timrobertsonpackaging

Holiday gift packages at the LCBO look for a home

A large selection of premium wines and spirits holiday gift packages left over from the holiday season lack any creativity and innovation. They are on sale at your local liquor store, and even coated in a little dust.

Everyone is familiar with the traditional or standard offering: a bottle and 2 glasses inside a large colored cardboard package; complete with plastic window and styrofoam interior. In some cases the ante is upped with a wooden box and even a metal latch. But for the most part, each idea detracts from the value impression the brand has established. Is this a good thing?

Some companies are taking a more creative approach to their holiday packages, however. The 2006 Starpack Awards featured some innovative ideas for both the vodka and premium scotch categories. And other brand managers have made plans for a more enhanced product experience with their holiday packages in 2007.

But for the most part, it will be the same treatment, if only because holiday packaging is seen as a decorative container for product rather than as a fully developed creative concept.

To find out more, read my article on the subject. More to come.

Innovative Tools for Sustainable Packaging

“The first step in a sustainable packaging program is to understand the environmental footprint of the package. Create a bill of materials and look at it not just from a production, cost, marketing, and user perspective, but also from weight and end-of-life value standpoints as well.”

Scott Vitter, Coca-Cola's Director of Sustainable Packaging in Packworld

More than ever, packaging professionals are looking for ways to decrease the impact the industry has on the environment. Two tools that can be used to evaluate the sustainability of package materials are the Life Cycle Analysis, and the Life Cycle Inventory.

A Life Cycle Analysis is a systematic, cradle-to-grave process that evaluates the environmental impacts of products, processes, and services. Its quality depends on the life-cycle inventory data it uses. An example of how it is used follows:

Environmentally Friendly Shirts Example*
The retailer who participated in this project was interested in developing an environmentally friendly range of shirts. The main questions asked were: Which phase in a shirt's life cycle produces the most pollution? Are natural or synthetic fibers environmentally preferable?

The environmental impacts of the shirts occurred during four phases:
1. Production (cotton growing, spinning and weaving, dyeing and finishing)
2. Transportation
3. Use (washing, drying, and ironing)
4. Disposal (reuse, recycling, composting, and incinerating).

The results showed that most of the environmental impact occurs during transportation to the retail outlet and during the use phase. For example, washing the shirts at 140°F (60°C) uses twice as much energy as washing them at 104°F (40°C). Synthetic or mixed textile fibers are environmentally preferable because they are easier to dry and iron, which further reduces energy consumption.

The Life Cycle Inventory gives a detailed analysis of all the material, energy use, solids, wastes, and air and water emissions over the complete life cycle of package. It includes raw materials, manufacture, usage, landfill, recycle, and reuse. A complete “footprint” of each and every packaging project can be examined to identify options that reduce environmental impact.  The database is maintained by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and can be accessed at www.nrel.gov/lci.

*Adapted from Life Cycle Assessment: What It Is and How to Do It, United Nations Environment Programme Industry and Environment, Paris, France, 1996, p. 23.

The Upside of Sustainable Packaging

Even though I am in the business of packaging design, I do not endorse or promote cheap, wasteful, "large footprint"  packaging. Everyday, I encounter packaging that is slapped together without much consideration for the planet (and I am sure you do as well).

Unfortunately people aren't paying for the packaging, so it gets short shrift. But wait....what if people were paying for the package? What if it was a differentiator..like choosing a product that uses packaging with a smaller footprint over another? Is that not a selling feature?

The way I see it, we can encourage marketing people to see environmentally friendly packaging as another way to communicate to their market. One of the biggest trend changes in the last few years is a massive new awareness of how what we do affects the planet (especially with CO2 and global warming).

I suspect consumers will invest in technologies that foster less of an impact ecologically - whether it's through their purchase of energy, transportation, or the packaging that surrounds so much of what we purchase each and every day.

The Meaning of Color - It's Not What You Think

The idea that colors have intrinsic and timeless ‘meanings’ is mistaken.  Advanced research in the domain of product marketing indicates that shoppers do not identify particular colors with particular abstract concepts (e.g. the color red with the concepts ‘hot’ or ‘fire’). Rather, the ‘meaning’ of particular colors hinges entirely on the context in which the colors are being used. 

In some circumstances, the color red may indeed invoke ideas of hotness or spiciness, while in another context a shopper might associate the same color with danger (or danger avoidance).

The context-sensitivity of color meanings also allows, importantly, that color meanings can be shifted and shattered.  Innovative color usage, when done properly, can lead to entirely new associations in the minds of shoppers.

Like ‘Meaning’, Visibility is a Matter of Context and Contrast
Consumer studies have proven that no color is, free from context, naturally more visible than any other color.  Virtually any color scheme stands out dramatically against a plain white backdrop.  And, conversely, in the wrong color environment, any color scheme (even the brightest and most allegedly ‘eye catching’ schemes) can blend into the background.

Developing a highly visible product package design requires the implementation of a color scheme which stands out in the particular context of similar products—and standing out is primarily a matter of contrast.  The immediate success of Apple’s stark white coloring scheme was in large part the result of the fact that it dramatically contrasted with competitor’s color choices.

Retail packaging is a "comparative" environment. In other words, the competition is side by side for the consumer to compare visually and otherwise. So a package design that everyone is excited about - the one that looks good in the boardroom or in a pdf - may just blend in with all the rest of the exciting designs (your competitors) when it is on the shelf. What makes a difference is contrast - whether it be a visual or a structural one.

The five second package design rule

The average shopper only spends 5-7 seconds scanning a label on the shelf on any given day. So no matter how much copy you have put on the package, it probably won't be read. And as a matter of fact, the more text there is on a package, the less it will be read!

We work with a research team that uses eyeball tracking to see where consumers specifically look when they view a package design. The findings are very telling.

