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Creating an icon of recognition

By Nabamita Chatterjee | November 13, 2017

Owlworx began its journey in 2013 and within a few years have been instrumental in designing effective packaging solutions for various FMCG products. Anirudha Mukhedkar, Founder & CEO of Owlworx shares with us about their take on the strategic accordance between the packaging design and the in-store solutions.

How do you establish a cohesive relationship of FMCG packaging design with instore branding and promotions?

Packaging is a summated expression of a brand’s equity. This essentially means that the combination of the form, graphics and messaging on the pack is the voice of the brand attempting to tell the world what it is, what it does, and why you should pick it up. Now, these are multiple messages and layered in priority. Good packaging design sets priorities for the messages – what we call the architecture or hierarchy, and it is this priority along with the graphic cues that will aid in designing the brand’s in-store communication. Promotions are on the other hand driven by tactical sales objectives. Overall, a distinct packaging design will help in store presence, and well-designed messaging and POP will further enhance this presence leading to pick up/ trial.

What are the key factors you keep in mind while designing product packaging solutions?

Packaging is the first tangible contact a customer establishes with the brand. It is a brief moment, maybe 2 to 3 seconds, when the shopper passes by your product – on a store shelf or on an online shopping site. The first principle of good packaging design is about grabbing the shoppers’ attention. It must do this in a way that is relevant and meaningful. Good  packaging design, therefore, begins with an insightful understanding of how people shop, their needs, the brands in their consideration set, the shopping environment, the category codes, product preferences etc. These insights have to be placed in the context of a deep understanding of our brand, our product and our manufacturing process. Finally, we need to understand the execution criteria like production constraints and budgets available for fabrication and printing of packaging.

At Owlworx, we have been fortunate enough to work on exciting projects for MTR, Pillsbury, Unibic Cookies, Jubilant Industries and Parle. In each case, we were able to bring rigour and creativity to the process resulting in packaging that was highly successful in the marketplace. In many cases, it was the only input that went in for the brand and that was enough for it to garner a big jump in sales numbers.

What is the latest trend you see that’s catching up with in-store branding design?

As retail gets more complex, from single channel to Omni-channel, brands have to start figuring out ways in which they can stand out. At Owlworx, we insist that packaging design systems absolutely must create a graphic identity that becomes the “icon of recognition”. This not only will help create a shortcut for quick identification, but also with time begin to become a brand property. This can then be leveraged for all Point-of-purchase designs, and becomes an integral visual representation of the brand equity.

What is your idea on taking the packaging design to the next level for Owlworx?

One of the ideas that we are actively engaging with, is, attempts to invent a new way of thinking about packaging. This is essentially to take into account the fact that shoppers are no longer sticking to one channel for purchase. The way we look at packaging graphics or form design has to transform in fundamental ways. We can no longer judge good design by placing a prototype next to competition on a retail shelf. We will need to ensure that this pack is visible on a 4-inch mobile screen as our shopper scrolls through options on an e-commerce app. There is another emerging reality that we are addressing, the rising influence of millennial shoppers. They have lower attention spans, multi-channel purchase behaviour, very high dependence on social media for peer recommendations for purchase and a deluge of marketing messages. We are designing fresh new creative processes that will embrace these changes and inspire us to create breakthrough work that will impact shoppers in ways that no one else can.

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