The art of packaging

Procter & Gamble coined the phrase ‘First Moment of Truth’ (FMOT) referring to the consumer’s first exposure to the brand – at the shelf in a store. At that split second, the first impressions of the brand are formed.

The “first moment of truth,” as P&G calls it, is the three to seven seconds when someone notices an item on a store shelf. Despite spending billions on traditional advertising, the consumer-products giant thinks this instant is one of its most important marketing opportunities.
[Dina Howell, director of FMOT at P&G] says packaging should “interrupt” shoppers on their shopping trip. P&G has developed a set of questions that a package must answer: “Who am I? What am I? Why am I right for you?”

The appeal could be a function of packaging, display, merchandising – the entire gamut of possible interactions with the brand at a store level. The importance is heightened in modern trade formats where it’s a one-to-one between the brand and the consumer. In this context, packaging – the form, shape, material, brand name and graphics – is paramount, specially in consumer goods. In India, my impression is that we are not as advanced as the West when it comes to quality of packaging design & graphics. It is not yet a widely practiced specialist function. Part of the reason could be that Art Schools place less emphasis on this discipline and most Advertising Agency art directors are more comfortable with mass media advertising. In creative award shows, Packaging is just another category. The bigger categories hog all the limelight. Radio, on the other hand has specialist award shows like the Mirchi Kaan Awards. And helped by the FM phenomenon, Radio is seen as a category where creative work can be done. And it shows in the importance given to the medium by Creatives.

There is no dearth of inspiration from the West. Herewith some packaging that caught my eye:

Traidcraft Tissue

Toilet paper. Kitchen towels. Wipes. Not the words that evoke great imagery. And if you are the designer responsible for the packaging design, having fun wouldn’t be on the top of expectations with the project. But look at what Studio Blackburn did with Traidcraft Tissue range.

This won a Silver at the 2009 European Design Awards, under Packaging (Miscellaneous).

Help, I Need Help

I had neither heard of Help Remedies nor seen this packaging before. But I am sure for all of us this completely changes our mental images of pharmaceutical products.

Simply loved the nomenclature and the ‘dare to be different’ approach to packaging.

Cosmos Paint

The ads are colourful. The cans aren’t, usually. The environment in which it is sold is also dull and unlikely to be ever visited by the end consumer. It could be different in Greece, where this was designed.

Agency: K2Design

Waitrose

A typical reaction (and perhaps right) to this would be: this won’t work in India. Labels in this category tend to be filled with graphics and copy, but this could appeal to clients who address the very top end of the market in India.

Designer Turner Duckworth, United Kingdom

Designer: Lewis Moberly

Designer Pearlfisher. Loved the way the designer has organized his portfolio.

Rexona Men

While packaging designs for sophisticated, high end markets can afford some experimentation, this is as mass-market and supermarket shelf as you can get. And I think it evokes an instant, positive reaction.

Agency: Pierini Partners

This was awarded the Most Irresistible Packaging Solution by Unilever in 2008 and also won at the Penta Awards, 2008.

Tesco Tortilla Chips

A Platinum Award winner at the Penta Awards, 2008 this supermarket design for Tesco Tortilla Chips takes a quirky approach with the use of a Mexican character.

Agency: Pemberton & Whitefoord, UK

The Harry Potter tweet ::: the chance to send potions and cast spells

In the UK for the release of the latest Harry Potter movie, Warner Bros has decided to "use" Twitter. On a dedicated website Twitter users get the chance to send potions and cast spells on the people following them.

via:Revolution

Sorry I'm a copy cat

the Copy

Credits:

Client:Tunisiana

Ad agency: JWT Tunisia
Music: Whan

the Original

Blink presents - Sorry I'm late - (2007) 3:11 (UK)

This stop motion animation was shot against a gym floor.

Credits:

Music composer Keith Kenniff

Written and directed by Tomas Mankovsky

Buzzing the Art Institute of Chicago’s Modern Wing

Energy BBDO helped create buzz for the Art Institute of Chicago’s Modern Wing using OOH, Print and Digital media - in short, they went all out.

The basis of their idea is that the most modern thing of the modern Wing is the museum itself - architecht Renzo Piano has created a fitting masterpiece to host all others.

OOH work included: train cards, bus kings, double-decker bus wraps, two-sheet posters, bulletins, retailer windows; while the Print included newspapers and magazines; and the digital space utilized banner ads. All elements worked together to bring news of the new wing of the AIC to Chicago, Mid-West and NY art enthusiasts.

print:

Credits:

Client: Art Institute of Chicago
Project: Opening of the AIC's Modern Wing
Agency: Energy BBDO
Photographer: Dave Jordano

Starbucks are suffering from slower foot traffic and lower profits.

Those who can capture a sense of community and offer consumers a compelling experience will win in the long run, said Michelle Barry, senior vice president of the market-research firm Hartman Group in Bellevue.

"It's not about nostalgia per se, but more about telling a story and reappropriating some things from the past and re-imagining them in a new environment," she said.

Time of change

The ubiquitous coffee-shop giant is dropping the household name from its 15th Avenue East store on Capitol Hill, a shop that was slated to close at one point last year but is being remodeled in Starbucks' new rustic, eco-friendly style.

It will open next week, the first of at least three remodeled Seattle-area stores that will bear the names of their neighborhoods rather than the 16,000-store chain to which they belong.

