from Don Williams, CEO, Pi Global (brand consultancy)
Sir; I’m increasingly concerned about the new trend towards so-called innovative branded packaging (‘It’s a wrap’, The Grocer, February 5, p38).
While I can understand the excitement, and no doubt short-term profits, generated by ‘creative’ ideas at the heart of packaging design, I feel I should point out some hard facts:
1) Great brands become great because they win a place in the hearts and minds of consumers, because they become familiar, known, trusted, safe, consistent, simple and honest.
2) Trends come and go, great brands go on forever.
3) The supermarket isn’t an art gallery, it’s a battlefield.
In terms of communication, packaging design needs to do two things: it has to engage the consumer emotionally with the brand essence and it has to communicate the product attributes (functional benefits). It shouldn’t be trying to do the job of an advertising campaign.
If you base your brand packaging entirely on a ‘creative’ idea, then inevitably that idea at some point stops being clever and becomes dull and boring.
What happens then is you have to redesign (presumably with another ‘creative’ idea), re-educate the consumer (at vast expense) and dissipate further whatever solid brand identity it had in the first place.
Where does Hovis go after beans, cucumbers and tomatoes become tiring? Where is its solid visual brand identity that can allow it to grow and stretch while still being recognisable as a Hovis brand. I recommend that everyone has a long hard look at it next time they’re in a supermarket and see exactly how it hangs together (or not) as a brand.
Sir; I’m increasingly concerned about the new trend towards so-called innovative branded packaging (‘It’s a wrap’, The Grocer, February 5, p38).
While I can understand the excitement, and no doubt short-term profits, generated by ‘creative’ ideas at the heart of packaging design, I feel I should point out some hard facts:
1) Great brands become great because they win a place in the hearts and minds of consumers, because they become familiar, known, trusted, safe, consistent, simple and honest.
2) Trends come and go, great brands go on forever.
3) The supermarket isn’t an art gallery, it’s a battlefield.
In terms of communication, packaging design needs to do two things: it has to engage the consumer emotionally with the brand essence and it has to communicate the product attributes (functional benefits). It shouldn’t be trying to do the job of an advertising campaign.
If you base your brand packaging entirely on a ‘creative’ idea, then inevitably that idea at some point stops being clever and becomes dull and boring.
What happens then is you have to redesign (presumably with another ‘creative’ idea), re-educate the consumer (at vast expense) and dissipate further whatever solid brand identity it had in the first place.
Where does Hovis go after beans, cucumbers and tomatoes become tiring? Where is its solid visual brand identity that can allow it to grow and stretch while still being recognisable as a Hovis brand. I recommend that everyone has a long hard look at it next time they’re in a supermarket and see exactly how it hangs together (or not) as a brand.
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