Dec
10
We invite you to subscribe to our brand new white paper and newsletter, TheWrightView. It offers tips on consumer products marketing in general and on packaging design in particular… in an easy to read format.
Click on the link at the bottom, read our first edition, and sign on!
Let us know what you think of TheWrightView – we look forward to hearing from you!
May
16
Part 4 is last in a series of posts targeted at designers just entering the field. These suggestions shine light on some potential minefields the new designer might not think of until he or she finds herself or himself in the middle of one.
7. Assure the client of your respect for confidentiality.
It’s important that you share information having to do with the assignment only with people who have the “need to know.” You may want to add this type of text to your proposal:
“The strictest confidence will always be maintained concerning all information provided by the client during any contract assignment.”
Offer to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement if that seems appropriate and will not restrict your ability to perform design work for other clients.
8. Spell out your billing terms.
It is important to make it clear that the client will be able to use your designs only after they are paid for in full. This may be stated as follows:
Billing Terms
“After the initial client prepayment, Acme Design will invoice the client at the conclusion of each phase. Payment for all invoices is typically due on a net 30 day basis. There will be a late charge of 1.5 % of the balance per month after 30 days. Reproduction rights are granted only upon full payment of all invoices.”
I’m not an attorney. The aforementioned statements are there to serve as guidance only. It is important to contact legal counsel on these matters.
May
09
This is Part 3 in a series of posts targeted at designers just entering the field. These suggestions shine light on some potential minefields the new designer might not think of until he or she finds herself or himself in the middle of one.
I’m not an expert on the law. In dealing with any contractual issues, I strongly recommend that you contact legal counsel.
5. Clarify legal responsibility.
The client, not the designer is legally responsible for the final package or label. (see Client and Designer Responsibilities)
You should include this type of text in your proposal:
Design Protection and Rights
“All designs and any related development work created as part of an assignment are done so by Acme Design to serve the client and are not intended to infringe upon the rights of others. The complexity of these rights is such that Acme Design cannot warrant that its clients will be immune from claims of others. It is the responsibility of the client to consult legal counsel regarding all creative designs, package text, brand names and trademarks, and file for registration or copyrights as appropriate.”
6. Clarify the rights regarding your design work.
You should include text of this nature in your proposal:
Property Rights
“Any design in its final form selected, approved and paid for by a client becomes the exclusive property of that client. All other designs and ideas which are developed or completed for, or as part of a specific assignment, remain the property of Acme Design.”
May
02
This is Part 2 in a series of posts targeted at designers just entering the field. These suggestions shine light on some potential minefields the new designer might not think of until he or she finds herself or himself in the middle of one.
3. Confirm the client’s interest early on.
Even though all the signs may point to your new client being fully involved in your project and clearly interested in your working on the project, seek proof. Here’s a relatively subtle and painless way to do it. Typically, you prepare a proposal divided into phases describing how you plan to execute the assignment. You assign an estimated timetable and cost to each phase, and you stipulate that you will invoice the client at the conclusion of each phase. Finally, (and here’s the “proof”), you stipulate that approval of the proposal will be signified by a prepayment of $___. The amount will be some portion of your estimate for the first phase. When the check is issued, you’ll know the assignment is real. You’ll get the client’s full attention when he or she has “skin in the game.”
4. Specify deliverables in each phase.
Give specifics so the client has clear expectations regarding what he or she will receive, e.g. “3-5 concepts, concepts of principal display panel or a full package, options to include differences in fonts, colors, images and general layout, deliverables will be PDFs and full color printouts.”
Apr
23
We have offered a number of blog posts on the packaging design process:
“Brand Positioning Shorthand”
“Client and Designer Responsibilities”
“3 Steps to Take Before Designing a Package”
“10 Key Steps to Launching a Successful Retail Product”
The posts in this “Newbie Designer”series are different. They are less structured and simply consist of a free flow of ideas. They are targeted particularly at young designers just entering the field. These suggestions shine light on some potential minefields the new designer might not think of until he or she finds herself or himself in the middle of one. Although some of these ideas smack of legalese, I’m not an expert on the law. In dealing with any contractual issues, I strongly recommend that you contact legal counsel.
Here are the first 2 tips:
1. Get the lay of the land.
Ask your new client how he found you, why he selected you and what design resources he has used in the past. Your purpose is twofold. One, to find out what is working in your new business outreach program and/or to identify who to thank for recommending you. The second purpose is to discretely find out if your new client tends to be loyal to a designer or if he jumps from one to another.
If he’s a jumper, that’s a red flag. See Tip #2.
2. Button down the strategy.
Guiding the client to give you direction in strategic terms can be your most difficult assignment. Many clients think and express themselves in execution terminology not conceptual terms. Your job is to avoid discussing fonts and Pantone colors and focus on what is to be communicated and to whom.
Once you think you understand the design assignment’s strategic direction, compose a written Communications Strategy and have the client sign off on it.
