Package Design | packagedesignmag.com

(April 2011) posted on Wed May 04, 2011

By Larry Jaffee

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With software increasingly being electronically delivered, hardware and peripherals are a rare opportunity for the Microsoft brand to make an impact on store shelves. In collaboration with its longtime branding and design agency FITCH, Microsoft recently rolled out new packaging for several lines of keyboards, mice, and web-cams that redefines the company’s retail presence.
James Sunstad, managing director of FITCH’s Seattle office, says that the relative independence of Microsoft’s computer accessories from the parent brand is both an opportunity and a challenge. Sunstad believes that Microsoft’s innovations in the category, such as the ergonomic split-angle keyboard, may have been overshadowed by the parent software brand. “Our job is to clean up the marketing message so that it’s easy to understand,” says Sunstad.

Tracking impulses
Also confusing the marketing message is the fact that the retail goals for each Microsoft product line are quite different. Packaging is more critical for a product like a mouse, which is often an impulse buy, points out E.R. Brown, senior marketing communications manager in Microsoft’s Hardware business group. In contrast, 89% of webcam buyers research their purchase online prior to visiting a store.
In the case of the new Touch Mouse, it was critical for the package design to convey the benefits of the device, which is hitting retail in June. Heavy promotion has already highlighted how the Touch Mouse can bring out new functionality within Windows 7, and the packaging backs that up.
The box features an articulated paperboard flap with a built-in magnetic latch that, when lifted up, allows the shopper to see the mouse under clear plastic, but stays closed when not showing off the product. The backside of the folded flap also provides another surface—two inside panels—to provide more product information. “It gives the elegance of a closed box and allows you to discover what’s inside,” says Jill Geurts, a Microsoft structural packaging engineer and project manager for the Touch Mouse.
Microsoft has become very environmentally conscious in recent years, and this is manifested in the use of recycled paper and interior plastic made of post-consumer, recycled bottle-flaked content. Metallic ink, notes Geurts, is frowned upon these days because it’s not recyclable.
Environmental considerations also figured into Microsoft’s move to more standardized packaging, which is appreciated by retailers seeking smaller carbon footprints. Microsoft works with many retailers on optimizing their in-store planograms, which detail product organization on shelf.

Retail rationalization
Kim Van Allsburg, a FITCH senior account manager also in Seattle overseeing the Microsoft relationship, joined the agency in 2004 at a time when Microsoft was looking to standardize its packaging systems. Starting in 2008, FITCH began executing the packaging form-factors across the line, grounding design elements by instituting certain colors and graphics consistently applied within the client’s Hardware visual style.
Considering that the Hardware division manufactures more than 1,200 SKUs, it’s quite an undertaking. “FITCH created a template—a master layout to be used for every package,” Van Allsburg says. Typically, Microsoft will outsource particular jobs to various certified prepress printers with special capabilities, but client and agency stay in constant communication. Oversight occurs inside Microsoft headquarters in Redmond, WA, while FITCH executives make sure the look and feel are extended appropriately.
About four years ago, Microsoft moved away from featuring images of people on the front surfaces of packages. Previously, the thinking was that personal computing fell under the domain of lifestyle branding. However, recent focus groups concluded that consumers no longer cared whether people were depicted on the package.
The new package design instead focuses on a duotone red and black scheme because it tested well, and FITCH came up with a high-tech “fiber wave” that would be carried out across the computer accessories product lines. The final color strategy, then and now, was also borne out through joint research efforts between FITCH and Microsoft.
At retail, shoppers gravitate to specific colors, but finding a middle ground appropriate to the category is critical. “Too much white suggests a lower price point, and black always feels high-end,” explains Sunstad.
The new packaging’s objective was to evoke “sleek, sexy, and attractive”—three adjectives not usually associated with Microsoft. One aspect of lifestyle branding shows up in outer package copy, which could be mistaken for fashion marketing speak. The Arc Keyboard is described in the package’s subhead as “Style That Works” and the Wireless Mobile Mouse 4000 is “Your Style on the Go.” The Touch Mouse, on the other hand, is “Touch is All it Takes,” emphasizing the multitouch experience.

MICROSOFT’S DESIGN BRIEF OBJECTIVES
• Standardize Microsoft Hardware package design’s “form factors” across the line
• Evolve a systematic graphic and messaging approach
• Provide cohesiveness and clarity across mouse, keyboard, and webcam lines
• Create a highly recognizable, informative, and flexible visual identity system that provides continuity and a sense of family for the products
• Keep the visual style grounded in Microsoft’s corporate visual style, while using certain colors and graphics that are unique to Microsoft Hardware
• Maintain a strong brand presence for all Microsoft Hardware products
• Develop a comprehensive and extendable visual language and packaging
• Help Microsoft increase its Hardware retail sales