Warp and Weft: Brand and Creative Strategies at Work
B2B. B2C. B2B2C. In-house. Agency. Regardless of what world you live in, living in the universe of brand and creative guarantees you’re fed article upon article of consumer packaged goods; and with CPG being one of the most relevant and tangible ways we, being consumers ourselves, interface with brands, it’s no surprise. We live in a world of packaging. We are introduced to new ideas that lead and corroborate our thinking, our beliefs— and receive the investment of our dollar— all through the aspirational gloss and visual experience of a physical, branded item. Take a moment to think: did the words “paleo,” “organic,” or “prebiotic” actually mean anything to you before you saw them emblazoned across the front of your latest grocery aisle obsession?
We collectively see, react, and contribute to the wins and failures of good, relevant packaging and the companies and divisions they represent. And as painful as it can be for all visually-discerning decision makers involved, “good, relevant” packaging doesn't always translate to “good, of-the-moment” design. Facelifts for big brands cost millions: they’re a risk, especially when you take into account the redesign packaging stories of Tropicana (2009) or Bahlsen (2015). While the redesign efforts of both companies presented hi-spec, simplified packaging, the results also alienated and confused their dedicated consumer bases in comparison to the wildly successful rebrands of Olipop and Halo Top that catapulted tiny, startup food efforts to must-have cult status.
Looking at these four brands, we’re comparing two very different consumer journeys and goals: Tropicana and Bahlsen are examples of failure to maintain the ongoing conversion of an existing consumer while attempting to expand their markets; while Olipop and Halo Top had the journey of building brand awareness while simultaneously fostering conversion to build market share from the ground up with new consumer bases.
The outcomes that substantiated the success or failure for each result are eerily similar, too.
Tropicana launched a new carton featuring a bright drop of orange juice on a clean white surface, the logo scaling the length of the package, topped by a clever orange-shaped cap in favor of their instantly recognizable orange-with-a-straw graphic. Bahlsen flipped out their dated, environmental photograph of a stack of biscuits for a clean, masked shot of a single biscuit sitting directly on top of their hero-sized script font logo. Both brands failed to maintain recognizable packaging. The creative flips aggressively broke visual code thereby alienating and confusing consumers and, as a result, they disordered the ritual reach-to-shelf. The design mantra of: “Don’t make me think” comes to mind as each brand’s consumers had to parse out what qualities of their beloved, trusted product had changed beneath all that shiny, new packaging: Where had their collective dedication to the original product been placed? If the product was broadly successful, why would there be a need for such a revolutionary rebrand without change to the product? Moreover, if the product lost enough relevancy to justify a full-scale change, what is everyone else buying and should I buy that, instead?
On the other side of the aisle, Olipop and Halo Top both implemented bold, creative strategies—that pushed eyes toward their brand’s new emphasis on each product’s dietary content and benefits, bringing both brands to the forefront of active conversations and consumer desires. In the case of Olipop, the placement “supports digestive health” appeals to a common concern among consumers, but this statement runs as a commentary, falling secondary to the flavor and an eye-catching, illustrative graphic. This approach carries more appeal than the prune juice-y “sparkling digestive tonic” that took pride of place on the original packaging. And, as much as I, personally, love a good digestive biscuit, “digestive” in front of anything feels less than appetizing. Halo Top, similarly, repealed their attempt at a traditional creamery-style packaging and went for a fresh, graphic-forward approach pushing per-serving calorie count above all else, even their brand name. Halo Top bet their brand stake on a distinctive, gold-rimmed pint top—a gleaming signal for a feel-good indulgence. Also, they reminded consumers that their product is a “good source of protein” to tip you over the edge. Both brands’ repackaging successfully wove themselves into complex cultural conversations via successful displays of visual hierarchy, blasting through the noise of the market to gain their share of a highly-opinionated, wellness-conscious tribe while providing boldly healthful alternatives to traditionally sinful treats.
But, coming from a perspective nestled within the world of service-based B2B rebrand efforts, what can we take away from these studies on rebranded visuals when we’re thinking about taking the risk of a rebrand or augmenting recognizable brand elements within our own creative strategies? How do we reduce risk when our brands don't benefit from the rigorous consumer panels that CPG brands traditionally enjoy to help formulate a calculated, winning, brand and creative strategy that supports the growth of our company?
