What is happening with packaging?

Wrapping Paper and Wallpaper

Christmas is coming and the beauty counters are getting fat…with cliché. The shelves are quite literally weighed down by gift sets and limited seasonal or Christmas editions. Frankly, many of the packages look the same and, in all honesty, much the same as last Christmas.

Every year, brand owners tend to jump on the bandwagon and look at the seasonal (read short-term) potential to make money and package their perfumes and bath sets together in the hope that a set will sell. But what is influencing us to buy one brand over another when they all look so similar in chocolate-box style formats? Many do not even use color or clever branding and just rely on a clear plastic cover and ribbon rosette to add a festive touch. So, what makes us buy? Does it really come down to brand loyalty? Or, is a 2-for-1 or buy-one-get-one-free mentality at work? Hand-made, bespoke, limited editions are indeed becoming more and more desirable as far as the consumer is concerned. But, where is the differentiation, the allure, the premium cues, with these seasonal offerings? Do we want our packaging to be just wallpaper? Just wrapping paper?

Of course not. Today’s consumer is a discerning individual and now, more than ever, packaging design has the power to play a greater role in communicating to customers what a brand’s message is. The evidence, and influence, of packaging inevitably comes to the fore at this time of year. Therefore, I thought that Christmas might be a pertinent time to unwrap packaging and take a closer look at what the new trends are and how today’s brands can use packaging to effectively help the buyer to buy.

But first, I’ll repeat my earlier question. Do we want our packaging to be just wallpaper? Well, wallpaper is truly back en vogue and, in an ironic and surprising twist, rich wallpaper patterns and textures are ensuring shelf stand out and differentiation for newcomers to the market. With a recent move into retail, the re-launch of Soho House’s Cowshed luxury range is reflecting its core truth as an international spa brand with its roots in Babington House’s cow shed. For the re-packaging, our design team took inspiration from the Babington House room interior in a repeat-pattern, wallpaper effect and used different textures and colors to promote the character of the individual ranges. Similarly, Space NK Apothecary has repackaged its own brand Bath & Body ranges, using a stylized and repeat pattern for the outer packaging and differentiating the different scents and mood of the range through color. Cowshed and Space NK have both designed their products from the viewpoint of the consumer and understood that, while consumers are still looking to the cosmetics sector for purity, where packaging is concerned we are seeing a backlash against sterility and clinical forms and colors, and we, as people, are being drawn to richness, warmth, depth and texture.

Today’s consumer is an individual wishing to embrace and explore various layers of his or her personality and are looking to brands to offer and fulfill a similar role.
The need for depth and bespoke detailing has boosted the prominence of more intricate design and craftsmanship within packaging, and particularly the use of illustration. For example, Avon’s latest fragrance, aptly named Individuality, uses a gold, filigree illustration etched into the bottle. Cur­rently on sale in the UK and Europe, and set to cross the Atlantic early 2006, is Charles Worthington’s premium Dream Hair range. The range uses a sophisticated, and more high-fashion, color palette in lilac shades, and, again, the use of an illustrated dreamscape graphic ensures stand-out within the hair care category and is also allowing for individual interpretation by the consumer.

And this is the key. In order to be successful, today’s brands need to empower the consumer to express his or her individuality and we are seeing more savvy brand owners working with the consumer to customize or co-create packaging. Successful brands are those that understand from the beginning the type of customer they are trying to reach and ensure their brand message, products, and packaging meet the needs of their customer. Instead of trying to reach everyone with a vague brand message, brands that cater to their niche customer will build a loyal following. The latest fragrance from the Calvin Klein stable, CK One Scene, will survive long after the holiday party season is over because both its offer and the packaging design, with its 80s inspired, trompe l’oeil effect, resonates with the party in a bottle message. It is different and has a defined point of view.

Just as we are embracing packaging, which allows us to be part of the narrative, we are also seeing more brands, such as CK One Scene, providing us with a prescriptive narrative which is a way of tapping into our contrary and contradictory motivations and behaviors. For example, there is a resurgence of cartoon or pop art style images and graphics which are injecting more personality and humor into the category from brands such as newcomer, Beauty Buffet, which uses a combination of witty copy and 50s inspired postcard packaging to target our more playful side.

In many ways, packaging is also becoming more of a representation of the personality of the individual brand owner as our personal relationship with the brand moves on yet one stage further. The trend for celebrity-endorsed scents has not abated but, again, this can be viewed as a short-lived and short-term marketing opportunity for brands. A more long-term and rewarding relationship is allowing consumers to buy into the more intimate and personal belief or expertise of the brand owner or ambassador and packaging is the visual link for delivering messages. The worldwide success of the Body Shop was as much rooted in the vociferous beliefs of Anita Roddick as in the fair trade products she was developing. Trusted for her trademark personality in fashion to produce stylish, timeless and sharp lines, it is no surprise that the packaging for Diane von Furstenburg Cosmetics epitomizes these values through sleek, brushed metal packaging which is at once understated, durable and symbolizes an imbued guarantee of trust when in pursuit of the latest color direction.

Personal connection and intimacy is undoubtedly an emotional draw for the consumer. However, we must not forget that packaging holds the fine balance between function and emotion and that it’s not just about how the packaging looks but how it works. To be truly successful, the designer-client relationship needs to be based on one of genuine respect for packaging solutions that meet people’s lifestyle needs, image and functionality. In an age where we want the same product presented in different formats to match lifestyle, there are some brands that are doing this but perhaps not as uniquely as they could. A good example of this, however, is the new Hard Candy Lunchbox, a vanity case with a compete mini make-up range, which retains the fun and unique POP and packaging solutions the brand is known for but is also functional, practical and transportable. Brand owners need to step back, resist quick fads and fixes and, as a collective team, focus on beautifully holistic packaging solutions which are considered as part of the initial creative process and not decided upon as an afterthought. In this way, we can sometimes access a more interesting or credible brand truth; a brand truth that will allow us to create and sustain that all important ingredient…desire.
If brands can have the courage to resist the cost effective way, to go beyond the stock choice and to create something bespoke with a product to match that’s needed, the emotional overdrive of desire generated from such well thought through packaging design will reap enormous long term financial rewards, and valuable intellectual properties for the brand.

If you don’t make a New Year’s resolution for yourself, then maybe you should make one for your brand. Resolve to use the power of packaging design to connect with your consumer and express a different and more resonant point of view.