It is important that it include a concise Brand Positioning for the product or company for which you’re doing design work. (See “Brand Positioning Shorthand”). It should also include a Communications Hierarchy, e.g., what is the most important idea or element to communicate, the second, the third, etc.
Client “jumpers” who are consistently unhappy with designers are typically unable to verbalize a strategy. Their common expression is “I’ll know it when I see it.” If your potential new client utters this phrase, run to the nearest exit and don’t look back.
Apr
18
It’s not often that you discover an insightful article that’s also delightful. Evelyn Starr is owner of E.STARR ASSOCIATES (http://estarrassociates.com/), a company offering marketing help for “Brands in Adolescence” (brands that stall after their initial success). In this guest article, you’ll appreciate Ms. Starr’s ability to use real life situations to make strong marketing statements, in a personal, conversational style that keeps the reader engaged from beginning to end.
Enjoy!
Talk to Strangers and Keep Your Mother-in-law Out
NOVEMBER 3, 2010 BY EVELYN LEAVE A COMMENT
I love my mother-in-law, Elanaah. And not just out of obligation. We get along great because we respect and trust each other. Our mutual respect comes from years of being straightforward and truthful with each other.
Based on this trust, I have occasionally sought Elanaah’s advice.
Elanaah is a parenting expert, with particular emphasis on the early childhood years. Not every woman would welcome this feature in a mother-in-law, but I have found her consultations helpful and reassuring. And she has never forced advice on us. Her lauding our parenting skills on occasion feels like an extra strong endorsement given her expertise.
Elanaah is also an avid reader, belonging to two book clubs simultaneously, one of them for over 40 years! Our taste in books doesn’t always coincide. (That book about the traveling funeral was barely readable and my book club hated it too.) Yet I often ask what she is reading because her assessment of books has consideration and depth, rather than just a thumbs-up or down.
On child-raising and books, I value Elanaah’s advice.
On the other hand, Elanaah is not what you would call technically inclined. Asking her preference for laptop brands or cell phone apps is likely to elicit hardy laughter, and a friendly shrug.
In a figurative and literal sense, my asking Elanaah’s opinions on child-raising and books could be deemed mother-in-law research. Mother-in-law research refers to the practice of asking those you know what they think and treating their opinions as research.
Start-ups and small businesses may be especially tempted to conduct this kind of research because they can’t afford more formal research. Especially when the alternative is no research at all on some product, service, logo, packaging or other offering where feedback is warranted before further investment.
The key to good research, however, is to ensure the feedback comes from relevant and trustworthy sources.
Relevancy comes from being in your target market. Unless your mother-in-law is a potential customer of what you are testing, she is not in your target market. Don’t ask her.
This goes as well for your own mother, brother, father, aunts, uncles, neighbors and friends.
But being in your target market isn’t the only criterion, if you are going to query those you know. The second litmus test that target-market-friends-and-family must pass is the ability to be truthful with you, from a customer point-of-view.
Can you trust them to tell it like it is?
Formal research recruits people who are not at all related to the creation of the product or to anyone working in that industry or even related industries. The reason is that good research requires objective respondents. We want the truth, and we can handle it. (We also want to avoid tipping off the competition.)
Your family and friends may not want to hurt your feelings. They may temper their responses or even paint a positive picture while their true thoughts are anything but.
Or they may have other baggage or issues that underlie their responses to you, causing them to overemphasize or trash aspects that they would not even mention to a non-related researcher. One client told me that her brother ranted against several aspects of her business, even though he had no vested interest in it and never used her product!
You cannot rely on your friends and family to recuse themselves. They don’t want to disappoint you. Few have the presence of mind to say, ‘You know, I never use those widgets so I really don’t feel comfortable giving you feedback on them.” Or even better, “I’m still angry at you for the way you drew a line down the middle of the bedroom we shared when we were kids, and wouldn’t let me leave because your side had the door, so I can’t be objective about this.”
Don’t worry about whether family or friends will be offended if you don’t ask their opinions. Indeed, if you explain that your criteria include only asking those who are users of your potential product, they will probably credit you with business wisdom.
The highest quality research feedback comes from people who are potential users of the product and who have no affiliation to or stake in the product’s creation.
A good place to start: use these two successive questions as a litmus test to qualify people to test your product:
1. Are they in your target market?
2. Will they tell you the truth, unfiltered and unembellished?
Professional research companies use 10-15 questions to screen respondents to ensure they fit the criteria above.
If you are serious about launching your new product, quality feedback from the intended user is crucial to its success. Baseless flattery will not help make the product the best it can be. Hardy laughter and a friendly shrug can be demoralizing; a rant can send you into a tailspin.
Get the best feedback you can, and if you can’t afford to have a research company find qualified respondents, find unaffiliated people who can help in a constructive manner yourself using the two questions above.
Have you ever tapped someone close to you for feedback on a new product or service idea? Let me know about your experience.
As for me, I’m off to ask Elanaah what she has been reading lately!
