Branding

Here’s a sight pretty typical in a lot of supermarkets. These are the pans in the kitchen equipment aisle. Believe it or not there are three different brands here all vying for attention but failing to showcase any of the key benefits.

This is something you see a lot on kitchen equipment because rather than the product be inside packaging, the packaging is often inside the item, the pans are a good case in point.

Additionally, they tend to be merchandised on their side leaving a small and insignificant canvas.

There is huge potential here for any of these manufacturers to look at a solution similar to Crosta & Molilca where they utilise a bold pattern along the edge of the packs so that even with a reduced canvas, they never fail to capture attention .

It’s not just pans, you see the same issue with Pyrex dishes although they can rely on a certain amount of transparency for the inside out of packaging to catch the eye.

So if space is a premium and you all look the same on shelf, be different, be bold and you will be sure to stand out.

#Marketing, #Design, #BrandDesign, #Packaging

When I was at Design College, I read a book by Victor Papanek called Design for the real world. That is a fab quote in this book, ‘form follows function’, it’s something that’s stuck with me and resonated.

It’s something I judge many structural designs against almost subconsciously. The attached picture is the latest in that line!

This is Sainsbury’s very own concentrated washing detergent. It’s in a tetra pack which makes sense for juices but much less so for things like laundry detergent.

Ignoring the fact that it creates category confusion by using something not normally associated with the area, the functional aspect is completely wrong for the job it’s required to do.

On opening the lid which is rather inconveniently attached even when it’s in the full open position, you are left with an ugly sticker that falls directly in line with the direction of pour ensuring half of this concentrated wonder drips down the front and ends up on the floor of the cupboard that we keep it in.

Yes, it may be a cheaper option for the supermarket and the consumer may be misled into thinking this is a more sustainable option but never try and pitch something to a consumer as a benefit when it’s actually working against what it’s meant to do.

Consumers are rarely idiots and remember this sort of thing!

#Marketing, #Design, #BrandDesign, #Packaging

Clarity is everything, especially if you want to introduce something new to consumers.

Have a look at this drink I stumbled across at the weekend. It was buried away midway down the shelf and it took me lifting it out of the SRP in order to work out exactly what it was.

As I’ve mentioned on posts before packaging has a few roles, the most important of which is, what is it and why do I need it?

Neither of these were particularly clear. Whilst there are a variety of restrictions regards claims on CBD products, it was incredibly difficult to extract a benefit or what the brand stood for. Two huge strikeouts when you are new to the market.

The only iconography on the pack is a hand making a V for victory, or is that the peace symbol? Who knows? Is it signalling to hippies or friends of Winston Churchill? It’s hard to tell.

The overall look and feel is incredibly minimal and in these instances it’s important to make sure all of the assets work together and support one another. Here, you can see part of the illustration cutting through some of the copy almost turning the C of CBD into a G!

Now I can hear some of you strip everything back purists telling me how wonderfully simple this is but going back to my initial point. By doing this have they helped clarify what it is and how it benefits me?

Sure, simplicity is fantastic as it creates a single minded approach but that should never be at the expense of communicating a comprehensive brand story.

Confuse your consumer at your peril. When adding functionality you need to convey trust and reassure the consumer

#Marketing, #Design, #BrandDesign, #Packaging

Making sure that your information is accessible on pack is incredibly important and can make the difference between somebody making a purchase or moving onto the competition..

It’s fairly safe to say that most owners of budgerigars are in their advanced years so ensuring that all the important information is front, centre and easy to access should be high on the to-do list for any brand occupying this space.

The copy on this pack feels way too small to access easily. The most ironic feature being next to the Vitamin a segment it states for good eyesight!

Always know your core customer and design the pack to meet their immediate needs

#Marketing, #Design, #Packaging, #BrandDesign

Characters on a pack should always be engaging, recognisable and help convey the brand story.

A good character works just as well off pack as it does on pack to help recall the brand in the mind of the consumer.

As with a brand story, differentiation and uniqueness are key in facilitating this. Plonking some sunglasses on a lemon doesn’t cut it. Take this character off pack and it could belong to any brand.

We have created lots of characters over the years, from Freddo Frog through to the Aquafresh Nurdles on the kids range. Front of mind each time was giving them a key role to play.

In the case of Aquafresh, the Nurdles were based on the three striped Aquafresh toothpaste icon and had two main roles to play in the brand communication.

Firstly, they were used to help educate parents on the key stages of development in kids teeth and secondly to create relatable personalities for the kids to engage with.

So successful were these that they even have their own cartoon show!

Give the character a role and ensure they are created with distinctive assets that you could only ever attribute to that brand and they will help sell your product like miniature animated salesman.

