brand

Quickly extend your canvas.

Another great example from South Korea. This was a fantastic way to extend the canvas on a shrink wrap around a bottle.

The example below uses a foil sticker here on the top of the shrink wrap which seems to serve two purposes.

Firstly, it extends the communication area significantly by utilising the widest and broadest area of the bottle.

Secondly, it acts as a fantastic visual disruptor against the competition when lined up on the shelf.

Obviously it doesn’t tick the box on sustainability points but where creating noise at fixture and standing out for the competitors is paramount is a great way to catch the eye!

#Branding, #Design, #Marketing, #Packaging

The devil is in the detail.

There aren’t many brands that can boast 150 year history. This is something any brand should be incredibly proud of.

Pedigree, speaks of trust, tradition, craftsmanship, and a timeless quality and needs to be handled in a way that celebrates that tradition. So it’s important that this is communicated with a suitable visual shortcut on-pack.

I stumbled across these drinks from Ben Shaws recently, a brand which is proud to boast this sort of tradition. I have to say the front of pack, rather than be a celebration of rich history, was constructively speaking, a jumbled mess.

The logo is far too fussy and busy with excessive ornamentation that only serves to remove legibility. Supermarket brands need to work successfully from a couple of metres away so that you can immediately decode their USP. This ornamentation could have easily been reduced and handled in a more subtle way.

It doesn’t help that much of the front of pack is taken up by the dog illustration which when doing a bit of a deep dive into the brand, has no relationship to the story.

Successfully communicating tradition on pack is not about piling, multiple ornamental details onto something which only serves overpower the brand logo.

In many cases, less is more. The devil as they say, is in the detail.

#Packaging, #Marketing, #Branding, #Design

I’ve seen quite a few drinks brands, especially in the Beer sector moving from direct print on cans to paper labels.

It’s an interesting move because there are both pros and cons for doing this:

On the plus side, it opens up new substrates and printing techniques to differentiate cans from the competition. This includes different papers, varnishes print methods and colour options.

On the down side, it tends to look cheap, and you can’t print right up to the top of the can due to the constraints of wrapping the label round a compound curve. They tend to appear like a mock up rather than a final finished can.

The paper label is then burnt off during the recycling and I suppose the big question is does this add to the carbon footprint or ultimately reduce it?

Paper labels are generally seen as less environmentally friendly than direct printing on aluminum cans.

The production of paper labels involves significant resource use, including water, energy, and raw materials like paper and ink.

Additionally, paper labels often use petroleum-based inks that emit volatile organic compounds. In contrast, direct printing eliminates label waste entirely and reduces the need for additional materials, making it a more sustainable option overall.

They clearly work for short production runs but bearing in mind the environmental impact and the overall reduction in quality credentials, is it worth it in the long run?

#Branding, #Design, #Marketing, #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, #Branding, #Design, #Marketing

Here’s a great example of ‘consumers decide emotionally then justify logically’.

Cleaning is an arduous task. I don’t think anyone really enjoys it. Successful products in this sector need to be pitched to have a transformational quality and elevate mundane tasks to effortless ease.

Clearly, fluorescent colours and a grinning face are going to retract your attention, but funnily enough it wasn’t that that held my attention on this example

Selling a sponge to a consumer is an incredibly tricky task. A sponge is a sponge isn’t it?

Not if you can create 2 different states, which each have a different benefit as in this example.

Interestingly, they haven’t promised clean dishes or sparkly surfaces at all. The product focuses on its ability to ‘transform’ which subconsciously, in the mind of the consumer cues a magical transformation from problem to solution. Clever.

Catch the consumers attention first, then tell your story. When you need to pull yourself apart from the competition having clear differentiation in a category that has often lacked innovation will always draw a consumers attention.

#Branding, #Design, #Marketing, #Packaging

Cursive type is a fantastic visual shortcut towards vitality and naturalness in branding.

Although this may not work without a little tweaking

Have a look at this example which I saw whilst walking down the juice aisle. At first sight I read it as ‘beef’ which is obviously a bus ride away from what the product is trying to communicate.

With a little crafting and layering on the pack, this could be easily remedied without losing any of the energy and naturalness in the chosen font.

Remember, it’s always worth taking a few steps back to ensure the brand works as well from a distance as it does close up.

#Branding, #Design, #Packaging, #Marketing

Expectations are a hard thing to manage particularly if you offer up something challenging to the consumer.

Combining things that don’t normally work together is a great way of doing this. Take this KitKat variant. The coating is Made from high-quality matcha of Uji, Kyoto. Not only that, but they have the added health benefit of being rich in catechins and theanine from the matcha.

Making this work on pack and convincing the consumer though, can be much more of a challenge.

What Nestlé Japan have done really well here is a simplified canvas and utilised a beautiful choice of colourways and enticing ingredient shot to make the offering more acceptable. This balance creates a huge amount of appetite appeal and convinces consumers that it’s “okay”.

What is most interesting for me here is the multi sensory approach with the use of the paper outer, promising a more premium sensorial experience.

If you are going to challenge the consumer with an unusual taste, always ensure that you reassure them that it works.

#Design, #Marketing, #Packaging, #Branding

Remember to establish a clear pack architecture.

Establishing a robust yet flexible architecture is incredibly important for any brands looking to extend their portfolio.

Done correctly, it helps consumers navigate the range in an efficient way.

Do it incorrectly, as per the example from Capri-Sun below, and it causes no end of confusion.

Low sugar options are normally signposted with a blue or white on the pack. Here, Capri-Sun have kept the same colour ways as the full sugar version and allocated the whole top part of the pack to communicate ‘zero’, overpowering the brand logo, somewhat.

Interestingly, the banner that normally denotes flavour on the full sugar version is then allocated as the low sugar flag. This confusion can lead to people picking up the incorrect version.

Any brand that doesn’t get their communication clear, can risk creating a subconscious distrust from the consumer.

#BrandDesign, #PackagingDesign, #Packaging, #Marketing

The key to great promotions is that they have to be relevant.

By relevant I mean it needs to add value to the brand and also add value to the person involved in the promotion. Think of it as a mutually beneficial partnership.

Now, whatever you think about energy drinks It’s potentially always a good ‘high octane’ pairing bring these together with Formula One.

As many of the drivers have their own personal brands, it would make sense to ensure that these partnerships work with those personal brands and also that there is clear reason for the celebrity in question to be plonking their name on the pack.

Take this example from monster and Lewis Hamilton. Lewis’s highly polished urban style could be said to be somewhat diluted here with the use of the playful iconography. Similarly, Monster maybe haven’t made the most of the high fashion meets high-performance communication that could help add a little bit of high fashion edge to their offering.
Partnerships are great, but they should always bring out the best in one another.

#BrandDesign, #PackagingDesign, #Packaging, #Marketing

Lurpak has expanded its offer into the plant-based arena.

This is obviously a new area and a challenge for brands not previously associated with this space to provide credibility.

Clearly it would pay to signal that this is a departure from their current dairy based proposition however they have fallen in line with the established monolithic brand architecture.

The big problem with monolithic branding especially in a range where you have lots of variants is navigation.

The brand is already tricky enough to navigate and find the lighter version, the lighter, lighter version, or the lighter, lighter, lighter version, or whatever it’s called!

Adding this variant into the family using the same rigidity doesn’t really showcase or differentiate this exciting new offering.

Monolithic architecture is a great way for a brand to own the space but always make sure to allow room for flexibility and so clear differentiation.

#BrandDesign, #PackagingDesign, #Packaging, #Marketing