Osborne Pike

Welcome to the new edition of Shelf Life, with more ‘stories that sell’ from the supermarket.

It’s always exciting to explore the shelves of a country that I’ve never visited before, because it gives me the chance to be surprised by the exotic and the familiar in equal measure. Saudi Arabia didn’t disappoint, with some categories totally new to me (ghee, alcohol-free fruit beer), some very recognisable but not previously seen on that scale (tissues, milk drinks, rice), and of course the fun of seeing familiar brands with their logos written in a strange letterform that doesn’t have an upper case.

Despite first impressions this store doesn’t only cater to seven-foot tall customers, but has an innovative approach to merchandising with an extra couple of shelves and a full-length display card on top of those.

Apparently it’s easier to restock from the shelves above than shuffling stock around on trolleys. The top two rows also provide a neat and impactful display that customers can’t mess up by trying to buy stuff. Unless they’re basketball players.

Takeout: Always interesting to find a supermarket layout that creates a different shopping experience. Albert Heijn’s chillers are another case in point.

Just when I thought big boxes of cereals or detergent were the most standout items in the store, I was hit between the eyes by this re-interpretation of the chips multipack.

Containing only 14 small bags of 30g, these must take the prize for simultaneously selling the largest volume of both ink and air. I’m guessing that the cheap price of fuel makes the logistics of distribution completely different here, but you’ve still got to get them home. That’s where the SUV could come in handy.

Takeout: Literally stunning on shelf and highly attractive, but I can’t see them getting into my local Waitrose.

In the last blog I commented on the lost opportunity to capitalise on the trendiness of cupcakes by UK home-baking packaging. Cupcakes are also hot here in Saudi, but as you can see the retailers are getting a bit more behind the idea.

Not sure Betty’s packaging is quite living up to the full potential of the opportunity, due to a tight adherence to the design system, but I bet they’re selling a lot of cake mix.

Takeout: Same as before: telling a story that’s already ‘out there’ and has a great visual language could help agile brands to stand out. Go on Betty, do a multi-coloured variant…

Part of my challenge during this visit has been to work out how to design a logo in arabic lettering to match the emotional meaning of the ‘English’ one we will be creating.

Most major brands seem to manage this reasonably well, normally using a two-sided pack with one language on each side.

But some very clever thinking has gone into the design of this logo for leading dairy brand Alsafi: the separate brand names manage to share a letter so that both read perfectly comfortably, all integrated in a friendly and dynamic roundel.

Takeout: Watch this space for what we come up with. Unfortunately this trick will only work for letters that happen to look reasonably similar (I think that means ‘s’), and are in the middle of the word (since as you all know Arabic text reads right to left).

I suppose it’s obvious really, but until today it’s always puzzled me why no alcohol beer fails to look right, and doesn’t usually last very long in the market. No matter how hard designers try to make it look like the ‘real thing’, there’s always that 0% declaration threatening to spoil the party, like your Mum telling you to turn the music down at 11pm.

In this market all beer is no alcohol and most is fruit-flavoured, but that doesn’t stop the visual language being loud and proud. Next to a wide range of slightly incongruous fruity Holstens, two local brands stood out for their bold displays of vibrant self-confidence. Both take a leaf out of the Coke Zero book in choosing black as the brand colour, but after that they take a different tack in terms of pace and sophistication. Production values are top notch, and perhaps the biggest surprise came on the back of pack for Bario – it’s brewed by ‘International Refreshments Co.’, aka Pepsico.

Takeout: Stop apologising and focus on the emotional benefits of your brand as a full ‘player’ in the category. I think soya milk has got this message too and often looks better than ‘real’ milk.

The adoption of animal properties of speed, grace or strength (or all three together) has always been a feature of branding, and this idea certainly seems to work for Red Bull.

Most of its competitors seem happy to try to steal a bit of market share with very similar design language and a slightly different animal, and when the price is right, it does deliver sales.

Whilst I’m not target market I’d probably respond favourably to a more surprising story. Why not take inspiration from the unexpected prowess of the warriors in one of my favourite films – Kung Fu Panda? ‘Mantis’ has a certain ring to it, don’t you think?

Takeout: Not the first time I’ve commented on the energy drink market’s one-dimensionality. I salute the self-awareness behind concepts like ‘Pussy’, but we need more innovation here.

With well over 20 brands available in this store, Saudi rice consumers (penetration: close to 100%) are not short of choices.

Whilst these real sacks might stand out as incredibly natural and authentic on a European shelf, here they blur into one and feel quite cheap and generic.

More premium offers use elaborate print techniques to paint a picture of elegance, taste and (mainly Indian) tradition. Large size and clear separation of the rice grains is a recognised signal of quality, so photography tends to be something of an arms race: ‘my grains are bigger than your grains’.

Takeout: A truly mass (and massive) market with all kinds of packaging strategies on display: product superiority, meal appeal, authentic origin, as well as ‘just happy to be on the shelf’. Daawat’s design is tasteful enough to decorate a bedroom with, and ticks all my boxes.

Remember when you could get this sort of off-shelf display in a European supermarket?

This kind of real estate can’t be cheap, but it certainly makes an impression for this innovation (there was also a 15 metre floor ad in front of the meat counter).

Even on the shelf the high gloss sachet seen through the  window of the outer box gives the strong impression that the chicken is already roasting in its bag in my oven – tasty stuff.

Takeout: It’s not trendy, but this simple and highly effective use of print technique and a window will be ensuring it’s chicken tonight…

I was struck during my visit by the fact that tissue boxes are literally everywhere – in every car, on every table. Given this fact I was somewhat disappointed by the display qualities of the designs on shelf – seemingly accepting a commodity status rather then seeking to add value and innovation. Surely this is a market where Kleenex’s award-winning fruity packs would make a splash?

Takeout: Catering for all tastes as long as they’re conservative, I’d wager the consumer is ready for something a bit more adventurous.

In a juice market this big it must have given someone at Almarai a great deal of pleasure to shoot from minor player to dominant brand leader, helped by the adoption of a plastic carafe format.

So now everyone’s got one, and given the striking similarity between all the brand logos and fruit photos, it’s down to packaging shape to help spot the difference.

Takeout: A tough call but despite better graphics the challenger here falls down on physical storytelling. It feels good in the hand, but I’d still prefer a carafe to an anvil on the table.