LORI GROSS AND TESSA WESTERMEYER: DEFINING THE FUTURE OF PACKAGING THROUGH GREAT DESIGN

Lori Gross and Tessa Westermeyer of Landor, were presenters at the recent Dieline summit in Paris, 2014. What follows is a summary of what we came away with from their presentation, with a few extensions from our further reflection on it:

KFC in Australia, found that to be customer centric, they had to throw the the old brand consistency rule out the window and recolor their brand with the colors of the Australian football team. (See benefits of Customer-Centric Thinking.)

To design is to define. Creativity and great design are the only solution, therefore designers will shape the future. We literally can shape the future of this planet and humanity, our story and our experience (not to mention that of our children and grandchildren) via design. Example (ours): Think of how the design of the iPod, not the technology, changed the way millions of people experience music, and its endless effects on the music industry.
Never stand still. The brand must change to fit the environment. Today’s best brands thrive because they are agile. Where others see adversity, agile brands find opportunity. They remain true to the values they represent but never stand still. Example (ours): See a poor consumer test as an opportunity, welcome it, move towards the challenge, listen to what it is trying to tell you about need.
The Future of Packaging in five principles of great design.

o Seeing the truthTside human emotion, behavior or belief; an acute understanding of peoples’ needs, wants, and desires. To achieve in-sight, keep asking Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? like a three-year-old, then look for connections between the answers. What is the common denominator?

o Humans tend to form perceptions from pictures. Remove judgment, take off the blinders of your preconceived ideas of how things work, and never say “But you can’t do that.” See different. Like a cubist, come at it from different angles. The first step is to become aware of your own thought patterns, then be critical of them.

o The story is gold. People don’t remember facts, they remember stories. Stories have characters people can identify with. That identification is a relationship, that relationship the brand, the brand the relationship. Ask yourself: What story are we telling? Wheat elements will the consumer identify with? What feelings will the story reward the consumer with?

o Experience defines the person, personality is the sum of a person’s experiences. It forms the basis of our knowledge. We learn best by doing/experiencing. Experience leads to expectation, positive expectation leads to brand loyalty. Ask: What experience is the design giving?

o Courage is daring to act upon reflection. Daring is being aware of the danger, but ignoring it. It is an acceptance of risk, and the willingness to see mistakes and failure as a positive learning experience. It is rushing into the fire, because it is the right thing to do. It is a willingness to disrupt. The identity is not sacred, consistency is always the best goal. The brand must change to fit the environment. Example: KFC was failing in Australia, so they completely changed the identity from its traditional red, white and blue, to the colors of the Australian flag.

Last thought: Einstein said that insanity is doing the same thing over and over, but expecting different results. What is your company blind to? What process are you repeating, but still expecting different results?