Package design that's too pretentious for its own good.

Martha Seidner is vice president of Smith Design,
a brand design firm with offices in New Jersey
and California. The firm specializes in design for
consumer brands with a focus on identity and
package design for mass and premium foods,
consumer electronics, entertainment and health &
beauty brands. martha@smithdesign.com

I’d been thinking about what to write for this column as the deadline loomed closer. After 20 years in the brand ID and package design business, what could I possibly discuss that hasn’t already been covered or dare I say pontificated upon? Could it be the importance and role of global branding, sustainable packaging, “consumer insights,” green-washing or the scourge of private label brands digging deeper into CPG market share? What could I possibly offer that’s not already been covered? Well, maybe something, though I’d rather share some random musings and observations. So….here goes.


1. Thank you Peter Arnell: Embarrassment aside, for probably the biggest, costliest and most obvious design faux pas of the century, kudos to Mr. Arnell for bringing the importance of package design as a real discipline, to the forefront of marketing. Yes, package design is a specialty field within marketing design and while a few, rare, uber-talents can cross pollinate between disciplines, why bother? The inherent risk in entrusting your brand’s package design (it’s most valuable asset) to a great product designer or brilliant adman is well, just plain irresponsible. That’s like letting your SEO guy plan your total media spend for outdoor, TV and radio. Where common sense rules in accounting, law, medicine, and finance, where even specialists have specialties, entrusting your package design to those proficient in other specialties is well, simply unwise. And, if you are designing a food brand, make sure your design firm actually goes to the supermarket each week, and shops the category that your consumer shops, and not just for the 1 week they’re doing Discovery. The buzz about the inherent risk of changing your brand’s package design is all the rage in brand planning meetings. Yet, they need to realize that the risk lies not in “change,” but “what” you’re changing, “who” you’re listening too about making that change. Trust your gut. Common sense rules. Change is good. Throwing the baby out with the bathwater? Bad. If you market packaged goods, your package is your  #1 communication tool. If you didn’t get it before, thanks to Mr. Arnell, you get it now.

A new launch that uses white strategically, with appetite and flavor appeal.2. Package Design has gotten a little bit too pretentious: OK, close your eyes. I’m channeling an iconic brand that stands for families, fun, high school, college, pre-school, grade school, moms, dads, kids, teens, bachelors, America, all incomes, thirst quenching, bolts of energy, activity, blasts of color and instant fuel for sweaty people who like to watch and play sports. And it’s stood for all of those things for about as long as I can remember. OK. Are you visualizing an austere, bold letter G, sitting lonely on a giant highway billboard or simply placed on a ‘clean’ plastic bottle? Is it just me or does it really makes sense to dilute the powerful Gatorade brand down to a single letter, and expect people to “get it”? Gee. I don’t.

3. Clean, white and modern will (once again) be passé.  It’s happened before. Modern design becomes dated. And, what’s most exciting is what’s coming in brand ID and package design because everything is really starting to look oh-so-simple, tasteful and… the same. When private label brands jumped on the ‘clean-euro-design’ bandwagon and the national brands jumped right on next to them, we ended up with a shelf full of clean and white. Visually there’s hardly a difference between the myriad of choices. Marketers know that differentiation is key to branding and package design, the key to a brand’s success. Being different is your reason for being. I’m looking forward to the move away from modern toward something new and fresh. We recently redesigned the iconic Popsicle brand. It needed a good clean up, but it still looks like Popsicle, with all the vibrant color and fun so inherent to that brand. No, we didn’t even consider white. Smith Design was also charged to develop a totally new beverage brand, Earth Wise, juice drinks with superfruits. The charge was “simple but not modern.” The client wanted the brand to stand apart from what’s out there. The use of white is not austere, it’s just simple. Earth Wise makes you want to try a glass because it's appetizing and inviting.

4. Eco-packaging does not have to be hemp & hulls. Americans love pretty, sparkly things, now don’t we?  And guess what, the rest of the world still wants to be like us. Politics and economic climate aside, beautiful imagery speaks to people better than the burlap & beige look. And even when we’re trying to be environmentally responsible we’re not giving up luxury, elegance and visual pleasures. Smith Design was recently challenged to create a sustainable and 100% recyclable package structure and brand design for a world-class, luxury chocolate brand. We Environmentally responsible packaging that’s fashionable and luxurious.specified carbon neutral papers made with green-e certified wind energy. The look is luxe and fashionable. Not a hemp seed in sight. The brand ID is inspired by design motifs from European history combined with vibrant innovation; right in tune with the brand’s positioning. We gave Antoine Amrani boxes that reviewers say are “so pretty you’ll want to keep them.” But just in case you don’t want to, they’re also 100% recyclable.

5. Package Design is more important than ever. Web 2.0 and social networking makes visual branding and package design ever more important. Social media guru and super-brand himself, Gary Vaynerchuk, just launched a new gourmet food website where every product has a video review. (Vaynerchuk, by the way, also just started his own social media Agency—which makes him an expert in that—so I wouldn’t go to Gary to redesign your brand’s package…
see point #1 above.)

The new website is remarkable because every shopping cart visual and every single video features the product’s package. Of course, it’s all done in that transparent, unrehearsed seat-of-the-pants style which has made winelibrary.com a $50 million-a-year business through the success of its web 2.0 strategies. So, not only do you see the product reviewed, the package is still integral to the experience whether online or in the store. Package design still matters. Now, only more.

Package design that's too pretentious for its own good.

Environmentally responsible packaging that’s fashionable and luxurious.

