DESIGN TRENDS 2016, EPISODE 1b: New Thinking for deeper Brand Loyalty

In episode 1 of our look at 2016 packaging design trends, we explored customer-centricity and essentialism to help cognitively overloaded shoppers get what they need in the shortest time, with the fewest problems. We found a perfect example of this on The Dieline, and wanted to share it with you.

Branding agency Depot WPF, knowing that shoppers are overloaded these days, found that one of the most common difficulties shoppers face is forgetting an essential ingredient. Forgetting an ingredient can cause wasted time, disappointment, and often causes arguments and problems at home with family members.

From the dieline.

1) Before designing they looked at a different kind of consumer data than what is traditionally studied:

43% of shoppers can’t remember what they were looking for.
26% forget milk when they buy eggs for breakfast.
13% of family scandals happen because someone forgot to buy something.
57% forget to buy bread more often than any other product.

This helped them identify a problem that needs to be solved.

2) After identifying the problem, they considered ways to solve it via packaging design. In essence they asked new kinds of questions, like: How can we reduce these numbers so that customers forget less, and have fewer problems? This is an excellent example of customer-centric thinking.

From the dieline.

3) Because they can’t make people remember their shopping list, or simplify their lives outside of the store, they took action on what they could affect: they decided to make the shopping list for them. Thus the labels became shopping lists with items most often bought together, or forgotten.

From the dieline.

4) And these labels are an excellent example of the essentialism that we explored in the first episode of our 2016 trends series. The labels contain only the essential information, and the most likely forgotten ingredients that go with that.

From the dieline.

The Point: What is interesting and important here is the different style of thinking. Their thinking was not, "What design will sell more of these products?" Their thinking was "What problems are customers facing, and how can we solve them through design?" (This can be called Backwards

Design, a term we have borrowed fem educational curriculum design).

This different avenue of questioning lead them to a different design strategy. And this is important because a product that not only satisfies a need, but also solves a problem, is the new way to build deep brand loyalty.