#Marketing, #Design, #Packaging, #BrandDesign

Making all of the information accessible on packaging is incredibly important. Never more so than when you have a challenging shape and a small canvas to work on.

Here’s a shot from the cat food section in a garden centre. As with most cat food, the packaging is tiny so you don’t have an abundance of space to work with.

On this pack from Applaws, the brand logo, flavour and product information all compete for space. Stepping back at the fixture it’s impossible to even make out the brand logo.

Even on the SRP the brand logo and flavour both fight for attention.

In these sort of situations it’s always better to try and work out what the most important piece of information is, let that sing out and relegate the rest to the back of pack or even better still, leave it off to free up more space for the important bits

#Marketing, #Design, #Packaging, #BrandDesign

Here is an amalgamation of two very interesting brands both with positive stories to tell the consumer, although neither are pushed to the forefront

Tribe is all about natural energy whereas Wildfarmed are the champions of regenerative farming methods. Both credible in their own right but to any new consumer to this pack they may be left scratching their heads a little.

For the lead brand here Tribe, the point of difference is buried away in a small icon centre right on the pack. The story isn’t mentioned at all.

Sure, there will be consumers that know the back story but these product partnerships should be all about getting these unique positive differences front and centre to introduce themselves to those new two the brand.

Motivating stories create an emotional connection and are the things that encourage new consumers into the category, miss out on these and you risk disappearing into the competition.

If you have a story, particularly a positive one be loud and proud! It’s the difference between awareness and obscurity.

#Marketing, #Design, #BrandDesign, #Packaging

Always be clear with the consumer what you are.

If you are offering something unusual and something unique, it’s important to be clear with the consumer what their reward will be and to communicate clearly and efficiently exactly what you are offering.

For food brands this means building appetite appeal and a desire for the end dish, particularly where meal kits were involved.

This example, whilst very unique and clearly Japanese, misses out on both appetite appeal and a clear explanation of what it is.

That then creates quite a challenge in shifting products off shelves

Often budgets aren’t available to do glossy food photography, it can be quite expensive but ultimately will do a lot of the heavy lifting for you.

In this example the food shot has been replaced by a simple line drawing. I’m not sure if that is down to lack of budget or from trying to make the pack design suitable for a restricted print requirement

Either way, it’s important to make sure that the design fits the limitations of the end print method but doesn’t compromise on the fundamentals of communication.

If the consumer doesn’t know what you are, or what you offer, why would they want to invest?

#Packaging, #Design, #Marketing, #BrandDesign

Confectionery brands are never seen as being something that’s good for your teeth.

They come preloaded with the acceptance that these sweet treats are full of sugar and a bit of a once every so often indulgence.

Therefore, it would be pretty ridiculous to think of a confectionery brand moving into the toothpaste arena.

Toothpaste is already an incredibly confusing fixture with multiple variants, claims and formulations so introducing a confectionery brand into this mix would be a completely bonkers thing to do wouldn’t it?

That’s exactly what I thought when I saw this Chupa Chups brand extension into oral care. I imagine this is to get reluctant kids on board with scrubbing their teeth, however it feels more in line with that famous Colgate lasagna that was circulating a little while ago.

It’s a bold move indeed but brands seen as potentially causing one problem are not best placed to offer solutions to remedy this, especially if the overall architecture and asset usage is exactly the same.

The net result is a fairly unbelievable product line extension that misses out on important efficacy cues. Not to mention the potential damage this extension does to the product that inspired it.

Know your place and do that well or risk cannibalising your offer

#Marketing, #Design, #BrandDesign, #Packaging

When you introduce narrative onto pack there are 2 main considerations, what you say and how it is presented.

Each of those has an important role. Tackle either incorrectly and you will have a challenge convincing your consumer that your product meets their needs.

Have a look at the Rustlers product below that misses the mark on both counts.

Let’s look at what they say specifically first.

The strap line on the SRP proudly states “better than you think “, Now, this comes across as an admission that your product doesn’t probably look the best and the consumer is going to take a bit of arm twisting in order to agree.

Honesty is always the best policy, but it’s always better to handle this in a positive way.

Onto the second point, how this messaging is presented. The choice of fonts is absolutely immense and with food products, it’s always good to pick fonts that communicate appetite appeal and as in this case, provenance.

Where the pack communicates “cheese “ it feels incredibly washed out on the background and its ‘chubby’ execution talks less about taste and more about artificiality.

Think of your narrative as an actor on a stage, how they are presented and how they deliver their lines cues a reaction in the audience. Always ensure they are the protagonist and not the antagonist.

#Marketing, #Design, #Branding, #Packaging