Brand Matters: What's in It for Me?
Dirk Kammerzell For today's products and packaging, it's all about the ingredients.
By Dirk Kammerzell, Creative Director, Tipping Sprung LLC
There was a time, not so long ago, when you could simply walk into a grocery store and buy orange juice.
A consumer buying orange juice today, to judge from product labeling, must be a combination of nutritionist, ecologist, and amateur chemist. It seems you can't make a purchasing decision without determining the precise vitamin content, the level of calcium and acidity, the precise method of preparation, and not only the amount of pulp but also the type.
This proliferation of choice and information is not mere marketing. It reflects a fundamental shift in the role of the consumer that has profound implications for cosmetic packaging professionals
A Thirst for Information
The front labels for Anthony Logistics For Men clearly state what a product's ingredients will do for a consumer. Cosmetic marketers are no strangers to "fine print." FDA and other regulatory bodies have long required details on ingredients, warranties, and safety. What is new is the role of the empowered and curious consumer.
Consumers seem to want to know everything about a product—what is in it, how it was manufactured, and how it could affect their lives. They require this information to be clearly presented and the manufacturer to be honest.
Consumers increasingly base their buying decisions on exactly what is in the product. Marketers need to master the new discipline of "ingredient marketing" by drawing attention to specific product attributes that are significant to the consumer.
The presence or absence of key ingredients is only the start. Some companies try to trademark ingredients or processes, even if everyone else is using something similar. The home run in ingredient branding might be a cosmetic whose benefits derive from a proprietary process that cannot be replicated or imitated.
Design Implications
The thirst for information has important design implications. First, the consumer requires structure to this information resurrected from the fine print. For many cosmetic products, the problem is further exacerbated by both a lack of real estate on labeling and a trend in packaging toward minimalism and simplicity.
Many companies are throwing out old-fashioned conceptions of the front and back of the package. With much of the fine print now among the most important information to some consumers, designers are creating new hierarchies of information, with an appropriate new analysis of package geometry and real estate.
In prioritizing information, brand-savvy package designers are asking how they can "dial it up" to gain an advantage over the competition. Many brands now evoke a story behind their ingredients, and not merely a catalog of products—think of The Body Shop or Aveda. In the case of Aveda, the theme of purity affects all aspects of package design. Colors are natural, and shapes are more organic and recognizable.
In short, the newfound interest of consumers in what's inside a package is causing cosmetics manufacturers to strike a new balance among legal requirements, consumer interests, and labeling aesthetics. We feel this is a trend still in its infancy.
Dirk Kammerzell is creative director at Tipping Sprung, which offers brand strategy, naming, design, research, translation, and cross-cultural services. Visit us on the Web at www.tippingsprung.com.