Apr
04
The most difficult job in packaging design is keeping it SIMPLE. The objective is to fire a rifle when the inclination is to fire a shotgun. Boiling package design communication down to one concept, one brand positioning idea, one reason to buy is nearly impossible. Typically, you’re working with a client that takes comfort in offering many “reasons to buy” to cover all possible consumer bases (the shotgun approach). Experience tells us that the more benefits we offer on a package the less likely any one will register with the consumer.
“World’s Finest Chicken Pie” says it all.
Among all available lotions, this one is targeted like a rifle shot to the person with athlete’s foot: “Athlete’s Foot Lotion Antifungal”
Here’s a logo that says all you need to know: “A World of Artisan Baking”
And here’s a brand that sells itself. “Dinner Rolls” is the product and “Signature” says it’s a specialty of the house.
Simplicity. Use a rifle not a shotgun. That’s how the consumer will find your package on the shelf. That’s how the consumer will get your message.
Mar
28
As much as our retailer friends would like us to believe shopping is fun, to most shoppers it’s a chore. Therefore, the job of the manufacturer is to make that chore fast and easy, so the shopper can get on to more important things.
To a package designer that means the objective is to communicate not to entertain – the clearer the better. Key elements are:
Here, the brand name “Hot Mama’s Foods” is distinctive, the product name, “Tabouli Salad”, establishes exactly what the product is, “authentic Mediterranean recipe” clearly states the product’s principal point of difference or benefit and the pleasing fonts, colors and see-through package appeal to the senses.
The brand name “Berkley & Jensen” is dark lettering on a light background for good legibility, the “Plastic Wrap” product name is concise and to the point, the “Zip-Safe” cutter interrupter establishes the point of difference or benefit and the food photography offers appetite appeal.
The “Welch’s” name is the highest communication priority for this brand, the “Fruit Snacks” product name is precise, “Made with real fruit” is clearly the point of difference and the bright colors and friendly fonts and images add an appealing warmth.
Even though the need for dual languages complicates the messaging, this package communicates a clear brand name, “Mozaik”, and product name, “Premium Plastic Cutlery”, a distinctive benefit, “Durable plastic looks like silver” and eye appeal through use of a die cut window.
Remember the 5 and 5 rule. The shopper gives your product 5 seconds of attention, 5 feet from the shelf. She’s not there to be entertained. It’s all business.
Mar
21
We find just-food.com to be a valuable source of information on the CPG food products industry. Recently, Dean Best wrote an article, “CAGNY: Squeeze on volumes ‘industry-wide’, warns Congra.” In this piece, Best reported on a speech by ConAgra CEO Gary Rodkin in which Rodkin indicated that sales volume throughout the industry is being affected by “consumer caution in the face of rising prices.”
On the subject of where ConAgra is looking for future growth, Rodkin indicated one opportunity is to pursue “value-added private-label categories” rather than “low growth segments where it comes up for bid every six months and goes to the lowest-price bidder.”
We believe this is an important concept for large and small manufacturers to consider. We have created highly successful value-added or “upscale” private label brands for several clients – so we know the concept has substance!
We invite you to read the full article by clicking on:
http://www.just-food.com/nd.aspx?id=118348&lk=dm
Mar
14
The Analytical Business Solution (TABS) recently put out a press release on the growth of organic products (www.TABSGroup.com). In the release, several facts indicate that this category is here to stay – and needs professional advertising, PR and packaging design attention:
• 41.8% of consumers purchase organics.
• 48% of respondents under 40 reported organics usage in the last 6 months.
* Younger consumers, with typically the least disposable income, show the greatest loyalty to organics.
• 62% of consumers who buy organic products do so at mainstream retail stores.
If you want to compete with your own products in this fast growing category, you’ll need professional help. Come see us. We’ve created signature organic brands for retail chains and single product winners for individual entrepreneurs.
We can do it for you too.
Mar
07
In today’s super competitive environment, it is essential to use every means possible to reach your customers and prospects with value-added messaging. Printed sales materials and phone calls are effective but many business people prefer electronic communication, and the more and varied messaging venues you use the better.
Now is the time to add an Electronic Sales Brochure to your communications arsenal. This is a new way to break through the clutter and deliver your product or service story with great impact, entertainment value and information. An Electronic Sales Brochure uses the sight, sound and motion you typically bring to a live presentation.
To see an example, just click on eBrochure
An electronic sales brochure custom designed to appeal to your target audience can be yours easily and affordably. Here are some of the issues you need to resolve first in order to develop an impactful Electronic Sales Brochure:
• Your brand positioning (for tips on how to create an effective brand positioning, review our October 18, 2011 blog, “Brand Positioning Shorthand.”)
• Your market target (To whom will you be sending the Electronic Sales Brochure?)
• Your objectives (What do you hope to achieve with the Electronic Sales Brochure?)
• Your current program (How are you marketing your brand at present; how does an Electronic Sales Brochure fit into your plan?)