Design Force Translates Benefits For Franklin Electronic Publishers

Design Force's Ted Mininni believes: "Nothing communicates the brand and its values like packaging. How quickly and efficiently packaging communicates a product's features and attributes directly affects sales. How meaningfully engaged the targeted demographic is by specific communications has a direct impact on category positioning."

Franklin Electronic Publishers is the market leader in handheld electronic reference products. The New Jersey-based company started in 1981, developing dictionaries, bilingual dictionaries, travel translators, and spelling correctors for its comprehensive product line.

The company felt that the time had come to repackage and reposition the line to meet new challenges in the marketplace. Franklin's objectives were to try to increase their product line's on-shelf or on-peg visual impact significantly through redesigned packaging.

The company secured the consulting services of Design Force Inc, a Marlton, NJ, creative consultancy that specializes in brand identity, package design, and consumer promotional campaigns. The Design Force team, led by company president Ted Mininni, worked collaboratively with Franklin to assess the product line, and proceeded to research Franklin's competitors and the category itself.

Strategic initiatives

The first package design goal was to increase visual impact at retail by developing a stronger brand color palette. The strong Franklin red would envelop the new packaging, and the old generic looking black and white packaging would be retired. At retail, the new packaging would also convey a higher perception of value and quality by displaying more sophisticated design elements.

The designers set out to create a concise organizational system that would quickly and clearly spell out key product features and benefits. The previous packaging tried to communicate too many things, making it difficult for the target audience, who had neither the time nor the inclination to read excessive information. At the same time, the packaging was designed to make the most of this critical and valuable rebranding opportunity by differentiating itself from competitors' products.

Overall, Franklin and Design Force wished to update the package structure to be more contemporary, distinctive, and proprietary, while making certain that the physical footprint of the packaging would be maintained to fit into retailers' existing planograms. The contemporary brand message would incorporate lifestyle imagery to connect with targeted consumers. These consumer groups included students, travelers, business professionals, and entire families.

Translating the message

Given these parameters, the packaging solution Design Force developed for the Franklin line included an alternative to classic clamshell packaging, making it unique for this product category. The new half-cylinder structure is completely clear with an inner blister that holds the product in the middle of the structure. The products are clearly visible from all sides and appear to be "floating" in the packaging.

Furthermore, the new packaging now unifies the line and achieves a consistent look. The same packaging footprint fits into existing retail planograms, and the new structure can stand up easily on the retail shelf or hang on a peg wall.

Franklin's strong brand identity is the focal point of the new packaging's communication hierarchy. The product names of each item, benefits, and key features have a bullet format in short, concise language. The new packaging quickly communicates convenience and ease of use, the features and benefits of each product are quickly discerned, and the quality and value propositions of the products are clearly apparent.

Design Force (www.designforceinc.com) succeeded in building a unique visual expression for the brand, emotionally connecting consumers to the helpful Franklin products. Mininni believes that when the brand promise is fulfilled in the consumer's mind, it results in a meaningful dialogue with the customer—and brand loyalty.