The Medium Is The Message

When Benefit Messages Define Package Designs

By Lynn Dornblaser

Traditional branding strategies usually progress from the primary product to a brand name, logo, tagline, primary benefit statements, secondary messages, etc. But what happens when brands put the cart before the horse and let package design elements to overwhelm the brand?

Be up front about it

Bloomsberry & Co., based in Salem, MA, offers a unique line of chocolates. The chocolate bars themselves are not necessarily noteworthy, but the packaging and positioning strategies are quite unusual. One of its early offerings, for example, was a chocolate bar called Bochox that was positioned as an alternative to Botox and other wrinkle-reducing remedies. The reasoning set forth on the package is that the chocolate releases endorphins so that you just don 't care if you have wrinkles or not.

A much more serious offering from the company also takes a light approach, but its main intention is to help offset environmental harm. Its Climate Change Chocolate bears graphics on front of pack that convey environmental responsibility—stylized images of wind turbines or a footprint symbolizing one's carbon footprint. The promoted message is quite clear, and the company purchases TerraPass carbon offsets.

More importantly, the company very effectively uses that portion of the package that is often neglected—the inner wrapper. The inner wrapper provides a number of tips on how consumers can positively impact the environment (carpool with colleagues, eat local produce, switch off lights, fix leaky faucets, and the like).

Inner wrappers are valuable real estate that is often overlooked by those involved in packaging and marketing of products. One point of note about this product and its package: although it makes very strong environmental claims, only the inner wrapper contains any recycled or post-consumer materials.

A light bulb goes on

It is rare that a package design marries with the positioning of a product perfectly. Often, packaging helps to convey the message of the product—but not fully so. Thus, there is often a need for extensive package graphics or language to convey the benefits.

The small company that makes Gloji, though, has done an excellent job of using a package shape and form that perfectly conveys what the product is about and its benefits. Combined with the product name, virtually no other information is needed for the in-the-know consumer.

The product name Gloji is a twist on the fruit name goji. For those in the know, goji berries are a fruit native to the Himalayas that is perhaps the highest in antioxidants of all fruits. Antioxidants help enhance skin health, which can lead to "glowing" skin; thus, the name of the product.

It is the packaging that reinforces the product name and the benefits of the product, as it is shaped exactly like an incandescent filament light bulb. The bulb appears to be sitting on its "head," with the twist connection at the "bottom" of the bulb having the twist-off cap. Upon first glance, the bottle appears to be glass. Perhaps that's just the assumption consumers such as I would make given the light bulb shape.

The Gloji package is actually PET, and the product name, product details, and ingredient and nutrition information are silk-screened onto the bottle. A Wow! moment occurs when you find the curvy shape very ergonomic and even fun to hold and play with.

Lynn Dornblaser is the director of the Custom Solutions Group at Mintel International. She can be reached at 312-932-0400 or lynnd@mintel.com.