Branding

Craft and consideration are hugely important, especially in the Beer category.

It communicates authenticity and a respect of time honoured traditional brewing methods.

There seems to have been a trend over the last few years of stripping things back which has sometimes meant taking the pedigree and prestige out of brands in favour of a more simplistic, look and feel, often to the detriment of the brand.

There are examples, such as the one attached that seem to remove this consideration and expertise from the illustration to the detriment of the brand. If the style doesn’t fit as here, it works against this.

Some of this could be down to following design trends, but some of it is also down to budgetary restrictions. Illustrations of brand icons are normally done by employing illustrators that are experts in their field. These illustrators can create powerful memorable icons that support the brand and are crafted in a particular style. Where budgets are an issue, these illustrations are sometimes tackled in-house rather than using an external illustrator.

Whilst it may be cost effective and remove a pair of hands from the invoice, it also removes some of that expertise for the brand communication.

If craft is important, allow budget for bespoke illustration.

#BrandDesign, #PackagingDesign, #Packaging, #Marketing

To the uninitiated, shopping in Halfords is akin to trying to crack quantum cryptography.

Finding the right product to meet your needs requires a certain shall we say level of knowledge.

Whilst Halfords have introduced an ‘add your registration plate’ offering onto the website so that you can navigate to the product that best meets your needs and matches your car, I do think the packs in store could go a long way to facilitating this.

Have a look at this engine cleaner I found. The ‘what do you do with it’ communication seems to be relegated to an afterthought sticker applied to the neck of the bottle. On some varieties it isn’t even on there.

It is unclear whether this is intentional or whether users have requested this, nevertheless it’s something that could be introduced better through narrative or simple iconography onto the front of the main label.

If you make things easy for a consumer they’ll always gravitate to products within your portfolio, as it quickly communicates a level of expertise that they don’t have.
 

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As the old adage goes, form follows function. That said, focusing too much on the functionality leaves no room for creating an emotional connection with the consumer.

Paint is a slightly odd product because whilst it’s arguably seen as a home lifestyle product it’s not something that features hugely on the packaging. An eggshell white is an eggshell white after all so why would you buy one product over the other?

Certain brands such as Dulux position themselves as masters of colour, but there are brands such as Leyland Paints, that from a consumer point of view, don’t have a ‘reason to believe’ and therefore don’t create an emotional connection with the consumer.

This leaves you thinking why buy their paint above and beyond a cheaper own brand version?

Having a key claim or product truth evident on pack reassures the consumer and points them in your direction.

It creates differentiation and forms more of a unique story about the benefits of your products, and how it will make a consumer feel once they’ve used it.

Utilised well this can form part of the key decision-making criteria. 

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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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