Branding and designing: Create your own USP

bluemarlin is a Strategic Brand and Design powerhouse with a team of Strategists, Creatives and Provocateurs. They collaborate with their client partners in their brand journey to accelerate their business by building brands that live in the hand, heart and mind. Committed to liberating brands from the ordinary, their USP is the commercial success that they bring behind every design thinking. They have done the global design thinking and portfolio architecture for Vaseline master brand, Cadburys chocolates, Bournvita, Sensodyne, Saffola, Fiama and all of Britannia biscuits and Cakes. Ashwini Holkar Pable, Strategic Consultant Director, bluemarlin talks about their journey and future plans. 

She shares that bluemarlin Brand Innovation, Brand Architecture, Brand Positioning and Brand Design experience in the form of product design, packaging design and ultimate retail experience to the consumer. When we combine strategic depth and creative adrenalin, we ignite brand acceleration which differentiates us from other agencies.

How do you plan to remain competitive in the crowded branding industry and what are the major challenges faced by the company?

We area firm with the belief that Design is not a question of luck. Getting into the shoes of the consumers and understanding the functionality and emotional proposition of the product brand gives us a multidimensional view on the pulse of the company as well as all its stakeholders and audience.  Using brand strategy and commercial rigour in design is our competitive edge and we work with only those companies that value this proposition. This definitely comes at a premium cost but definite commercial success in the market!

The biggest challenge we face is the mindset and attitude of companies towards any design/packaging change. Most of the companies assume pack changes as a necessary evil to be done every 2-3 years, more for refreshing the brand and hence do not want to put too much money, time and efforts behind it. The same thinking is applicable to new startups as well!

The truth is in the changing consumer scenario and a cluttered retail environment; the pack is your single biggest influencer of the brand. In a retail shelf the consumer will either pick it up or choose not to; the first moment of truth. Hence there is a lot of brand strategy work that goes into a pack design, a lot of semiotic coding and insights that we consider while designing a pack. Our aim for every design is that the consumers should instantly engage with the brand. Staying true to your audience requires rigour, strategy and systematic process which is what lends Bluemarlin the competitive edge.

Where do you see branding and designing in India, 5 years from now?

About 10-15 years ago the branding industry in India was just starting out. Today, Indian companies have showcased a noticeable shift in their understanding and adoption of branding as not just a publicity tool but a credibility builder. Earlier, branding and designing were associated with just a logo and advertising. Now, they are getting into deep nuances of it. And it will evolve or become deeper in the coming years.

In the coming years, the importance of good branding and designing will become of significant value. Consumers judge the quality and premiumness of any product, first through its packaging. Increasingly that ends up becoming the only real estate for many brands.

The second most important trend we foresee in the near future is that of sustainable packaging. With changing environmental regulations and conscious consumerism, the whole product industry will have to go through a revolutionary change in product design and packaging. We have already begun this journey with many global firms.

In future, the design will not just be restricted to an art-form; it will be a global language. The competition has become so tough that every brand needs to fight for attention to survive and the fight will just get tougher. With the growing economy, we see rapid changes in the way our clients want to grow their business – the aspects of being right and being accountable is paramount for most businesses – a paradigm shift from yesteryears. In the fast-moving consumer goods sector, it’ll be all about fighting for shelf space

How would you describe the difference in trends when it comes to branding and packaging in the Indian vs the international markets?

There is a vast difference in the way evolved markets and the way the Indian market appreciates and understands the value of brand design and packaging. While designing the product it is very important for the brands to understand that the product inside has to justify the packaging outside. There is an integrated story to be told to the consumers, as they have a much more evolved approach now towards brand selection. The new generations are much more aware, conscious and discerning consumers.

One also needs to understand an important aspect of brand packaging is also the retail environment in which the brand operates.

The single biggest trend in India currently is to premiumise the brand offers, however, what constitutes the premium look and feel in India is very different from the international market. Internationally, negative space would be directly proportional to being premium. The more negative space, the more premium would be the offering. However, in India, negative space and lighter shades will not sustain in the retail environment. Shelf stand out is important and so it direct and bold branding.

