expense of communicating what the product is in the first place.

Take this product from Hartley’s for example. ‘More fruit less sugar’ takes centre stage at the expense of poor old ‘jam’ which is buried away in tiny copy at the bottom of the label.

Another factor not helping the consumer decode what the product is that rather than be in a format more recognisable in the sector it’s in a squeezy bottle

There is a balance to be struck between what the product is and why a consumer needs it. Elevating one shouldn’t be at the expense of the other.

#Marketing, #Design, #BrandDesign, #Packaging

When you are up against the big players, performance and efficacy are king. Many own brand products are as good as the big brand competitors. Most consumers are fully aware of this but it’s something that packaging also needs to push.

Have a look at this cleaner from Sainsbury’s.

Compared to the competition, it feels very washed out and so disappears to the back of the shelf. The pack lacks any cues towards efficacy and many of the on-pack elements end up competing as they are executed in a similar way

A device often used on cleaning products is a cleaning swoosh. It communicates effortless and speedy cleaning. However, that clean swoosh has been replaced by an orange smear!

Not really the sort of language you want to use to convince a consumer.

Own brand products may be cheaper, but they have to work twice as hard to convince the consumer that they are a credible alternative

#Marketing, #Design, #BrandDesign, #Packaging

Cat food or dog food?

The pet food aisle can be very confusing. There are a wealth of offerings with different benefits and age ranges for our furry, four legged Friends.

Clearly, navigation in this aisle is key. Not just between benefit and age range but also it would seem for actual animal type. Have a look look at this example from Sainsbury’s.

The similarities between the cat and dog variant are far too close.

Whilst animal type are in separate sections in the big supermarkets, smaller supermarkets where less spaces allocated can have these packs right next to another. Not ideal for those with sight issues or short of timers scanning the shelf quickly.

Packaging should be there to help and assist the busy shopper, not add another level of confusion

Thanks to Gary for sending this over to me

#Marketing, #Design, #BrandDesign, #Packaging

Here’s a really confusing pack. One 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. 

#Marketing, #Design, #BrandDesign, #Packaging

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

You’ve got three seconds to tell me the brand and the product.

It’s a tricky one isn’t it?

If you are the brand leader in the energy drink sector, you should be completely obvious to the consumer.

There were no easily identifiable brand assets on view and it takes a second or so even when up close to decode what the product variant is.

In situations like this, it’s an opportunity to own the fixture rather than provide an Escape Room type puzzle for your loyal consumer

Win the shelf, win the consumer.

#Marketing, #Design, #BrandDesign, #Packaging

Here’s a great example of why you should check your shelf impact next to a competitor before pressing print.

There is a fine balance between following what’s right for the brand story, in the case of Go Ahead here, lightness, with making sure that doesn’t compromise any punch when your product is on shelf.

Always ask your design agency to create shelf visuals with any initial concepts before you narrow down to a lead favourite. It’s much better addressing this in the early stages of the project rather than when you have a warehouse full of stock.

#Marketing, #Design, #BrandDesign, #Packaging

Getting the architecture of your packaging correct can mean the difference between standing out and completely disappearing.

Have a look at this example. We had bought it a little while ago and were so impressed with the product that we were scanning the shelves trying to track it down again, but having trouble finding it

It’s quite unusual for products to feature a landscape orientation on such a big pack as it uses up so much shelf space. In these instances normally portrait is better as you can get more SKU’s in on the available width.

To compound the issue they’ve used a centralised portrait layout on a landscape pack so creating lots of dead space to the left and right hand side that could be better utilised to make the product jump out.

When you are stacking so much information and imagery is often better to use a left right layout so that you don’t get multiple elements competing with one another.

Remember, go for the orientation that allows you to stack the shelves with multiple SKUs and always design the Pack with this orientation in mind

#Marketing, #Design, #BrandDesign, #Packaging

Regular readers of my posts may remember my thoughts on the previous iteration of the Ineos packs being to utilitarian and monolithic design across all sectors making it very confusing to navigate between different product ranges. Whilst the latest iteration has moved away from some of the functionality of it predecessor in both graphics and copy, it’s created new problems in an attempt to remedy the old.

The most important aspect to look at here is the logo. The black logo type on the red texture completely disappears in the supermarket environment. Taking a couple of steps back at the fixture renters it almost impossible to make out.

One of the things they struggled to communicate last time was the plant powered aspect. A functional and very utilitarian design tends to work against this more natural proposition.

The plant powered communication has now been relegated to a much smaller area on the base of the label. This makes it hard for not only this element of the back to stand out but with its look and feel still rooted in science and utilitarianism, for it also be believed by the consumer.

So whilst the new design may be a step in the right direction in softening the industrial and scientific approach, it still misses on a few of the aspects that the redesign desperately needed to win over new consumers.

#Marketing, #Design, #Packaging, #Sustainability