An iconic brand refresh that feels fresh and is still fun.

A new launch that uses white strategically, with appetite and flavor appeal.

Package design can no longer be approached as a one-off challenge requiring a solution. That approach fails to leverage the full power of brands because it fails to lead to consumer brand recognition. Translation: missed opportunity to build additional sales and to reinforce consumer trust and loyalty attributes.

As companies strategize, plan and package products, they should be thinking in terms of developing an overall package design strategy. Given the plethora of consumer products crowding every category, intensifying competition in the marketplace and lessening consumer loyalty, failure to develop a system, may lead to sluggish sales, or outright failure for products.

All of the advertising and multiple platform marketing in the world cannot ensure success if products are poorly packaged. Media campaigns are designed to bring consumers into retail stores to look for specific brands. However, consumers make a purchase decision often at the point of sale, when confronted with myriad competitive products in tangible form.

The last three feet and several seconds to the retail shelf make or break the sale. That’s how crucial packaging is to the consumer in making a final purchase decision. That’s how important it is for consumer product manufacturers to get it right. With increasing pressure on sales during periods of economic downturn, it’s more important than ever to invest in a viable package design system and standardized style guide for every brand.

Pre-packaging strategy.

A brand’s most powerful assets are uncovered by conducting research. Overt and hidden drivers must be uncovered to enable packaging to align the brand with consumers’ needs. Tapping into cultural and lifestyle drivers reach the consumer on an emotional level. These considerations take place during the pre-design research process.

Armed with brand and consumer insights, and finding the place where they intersect, enables package design experts, in collaboration with manufacturers to develop an overall strategy as they revitalize packaging, add line extensions or fill pipeline with new products. That strategy should lead to the development of package design systems and style guides.

Functional package design systems and standardization through style guides lead to visual consistency. Visual consistency leads consumers to immediate brand and product recognition. When a properly positioned brand identity, graphic architecture, color, artwork, structure and communication hierarchy are part of a cohesive system, packaging maximizes the retail presence of a brand. And it enhances the experience consumers have with the brand.

Sounds simple. In theory, it is; in practice it’s anything but. In many companies there is a tacit understanding that packaging has cost and revenue implications, as well as profit potential. However, due to demands from various managers, sales and marketing executives, conflicting demands arise that sometimes leads to that less than desirable scenario: one-off packaging. Likewise, when packaging products in various categories a number of issues arise, and those often lead to making final design decisions that result in one-off packaging. Again: it is best to avoid this result.

Package design systems and style guides help avoid these inherent problems during the process, save time and maximize the packaging development spend. A well-developed style guide takes the guesswork out of packaging new products by standardizing, yet allows for flexibility.

Package Design System Components.

Key package design system components: brand and sub-brand identities, package design architecture, segmentation, imagery and brand communications. By establishing consistency in these areas, and standardizing them within style guides, package designers and manufacturers basically give themselves working blueprints. The resulting packaging enables consumers to connect across the brand’s entire product line.

Consistency and standardization do not have to be boring. In fact, companies should consider developing structural packaging that becomes “ownable”. Distinctive package structures can be developed for each product category. Remember that people are primarily visual, and as shoppers, they are making purchase decisions in as little as 20 seconds. Few packages on the retail shelf can be scanned in that period of time—experts say that consumers take in five or fewer. Packaging structure that involves a distinctive shape, graphic architecture and color palette enables consumers to easily and readily identify a specific brand. How important is that in a few seconds?

Brand identity, graphics and color used in a consistent manner for each product segment are crucial. Key brand communications in a well-designed hierarchy are easy to scan and quickly convey the information consumers want. Product imagery that speaks to the consumer—“this brand and product is for me”—that clearly identifies with the target consumer’s aspirations, desires, needs and lifestyle choices, helps seal the deal.

Segmentation is also part of a package system strategy. Segmentation is necessary for packaged products that target different consumer groups under the brand umbrella. With a strategy in place for segmentation, all products can be packaged in a readily identifiable and predictable manner to consumers as part of the overall brand.

By taking package design components and standardizing them in a style guide, the brand can be consistently leveraged. Without style guides, companies make the costly mistake of developing one-off packaging solutions and lose the consumer in the process. Style guide also help marketers to avoid the mistake of emulating competitors’ latest packaging rather than being consistent with their own packaging. Constant packaging changes as a reaction to competition lead to customer confusion and have a detrimental effect on brand recognition.

Like everything else, revitalization is necessary but it should be managed, planned and well executed. A package design system and style guide take the present and future needs for revitalization, as well as various products and their package shapes, sizes and materials into account.

Style guides make provisions for a number of new product segments. Marketing segments due to new product lines that appeal to various consumer demographics, behaviors, attitudes, or combinations of these require packaging variations that should also be allowed for in a standardized style guide.

Packaging is one of the most important consumer touch points for every brand. It is the only marketing vehicle that actually delivers branded products to consumers in a tangible manner. As such, packaging is one of the most important parts of the overall brand expression continuum. So why leave it to one-off solutions?

Isn’t it time to invest in immediate visual recognition in a marketplace that has become a sea of sameness? Isn’t it worth investing in a package design system and a standardized style guide?

Ted Mininni is president of Design Force Inc., the leading brand design consultancy to consumer product companies with Enjoyment Brands™. Design Force helps clients market brands that deliver positive, gratifying experiences by connecting consumers to brands emotionally with compelling visual brand experiences. Design Force, Inc. can be reached at 856-810-2277, or online at www.designforceinc.com.