In the international market, the trend is moving towards more approachable, honest and genuine, artisanal, craft-based packaging while in India this trend is very very niche, driven by premium modern trade formats, it will take a long time for it to percolate in the mass market.

How much of an influence do you think branding and packaging have on a consumer’s mind in India?

The current market is snowed under with a wide variety of product brands. As a result, consumer’s finds themselves overwhelmed and unable to maintain pace with a large number of brands crowding the market.

Brand design and packaging has a direct impact on the quality and premium perception of the brand directly justifying the price-value equation for the consumer.

Organizations create brands with critical intent to attract and retain consumers. Hence, brands should definitely not underestimate the impact good design and packaging can have on a consumers mind. A good design is critical for success. Whether a viewer is looking at a brochure or a product on a shelf, if the design is not professional, if the consumer fails to resonate with the packaging, the brand may lose the reputation it has built so far. As they say – Seeing is believing!!

Branding plays a vital role in determining the purchasing behaviour of customers across the world. Each and every customer has a specific set of reasons to choose or not choose a particular brand. Often, brands have less than a second to make a first impression. Even the best brand will only get noticed if they are able to stand out in the first few seconds. A good design helps build brand differentiation and stands out.

With a digital revolution, the shorter attention span of the consumer and shortening product life cycles, brands need to break through with an increased dimension.

Can you elaborate a little on your work for Britannia Treat?

Britannia Industries Ltd is India's leader in the premium cream biscuits category and Treat is its largest selling sandwich cream brand. Previously Treat was targeted for children aged 6-10 years, with its kiddy and playful branding. However more recently, and since the launch of rival Oreo in March 2011, it has become increasingly outdated and is seen as more affordable and less special. As a result, Britannia rightfully wanted to revitalise its brand and reposition itself to appeal to the older, less ‘kiddy’ audience, with the objective of reducing Oreo’s dominance in the market.

Our objectives were to:
1. Bring the new brand proposition to life on-shelf
2. Appeal to an older and wider group of consumers
3. Drive volume sales to halt Oreo’s growing market share

In order to widen Treat’s appeal, Britannia wanted to move its brand essence from kiddy and playful to a more general sense of fun. Its new positioning is summarized as ‘the fun in-between’, wherein, building on how the biscuits make the consumer feel, we hit upon the idea of the universal language of EMOJIS being used as shorthand for emotions. The fact that they’re round meant that the biscuits could easily become smiling faces, with the yummy cream filling bringing to life different emoji expressions.

The happy one – was used to reflect the fun creamy and fruity flavours of ‘O’ som Orange’, ‘Crazy Pineapple’ and ‘Buzzy Strawberry’ variants.

The cool one – was more in line with the creamier flavours and dark biscuits of ‘Kool Vanilla’ and ‘Funky Chocó’.

The naughty one – aimed to bring to life the zestier nature of the ‘Naughty Jam’ variant.

This design refresh saw immediate results for Britannia Treat in the market. The sales more than doubled in a span of 1 year, there were 5 per cent point market share growth and a substantial increase in household penetration.
(We have attached the entire case study for your reference)

Can you give us an overview of the company’s expansion plan in the Indian and international markets?

bluemarlin operates with a lean but very experienced global team with studios in New York, London, Bath and Mumbai. We are a bunch of all very senior professionals from the industry and would continue our focus on integrating strategic brand planning in the design thinking process. In the international markets, our focus is on global master brands Repositioning work, (we are working on a couple of large scale projects) NPD roll-outs and leading the way for sustainable packaging. We are working with major clients in the US, Europe and UK market.

The Indian market is a very important market for us and has some great opportunity in terms of brand and design challenges; we have been doing some defining work across the FMCG sector for the last 7 years. While we have added a lot of new clients to our portfolio, we have been very selective with our client profile as we believe in long term partnerships.

We have been steadily growing in India and our business is coming more from positive word of mouth and references. The Indian business forms 35 per cent of our revenue stream and we will continue to invest and do cutting edge work in the Indian market.