04/04/2005 01:43:00 PM 
Packaging design, although low-tech, is one of the oldest forms and most important forms of brand communication, but its influence is often overlooked. Increasingly the most innovative players in the design world are pushing the envelope to try and re-define what design can do for brand communication.
A great example is the work of Williams Murray Hamm for McVitie's Jaffa Cake biscuits. The product is a simple chocolate biscuit with an orange center and it is something of a tired old favorite for biscuit eating Brits.
WMH applied serious strategic thinking their packaging assignment, did a lot of really smart consumer research and came up with the solution that was to create a over 70 individual slogans that could form the focus of the pack design. These slogans could be rotated in an out according to need.
Essentially, WMH was using the biscuit pack as an advertising medium. It was highly innovative, very successful, got considerable press attention and boosted sales for the 63 year-old brand.
A US based example is Sofia Coppola's sparkling wine in a can . The juxtaposition between the luxury of sparkling wine and the accessibility of the can creates a language and a new space for the brand. It's the pack that forces you to re-consider the role of the product, making it coolly accessible.
Heineken is another brand that's used packaging as a key communication tool Its the brand's innovative keg based design that has helped the imported brand become more down-to-earth.
Too often, when considered, packaging is something of an afterthought with conservatism ruling the day. The result, pack design is too often stifled by the need to conform to the expected category or parent brand standards.
Instead, packaging needs to be thought of as an opportunity to differentiate and a vital communication tool that can breathe new life into a brand.
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