JKR

From a design agency point of view, it’s always great to see one’s work put at the heart rather than the periphery of the communication idea. So it was with glad hearts that we saw Strongbow’s “most refreshing pint” webpage, featuring our new glass design for the brand (see below). The creative, by Lean Mean Fighting Machine, is brilliantly simple – a giant pint which slowly drains as cider drinkers click on it, taking virtual sips by hitting refresh. Their motivation – the chance to win prizes with each click. The simplicity of the idea matches the straightforward and unfussy personality of the brand – nothing too tricksy.

It’s crazy, really, that the brand in the hand (as Martin Grimer describes it) is so often ignored in comms. When the artefact and idea can be joined up the results can be very effective – as evidenced by the fact that Strongbow’s glass is now unequivocally empty, bringing the promotion to an end, a million clicks later…

The ever informative brandgym blog pointed me towards this neat innovation from Lego: DESIGN by ME allows you to design your own model on line, and buy it, with a customised box and building instructions. As a brand stretch which keeps close to the brand’s equities, it’s smart and engaging.

But I think it’s also further evidence of the way products and brands are flexing to make the most of the design opportunities presented online. As  our shopping increasingly moves from bricks to clicks we will be seeing a more fluid and limber approach to the boxes and goods we bring into our homes.

The Farmville 7-Eleven packs and suchlike are just the beginning of the blurring between the digital and physical manifestation of brands. And Lego’s innovation also squarely hits the “enable our consumer’s creativity” trend that has been rumbling on for a few years now, and which drives ever greater engagement between customer and brand.

Here’s a little story which demonstrates how even the smallest piece of pack graphics can be turned into a very big deal indeed. Honest Tea is an American brand in the Innocent Drinks mold. Coca-Cola has a major stake in them. The New York Times ran a piece wondering how they would retain their culture now that Coca-Cola is their major investor.

A crunch moment came over Honest Tea’s on pack claim to be free of high fructose corn syrup. Coca-Cola were concerned this could be seen as a pejorative comment on their own sugary drinks which do contain the ingredient. According to the article Coke suggested removing the line, or amending it to “sweetened with organic cane sugar” (sounds too processed said Honest Tea) or “no fake stuff” (too vague said Honest Tea).

With a total sale to Coke on the horizon, the article wondered how things would play out. A week later, another article informed us that Honest Tea had held its ground, and Coke had accepted its decision. The article was accompanied by an interview where the brand’s founder explained how the relationship with Coke had enabled more Fairtrade lines, more sustainable packaging, and noted that it “was unfortunate” the previous article focussed on one small bump in the relationship.

All fair enough, but if one was a cynic or conspiracy theorist one might wonder, was there ever really an issue? From one perspective, Honest Tea have given the paper two juicy stories which highlight their product USP and indie credentials. Nothing nefarious in that – in fact, following this line of thinking, the brand has brilliantly spun a dreary on-pack claim into some effective PR. As noted at the top, even the smallest piece of design can become a powerfully sweated asset if a little savviness is employed.

What you are looking at above is a piece of music. Or at least the inventive packaging that publicizes it. In a limited edition of one hundred $125 dollar pieces, each inscribed with a unique code to download the music, the spooky sculpture is intended to reflect the “skyscrapers that might populate Dear’s (the recording artist) creeping, nameless city”. It’s also, one imagines, designed to drum up interest for another album in a crowded market  – the analogue music equivalent of a pop-up store.

The perceived value of music purchased digitally is dropping – we keep hearing that most folk under 25 assume the product should be free. That’s about as commoditized as a market gets, so it’s interesting to observe how music packaging is responding to the challenge.

It appears that two very contrasting solutions are emerging. The first is no packaging at all, with the in-store physical version doing the bare minimum (and so also bringing a bit of sustainability cred through under-packaging). The alternative is to go super premium, like these arty tower blocks, or the kind of luxurious box sets with included coffee table book of the kind beloved by men of a certain age (and here, while the guys might still favour buying their music in physical form, they still need an inducement, because it’s probably the third or forth time they have bought the same basic tracks, from vinyl to tape to CD). The Stones re-release of Exile could be bought for £100 with added books, DVD’s etc.

What’s the learning for FMCG commodity packaging? That imaginative approaches to design can elevate the ordinary to the engaging, and that added value can be used to transcend the basic nature of the actual product. The most successful examples are not necessarily the most costly. Mos Def got loads of publicity for selling his album as a t-shirt with download code attached, and this neatly gave his fan base a tangible badge of their support for him.

On a slightly different topic, I noticed the shelf blocking for Arcade Fire’s new CD this week. As a play on the album’s title (The Suburbs) it’s a neat “same but different” joke. But it also shows that the humble CD jewel case, typically derided for killing the design opportunities afforded by vinyl, can be put to effective and creative use in retail. You just need to think outside the box.

“Why so serious?” was my initial reaction to the Cartoon Network’s new identity at first glance. “It has the visual authority of a news network – where’s the play?”. Further immersion in the new scheme revealed that the simplicity and neutrality of the core logo is a trapdoor into a visually rich and engaging world that could be watched for ages before it gets dull:

Alternatively, click here to watch.

I kicked myself for judging a book by its cover. As someone who has learned the hard way that when presenting identity it’s wise to skip past the logo and dive into the applications which bring it to life, I should have known better.

Anyway, it’s good sometimes to see the world as a client might (eg “Is that it?”) and realise that often it’s not what you do, but what you do with it that makes the difference between a design being perceived as average or excellent. The new design draws on the brand’s earlier checkerboard equity (below) but brings it to life in a way which sidesteps aping the look and feel of the cartoons themselves. Just hope nobody thinks watching it leads to kids getting “square eyes”.

The info for today’s blog was drawn from Brand New – consistently in-depth and excellent. Read the original here.