Packaging is the ultimate vehicle for design: industrial, graphic, and typographic design are all put to the test to create an impression so meaningful that it converts currency into consumerism. This ...
| Tweet |
By Bill Wynkoop
When I was a fresh pup out of the Rochester Institute of Technology, I had a unique job opportunity with a private label manufacturer. It was there that I cut my teeth not only in structural and graphic design for packaging, but in the intricacies of private label development.
At that time, the mid-1980s, the prevailing thinking seemed to be that price was the sell—the only sell—so the package had to be functional with fairly straightforward labeling. And as was many times the case, the package had to be similar in shape and appearance to competitive offerings.
It was a notion that I always felt missed the opportunity to make an emotional attachment to the purchaser. The connection was to their wallet alone, which is a tenuous bond at best, and likely to change when a cheaper price would come along.
A more decadent approach
To me, the larger opportunity was always to view the buyer as a consumer—a potential that frequently seemed overlooked. It generally held true until the turn of the decade, however, when our astute friends north of the border realized the value and power of taking a branded approach to their private label and, viola, the President's Choice (PC) line boomed.
Being on display most prominently in Loblaws, PC took the novel step to develop their products with a branded mindset. A good example of their early work was their Decadent cookie packaging, whose redesign employed bold photography with scrumptious chocolate chips flowing over all sides of the front panel. Of great importance, it introduced the Decadent branding that they are now so famous for. Furthermore, the package design downplayed the product name in favor of the Decadent name, a decidedly branded tack.
Up to that point, private label designs generally used photography in a minimal manner and as a secondary element only. The most prominent parts of a design were typically the product name followed in hierarchy by the brand (i.e., store) name. In price sensitive categories, a large pre-price might then follow.
When the Decadent design hit the shelf, mouths watered, many packages sold (they became the No. 1 one selling cookie in Canada), and the doors were now opened for a more evolved approach to private label package design.
Getting on the bandwagon
Did you enjoy this article? Click here to subscribe to the magazine.