If you have key messages scattered on different sides of a visual, they will be missed. This is one of the reasons you want to "cluster" 2 or 3 benefit words or phrases. As well, these benefits should be positioned down and to the right of the main visual, as this is the way people naturally read.

In many instances some key messages - even though they are right on the front of the package - are not even considered because of their position in relation to everything else! Something to consider when making important decisions with brand messaging and benefit statements.

Quality perception is determined within this very short timespan as well. If the packaging does not convey the same quality or value approach as the competition, it will be quickly discounted in the consumer's mind. A big mistake marketers make is to cram as much information on the label as possible, unknowingly conveying "low value" in the attempt. Once the quality perception has been determined by the consumer as unacceptable, no amount of messaging will change this condition.

Why beauty contests and the best packaging design don’t mix

Picking the most attractive option may not mean picking the most effective one!

Avoid side by side comparisons
The average focus group approach to choosing the best packaging design is to present several systems to several participants and ask for their input. Extensive research in this area proves one thing: it just doesn’t work.

Why? For one, the purpose of any research into a new packaging design system is to find out how it will affect shoppers’ attitudes and behavior. In the situation above the focus group participant is offering opinions on options and product visuals; in a retail environment that same person would be comparing the competition and considering making a purchase.

As well, they would only take a few seconds to compare products in the store environment. In a focus group room, the “shopper” has half an hour or more to discuss esthetics and other personal likes or dislikes. Picking the most attractive option may not mean picking the most effective one!

Shoppers never see a third of the brands offered
The Wharton School and Perception Research have shown in their studies that being seen quickly correlates highly with purchase. This means creating contrast on the shelf, among other things. A new design system must be seen amongst all the competitor brands, and it must communicate a benefit quickly and with clarity.

Research needs to be contextual, not isolated
In some instances a design research technology such as eye-tracking can be useful. Shoppers are allowed to view all competitor products and design systems on the shelf. Their eye movements are tracked by the camera to find out: which design architecture stands out and attracts them; what elements they see on a package label and what they ignore; and what essential messaging is missed or glanced over.

Using the competition in a contextual way
A “bold and exciting” new package design system may have very little shelf visibility. This is because retail packaging is a side-by-side, comparative marketplace. If all the other brands have the same bold and exciting emphasis the new design may not stand out - regardless of how enthused the focus group or marketing team was. So research has to take the competitive environment into account in a pragmatic, measurable way.

Discovering brand perception
Another important distinction to make is how brand perception is altered by the new package design architecture. In this case it is best to test brand perception on its own. Once a perceived value of the brand is measured and recorded, participants are then asked to compare products in a competitive setting to test whether the packaging either enhances or detracts from that perceived brand value. In many cases packaging design detracts from perceived brand value. It is in that instant consumers may consider the competitor brands.

Spending research time wisely
Marketers put a lot of time and resource into building their brand in both online and offline media. Packaging design is sometimes left to the last stages of product development and is sometimes subject to out-dated research practices. But given that up to 50% of all purchase decisions are made at the shelf, it might be wise for marketing departments to invest in research that will pay a larger dividend.

Focus group research for package design

According to an article in Packworld, a survey reveals very little thinking or research goes into packaging design when it comes to product development.  Since "everybody knows" what a package design should look like, why go any further? Most respondents relied on traditional focus group research to find out what participants "liked" or "didn't like".
(Find out why this approach does not work in our article: Why Focus Groups for Package Design Don't Work)

Unfortunately these marketers are missing out on the benefit of increased sales and brand awareness. Wharton School research shows that 50% of purchase decisions are made at the shelf. So all the branding, advertising, and marketing work you may have done might be for naught, if you don't take package design, and package design research into consideration. Regardless of what someone in a focus group said they "liked".

Corporate Branding..or Corporate Blanding?

I took a look at a very large company's new "Branding Platform" document the other day.

It was very typical of what some organizations do by default. The branding document dictated how the brand should look over various types of media. I'm sure the actual branding strategy and thinking was fine, but it's always the details that make the difference in the end. Naturally I am focusing on the packaging design component here!

I review a lot of student portfolios through the seminars I give and the associations I belong to. I can always tell the difference between a junior and a pro. The packaging design section of the brand document was obviously executed by a junior staff member.

The agency of record for this Fortune 500 company was a large advertising agency. If you understand the culture of an ad agency, you'll know that there is no glory in packaging design. So naturally it was a task that was efficiently shuffled down to a lower billings/hour staff member.

The whole thing was rubber stamped by the Creative Director and sold into the executive suite as a complete branding and design directive. Unfortunately for this company, the results they get from their lack of a cohesive and well-researched packaging design is not going to be very good. After all, research by the Wharton School shows that up to 50% of purchase decisions are made at the point of sale...regardless of all the advertising and branding work you may have done!

Developing a new standard for package design at Bell Sympatico

If you check out the news release on the BigCity website, it talks about setting a new standard for packaging at Bell Sympatico. It's always exciting when an organization starts to get it...understanding that packaging is not a dumping ground for information but rather a branding and communication tool. We started the Unplugged project with branding in mind..not where to put all the legal copy and benefit statements. Check out the case study for more on how we transformed a cluttered packaging template into a cohesive design that communicates the value of the brand.

Real values, and a brand promise

The values of my packaging design agency are the following: speed, quality, and innovation. These qualities are demonstrated in the testimonials on the BigCity site. We really are dedicated to speed, quality, and innovation. It what makes us tick. And we really despise organizations that espouse their values while at the same time only paying lip-service to them.

Our brand promise is "clarity amidst clutter". It's a very simple proposition. Remove the clutter from your package presentation. Make your value propositions clear. Put the brand in focus. And put the details inside so that the design can have an impact.