Early in my design career, I worked on a project for the supermarket chain Asda. Private Label had just started to exploit the power of packaging design to challenge major brands (so no change there), and this was also the first time when ‘saving the planet’ became a consumer cause.
The dominant story being told about recycled paper was that it saved trees, but this turned out to be inaccurate as well as not very engaging. I decided to tell what for me was a far more interesting story based on ‘what this product might have been before it was recycled’.
As it turned out my feelings about this story were shared by many others: Asda sold lots more recycled paper products, and I picked up my first yellow pencil, the coveted trophy of the high priests of design and advertising.
A true story with a happy ending.
Marketing has been extraordinarily successful at ‘identifying and satisfying consumer needs’, but as expertise in product development, manufacturing and marketing itself has become ever more widespread, it could be argued we have reached a point where there is simply too much choice, too much information, and too many brands. After all, there are only so many stories to be told about most products, and nearly all the worthwhile ones are already out there, in triplicate. We know because we’ve been logging them. Private Label usually copies them.
Unilever had the right idea when it culled three-quarters of its brands in order to focus on those with the most potential. Where they have been allowed to find and tell their stories, we see brands living up to their true potential to stand for something bigger than the product and sometimes even bigger than profit.