Names and locations for the other two shops have not been finalized. If the pilot goes well in Seattle, it could move to other markets.

The new names are meant to give the stores "a community personality," said Tim Pfeiffer, senior vice president of global design. Starbucks' logo will be absent, with bags of the company's coffee and other products rebranded with the 15th Avenue Coffee and Tea name.

In the spirit of a traditional coffeehouse, it will serve wine and beer, host live music and poetry readings and sell espresso from a manual machine rather than the automated type found in most Starbucks stores.

The changes come at a time when retailers, including Starbucks, are suffering from slower foot traffic and lower profits.

TEFAL - HEATS UP IN 3 SECONDS - 11/5/09 - 3 sec

*cannes radio shortlist 2009

Advertised brand: TEFAL BY NEWPAN
Advert title(s): HEATS UP IN 3 SECONDS
Advertising Agency: BAUMANN BER RIVNAY SAATCHI & SAATCHI Ramat Gan, ISRAEL
Production Company: SOUNDHOUSE Tel Aviv, ISRAEL
Radio station or network:this ad first aired on: Regional Station -103 FM
Other Credits: VP Producer: Dorit Gvili -
producer: Odelia Nachmias
Published/Released/Aired (Month, Year): 10/5/09

tefal

Animals truly makes a memorable ad's

To know more about Rosi Golan or to download the theme song for this commercial

for free.

new Buick campaign

Buick has created a number of ad campaigns meant to showcase its new product and bring new, younger buyers to the brand. One of the commercials in the campaign is called "Photo Shoot," and according to a report, the recently empowered VP of marketing, Bob Lutz, isn't particularly pleased with the spot.

Both Lutz and GM CEO Fritz Henderson don't believe the commercial positions Buick as a luxury brand that competes with Lexus. They have told GM's ad agency, Leo Burnett, that it needs to do better. However -- and here's where it gets convoluted -- the ad was created by an independent shop that Leo Burnett was told to hire to do the work. Mark LaNeve, GM's head of marketing, allegedly instructed Burnett to hire Gary Topolewski, a former creative director at Burnett who worked with LaNeve on Cadillac's Break Through ad campaign, and who now runs another ad agency.

The other character in the middle of all of this is Buick VP Susan Docherty, who defended the commercial. She said it fulfills its role of promoting a revamped Buick brand, adding that she looks "forward to working with Bob and sharing spots two through six with him.

Havoline Oils... Protection Shield.

Brand: Havoline Caltex (A Chevron company product)

Advert title(s): Havoline
Headline and copy text (in English): Havoline Oils... Protection Shield
BTL campaign June '07
Advertising Agency: CONTRAST Media Solutions
Agency website: http://www.contrastms.com

print:

Credits:

Creative Director: Mahmoud Saeed

Melody:::Aflam 3araby. Om El Agnaby.

Agency: Leo Burnett, Cairo

Country: Egypt

Client: Melody

Melody Aflam ''Aflam 3araby Om El Agnaby - Titanic"

Melody Aflam "Alfam 3araby Om El Agnaby - Rocky

Harvard's John Quelch: How to Market Luxury in a Downturn

One of the best-known academic minds in marketing talks about the two types of luxury consumers, and how to hang onto them in a recession.

Two types of luxury consumers

I divide the luxury market into “must-haves” and “wannabes.” Members of the first group have incorporated luxury into their lives and seek to retain that lifestyle in the face of recession. Very high net worth individuals occupy the top rung of the must-haves. They are largely inoculated from the downturn. Even if they’ve lost a lot of money in the recession, they are still ultrarich. On the other hand, those must-haves who have become financially strapped are now buying luxury items at lower price points or buying them less often, but never compromising on quality.

The luxury wannabes view luxury aspirationally, occasionally investing in luxury purchases in order to touch luxury without immersing themselves in it. They would never buy (or probably would never be able to buy) a Ralph Lauren suit. But they can afford a few lower-cost accessories such as a polo shirt with the logo.

Hold on to these customers in this economy?

You have to figure out how your customers’ behavior has shifted. Can you enable your more price-sensitive customers to continue to patronize you? It’s a balancing act, because you don’t want to taint the image of the brand.

This is more challenging at a time when cash-strapped companies are reducing spending on market research that could help them learn just how to reach those customers. Most large companies in the U.S. are cutting their research budgets by 10 percent to 20 percent. To adjust to this shift, I urge marketers to focus their research on the products, brand, and markets that are key to their strategy. Don’t waste resources on peripheral or potential consumers.

Discounting? is that always a bad idea for luxury brands?

Of course, discounts, if overdone, can detract from brand quality and the credibility of retail list prices. But modest, often unadvertised discounts on selected or discontinued items need not dilute brand quality. In fact, during a recession, even some luxury must-haves are hurting and need a helping hand in the form of a price cut from their favored brands.

“Simplifier.”a new kind of consumer

Simplifiers predated the recession, but the recession has accelerated the trend. These are people who trade down to a simpler lifestyle than they are able to afford. In particular, they seek to reduce the scope and scale of the stuff they own, because they simply find it too aggravating to maintain and less emotionally satisfying than they expected. Often, as they grow older, they place more value on — and invest more money in — experiences instead of possessions.

Savvy marketers will keep this new Simplifier in mind when creating an argument for their product or service.