Branding

The success of the chicken wine has been a spring board for a menagerie of different animal inspired wines.

You can see why, focusing the label around an animal can be a perfect way to lift the pack out from a sea of sameness. That said, in order to maintain credibility in the zoo, it is important that this animal is linked to the product in some way.

This pack caught my eye yesterday. Now, whilst the label was enough to act as a beacon on shelf, it needed to work hard to balance this beacon with credibility.

The brand hinges around the tweaking of the famous ‘pig based’ nursery rhyme. It’s an opportunity to do something clever memorable and establish credibility.

Get this wrong, however, as here and it can undermine its whole proposition. Clumsy copywriting leads to confusion and a world of potential cheesiness.

The brand has attempted to talk about what the Wein can be paired with and it’s overall taste profile but the net result feels a little shoehorned in rather than cleverly woven

Standing at a distance is one thing, convincing the consumer close-up is another

#Marketing, #Design, #Branding, #Packaging

I often get into fairly interesting conversations on here with people about packaging formats.

I’m all for doing something different but it has to be functional and practical. Form should always follow function as I mentioned before.

Now before people jump in and say yes, but it’s very different so It will stand out. You have to remember some of the functions and fundamentals of Packaging design.

The Packaging needs to help with the overall delivery of the format and if this format challenges the norm then other aspects such as the graphic needs to help easily explain what the product is, and the chosen format needs to be up to the challenge of delivery of the product

That neatly brings me onto this example of a foaming body wash.

The product uses a structure more akin to squirty cream. Imagine how tricky, and slippy the pack is to use in the shower! Most shower creams and shower gels are designed specifically for one-handed operation. This requires not just the addition of another hand, but the addition of a soux chef to operate. 

So where the format fails the Graphics need to do a lot of of the heavy lifting. However, because they have taken a stripped back and on trend approach, they lack all of the personality and all of the traditional cues to help support what the product is.

Be different by all means, but don’t forget what the product is and how it’s used

#Marketing, #Design, #BrandDesign, #Packaging

I often get into fairly interesting conversations on here with people about packaging formats.

I’m all for doing something different but it has to be functional and practical. Form should always follow function as I mentioned before.

Now before people jump in and say yes, but it’s very different so It will stand out. You have to remember some of the functions and fundamentals of Packaging design.

The Packaging needs to help with the overall delivery of the format and if this format challenges the norm then other aspects such as the graphic needs to help easily explain what the product is, and the chosen format needs to be up to the challenge of delivery of the product

That neatly brings me onto this example of a foaming body wash.

The product uses a structure more akin to squirty cream. Imagine how tricky, and slippy the pack is to use in the shower! Most shower creams and shower gels are designed specifically for one-handed operation. This requires not just the addition of another hand, but the addition of a soux chef to operate. 

So where the format fails the Graphics need to do a lot of of the heavy lifting. However, because they have taken a stripped back and on trend approach, they lack all of the personality and all of the traditional cues to help support what the product is.

Be different by all means, but don’t forget what the product is and how it’s used

#Marketing, #Design, #BrandDesign, #Packaging

Sometimes, all the information is there, it’s just not presented in an engaging way.

Branding is all about storytelling. It’s capturing the imagination of the consumer and communicating how you meet a specific need.

Remember, the consumer decides emotionally and justifies logically. They have to be attracted and invested in what you have to offer.

Take this example from the cooking oil aisle. Arguably all the information is there to sell the product to a consumer, however the story is missing.

It immediately feels very worthy, almost like popping into Holland and Barrat’s to buy some multivitamins rather than a staple for the food cupboard. That tends to communicate hard work and compromise rather than benefit.

A great way to think about this is how would somebody described this pack and brand to me if I wasn’t there?
How is this going to make me feel?
How does it benefit me?
Why should I use this instead of my normal brand?
What visual sign post and triggers would they describe?
What tone of voice is it using?

Apologies for all the questions but it’s important to understand this. If the pack leaves you asking more questions than it answers, the chances of you picking it up and putting it in your basket are very slim.

#Marketing, #Design, #Packaging, #BrandDesign

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