The New Simplicity

A movement in packaging graphics is afoot. A few leading-edge brands are introducing simpler package designs and graphics. The new direction is being driven by three factors: Mega store clutter: Shoppers quickly scan categories to make buying decisions, and the clutter in big box stores may be compressing that time even more. Quick scanning renders such packaging tactics as "bullet points" less and less effective. Some package designers are responding by focusing on as few as three pieces of information on a package: the brand or product name, a key selling point and a graphic that reinforces that point.The "post-consumerism" consumer. Futurists have coined the term "post-consumerism" consumer to describe an emerging type -- one who is more interested in quality than quantity, and who is concerned with lifestyle and environmental issues. Consultants I've talked to estimate that about 10% of U.S. consumers fit the profile. In Europe and Canada, the number ranges between 25% and 30%.Brands with a "cult" following. Some brands have an almost cult appeal, attracting loyalists who connect emotionally with the brand. These brands may be better able to utilize "the new simplicity" than can mass brands.Here are two examples:1. The Mac UniverseThe Brand: Microsoft Office:mac. Microsoft Corp., Redmond, Wash., is one among hundreds of third-party software developers who market Mac software.Packaging Challenge: The package has to stand out in a cluttered retail environment. It also has to appeal to Mac users, a group with a reputation for being dedicated, independent and avant-garde. Mac users certainly can be characterized as "postconsumerism" consumers.Solution: The newest packaging for Microsoft Office:mac combines both structure and graphics to deliver a unique appeal. The package uses a rigid plastic sheet formed into a box with rounded corners. (A few such packages are beginning to appear in stores, and they create differentiation.) A formed plastic cap snaps onto each end of the body, and a plastic insert within the container holds the software firmly in place.A paper sleeve, which fits tightly inside the plastic container, provides the surface for a strikingly simple graphic approach. An icon symbolic of each version of the software (Professional, Standard, and Student and Teacher) dominates the front panel. A color-coding system clearly differentiates each version. According to designer Tan Le of Landor Associates, San Francisco, the design, which uses icons developed for the previous edition of the software, "is driven off the need to speak to the Mac audience and relate to them."Assessment: Microsoft's use of a plastic carton is a significant innovation. In fact, it earned a 2004 AmeriStar award in a competition sponsored by the Institute of Packaging Professionals.2. Positioning an Alternative BeverageThe Brand: Klarbrunn Sparkling Water is a carbonated, flavored, unsweetened and sodium-free "alternative beverage" that's offered in various flavors. It's blended, packaged and distributed in the Upper Midwest by Wis-Pak, Watertown, Wis.Packaging Challenge: Klarbrunn is a small brand in the crowded beverage category, and its marketer has little control over shelf space allocation. Although it may get less-than-prominent shelf locations, it nevertheless has to sell from the shelf. The brand's cartons and cans previously used heavy ink coverage and a nostalgic design that featured a man searching for water with a dowsing rod. Says Bill Simonis of Wis-Pak, "The design didn't pop out, and it didn't do a good job of saying what the product was."Packaging Solution: Wis-Pak made two changes. First, it altered the carton, opting for the refrigerator-pack style that is so popular in the beverage industry. Second, it redesigned its graphics.Developed by Ad Associates LLC, Sheboygan, Wis., the new graphic design stresses simplicity and lightness. "The old package was pretty dark," Simonis says. "We really did want to lighten it up so you could find it on the shelf." The brand name is bigger on the cartons, for example, and the dowser has been replaced with a stylistic image of the fruit that flavors the beverage. The redesign also extends to the 12-ounce cans inside the Klarbrunn cartons. The solid ink coverage of the old design gave way to a screened-back color that creates transparency, which in turn lets the brightness of the metal show through.Assessment: Simonis actually used the term "cult" when talking about the buyers of Klarbrunn water. I think that term is significant when considering simplicity. Because brand loyalty exists, the communications objective is quick brand identification. What's more, the new design also clearly distinguishes varieties and identifies "sparkling water" better than the old design. This presents basic yet essential information to potential buyers. I believe we are going to see more of this kind of simplicity in packaging.Jim Peters is a writer and consultant with 25 years in the packaging field. He is president of J. Peters Associates Inc. Click here for his contact information.

The New Simplicity

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