Having decided to establish itself as a consumer brand, Vitacress could at last begin to take control of the marketing and appearance of its products on the supermarket shelf.
With no budget for other promotional or marketing support, its chosen products would have to rely completely on their appearance to make an impact on customers. Finding the right packaging designer was therefore critical for the success of the new Vitacress brand.
Susana Pais, Vitacress’ product manager in Portugal, was responsible for developing the packaging design for Vitacress Baby Leaf Salad. ‘When we embarked on the project we knew an excellent packaging design would make all the difference,’ she explains. ‘When consumers approach the point of sale, only 20 percent know exactly what they are going to buy; the other 80 percent need a little help. Innovation and eye-catching style were essential if we were to differentiate our product as a premium brand.’
With a £10,500 design budget, Vitacress’ first step was to approach Portuguese designers for design concepts.
However, the company was dissatisfied with their ideas and subsequently turned to a small British design consultancy, Financial Designs, to create the outstanding packaging design Vitacress was looking for.
Vitacress already had a relationship with the design agency, having employed them over a six-year period on a number of projects, including business-to-business and business-to-government presentations and printed materials, exhibition displays and the redesign of Vitacress’ foyer. ‘I could see that the design team’s experience and insight into the challenges we were facing would be a major advantage, says Pais.
With a tight budget, and an even tighter deadline, trust and commitment from all sides would be critical, as Ludwig Haskins of Financial Designs explains: ‘There were just seven weeks to complete the design, but Susana said she trusted me to do something different. The biggest challenge was working within these tight parameters to make the product really stand out.’
Moving from a supplier of own label products to a consumer brand offers several advantages:
- Gaining potentially greater profit margin
- Creating a new supply channel
- Making better use of potentially under utilised production facilities
- Reducing reliance on other brands
- Gaining greater control over marketing and brand image