Across the board, brands in service of intangible, service-based industries, unlike those with a physical product or package, are wholly reliant on establishing feeling through providing an experience. The bite of ice cream or sip of your beverage is the feeling that is left when the service is rendered. This is preceded by your “packaging:” the commercial team building the solution; the operations team sharing how they will implement it; your account lead’s plans to craft a seamless experience; and marketing’s generation of awareness, initiation of conversion, and creation of a brand that facilitates a smooth recognizable journey across each touchpoint: evangelizing the dream result by way of forging a brand of common language, building a recognizable, compelling visual system, and fostering alignment with your unique values.
While the desire to quickly address growth needs through a remix of the “packaging”—via shifts in creative strategy—can be appealing to both bored brand creatives and leaders eager to signal progress with a fresh coat of paint, without considering a solid brand strategy when crafting a creative approach, most design work will fail to perform (unless graced by a rare stroke of luck). Reaching far beyond your design work: your content, your company’s value proposition, purpose, and your team’s ceaseless shouting towards your business’ targets will run a greater risk of falling into the void of its market if the threads of creative and brand fall out of alignment. As Tropicana and Bahlsen’s work has indicated: it’s not enough to have a beautiful design; your visual expression needs to be purpose-led.
The plan to implement such changes requires creative to run hand-in-hand with an evolving brand strategy that takes into account:
1. Understanding the long-term vision and purpose of your business
2. Exploring market trends, the competitor landscape
3. Gaining insight into your company’s market perception
The resulting brand strategy will dictate creative strategy’s goals, choosing a road of brand evolution or brand revolution. While either route requires a holistic strategy, it must be understood that work within the resulting creative strategy will be the first to create impact: you see the whole of something before you meaningfully read or engage with its details (this also means that the core of your value proposition must ring clear in your visual strategy).
Even creative strategies that seek to update a handful of few visual elements require a plan, often needing a quiet roll-out at a steady pace to slowly indicate an evolving perspective that is engaging in active conversation with the market in real-time yet avoids signaling a total identity crisis. Recognize: this isn’t a campaign with an end-date—jump-scaring your audience is not serving your brand in the long game. This is a conscious integration of new assets that build needed flexibility to extend market share while carefully purging eliminated, outdated approaches. Looking back to the cases of Bahlsen and Tropicana, their rebranded packaging made their consumers “think” to the point of damaging active, ongoing relationships with their consumer bases. Implementing major changes abruptly or even minor changes too often without proper planning and programming will stand as a reflection of a company’s organizational skills--casting doubts about the “contents” of your “packaging.” Think: will the mutual belief established between your business and its target that was instilled by your brand today still appear as both true and relevant in a month? Is your brand behaving in a way that instills and maintains trust?
Alternately, revolutionary changes that impact whole systems, make heart-stopping realignments across a brand, preparing it for new directions and future growth. This requires an implementation with a careful balance of calculation and triumph: proudly flying the flag of transformation, excitedly reintroducing your market to your brand, and being clear about what, if anything, beyond your “packaging” has been transformed to your active, engaged customer base. This approach requires comprehensive internal change management, educating your internal brand users on the new positioning— being clear on how to present and talk about your brand and its offering—simultaneously administering a sunset and shift of materials bearing the legacy brand materials.
Within the Olipop and Halo Top studies, we see two brands that did not make fundamental changes to the product beyond the packaging. We see packaging that brilliantly shifted the way each brand presented its product, realigning what the consumer thought about that product. Again, the appeal of “supports digestive health” pivoting from the boldly labeled “sparkling digestive tonic” cannot be understated—people want the benefit of supporting their digestive health. A digestive tonic might be what the product was and is, but to the target audience it’s odd and ambiguous. Halo Top moved their primary brand stake to a gold-rimmed top to create recognition through a core brand element, but they shifted the focus to the nutritional content. Both realignments showcase a deep understanding of how their customer comes to them, their journey, and have built a creative strategy that drills past the initial action of parsing a shelf. These are designs that cut through the noise of their market by digging deep into their brands’ differentiators, reaching out to their customer by understanding their ideals, needs, and pain points. These are creative strategies in harmonious alignment with brand strategy. Regardless of where your role falls within the broad universe of marketing and creative, facilitating growth through built connections founded in a common cause and understanding is human and universal. Those connections within a creative strategy are forged when insights from your market and customer are connected to business goals that allow you to carve a signature visual experience, building recognizable brand elements that set your brand apart from its competitors and a hierarchy of information that draws interest—a mindful process that makes the risk less risky.
