Branding and packaging design for shelf ready trays and the issues faced by FMCG brands with creating design systems. This week I wanted to have a look at a common mistake many brands make when they bring their brand and pack design onto the shelf, so it’s less a look at a specific piece of packaging and more a comment on a particular format. Many products when stacked on the supermarket shelves are placed in shelf ready packaging or SRP’s as we lovingly know them in the trade. A common issue we often find is that these SRP’s are not designed in sympathy with the pack design. Each week, ‘a slice of’, will take a look at a supermarket brand and critique the pack design to find out what works, or doesn’t. What makes you desire them, or even hate them?  Importantly what makes us put them in our shopping basket! I plan to keep the podcast to around five minutes each, and I’ll include some voice message comments that have been sent through about the packs from my LinkedIn page. You can find our contact details below: Alan Gilbody on Linkedin: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/alangilbody/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Slice Design Company website ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://slicedesign.co.uk⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ #packagingdesign #packdesign #packaging #branddesign #branding #srp #srps #impact #standout

Branding and packaging design for Spontex cleaning products and the issues faced by FMCG brands with large ranges. If you have a large portfolio of products, one of the biggest challenges you have from the packaging design point of view is making sure that the brand architecture is consistent enough to hold all the products under one umbrella, but flexible enough to allow differentiation of individual products within the range.  This is especially important when you have wide variety of different product formats that span different shapes, sizes and are often located in different areas in the store. So this week I’d like to look at a brand that faces this exact challenge, and that is household cleaning brand, Spontex. Each week, ‘a slice of’, will take a look at a supermarket brand and critique the pack design to find out what works, or doesn’t. What makes you desire them, or even hate them?  Importantly what makes us put them in our shopping basket! I plan to keep the podcast to around five minutes each, and I’ll include some voice message comments that have been sent through about the packs from my LinkedIn page. You can find our contact details below: Alan Gilbody on Linkedin: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/alangilbody/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Slice Design Company website ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://slicedesign.co.uk⁠⁠⁠⁠ #packagingdesign #packdesign #packaging #branddesign #branding #spontex #cleaning #household #sponge #home #range

Branding and packaging design for Purina Go-Cat pet food and the issues faced by FMCG brands with busy packs. Have you ever wondered why some brands excel at capturing our attention while others seem to get lost in the crowd? Well, one crucial aspect of successful branding lies in the packaging design, specifically in making sure that the front and back of the pack work harmoniously to convey a clear and impactful message. Importantly, that both the front and the back each have clear and distinct roles.  So today, we’re going be looking at the petfood aisle and talking about a particular piece of packaging that struggles with this Purina Go-Cat. Each week, ‘a slice of’, will take a look at a supermarket brand and critique the pack design to find out what works, or doesn’t. What makes you desire them, or even hate them?  Importantly what makes us put them in our shopping basket! I plan to keep the podcast to around five minutes each, and I’ll include some voice message comments that have been sent through about the packs from my LinkedIn page. You can find our contact details below: Alan Gilbody on Linkedin: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/alangilbody/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Slice Design Company website ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://slicedesign.co.uk⁠⁠⁠ #packagingdesign #packdesign #packaging #branddesign #branding #petfood #pets #pet #cat #food #BOP #backofpack

Branding & packaging design for Activia yoghurt / yogurt & the issues faced by FMCG brands with functional food offerings. Functional foods are seemingly everywhere at the moment.  And there are probably a couple of key reasons behind this. Firstly, consumers are looking for for healthier options and products with added value which fit into much their much healthier lifestyles than seen in previous generations. Secondly, In order to create differentiation brands have had to find more to hang their hat on then relying on the default ‘we taste great’ more ‘we only use the finest ingredients. This all sounds great, but traditionally, functional food and appetite appeal have never been good bedfellows. If you’re trying to communicate that something is better or healthier for you, it can often come with a compromise. So today, I wanted to look at one brand that I think has often struggled with this balance of functionality versus taste. Activia yoghurts. Each week, ‘a slice of’, will take a look at a supermarket brand and critique the pack design to find out what works, or doesn’t. What makes you desire them, or even hate them?  Importantly what makes us put them in our shopping basket! I plan to keep the podcast to around five minutes each, and I’ll include some voice message comments that have been sent through about the packs from my LinkedIn page. You can find our contact details below: Alan Gilbody on Linkedin: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/alangilbody/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Slice Design Company website ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://slicedesign.co.uk⁠⁠ #packagingdesign #packdesign #packaging #branddesign #branding #functionalfood #yogurt #yoghurt #dairy #food

Branding and packaging design for Ramonas and the issues faced by natural FMCG brands using bright colours. Using punchy colourways is a fantastic way to stand out on shelf. If everybody else is muted red, then why not go bright blue, right? This methodology is something that has been successfully adopted in sectors, such as home, cleaning where bleaches dropped the usual robust blues and adopted a fluorescent pink palette. This works well in this sector as bright colours, cue action and efficacy and freshness! Now whilst that may be successful for home cleaning and more functional utilitarian sectors, its always a danger to adopt something so category shattering and vivid when you’re looking at say, food brands. We are used to bright colourways in confectionary or in the world of sugary treats, but less so in healthier or natural foods. So this week we are going to be looking at the rather fabulous Ramona's heavenly Houmous. Each week, ‘a slice of’, will take a look at a supermarket brand and critique the pack design to find out what works, or doesn’t. What makes you desire them, or even hate them?  Importantly what makes us put them in our shopping basket! I plan to keep the podcast to around five minutes each, and I’ll include some voice message comments that have been sent through about the packs from my LinkedIn page. You can find our contact details below: Alan Gilbody on Linkedin: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/alangilbody/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Slice Design Company website ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://slicedesign.co.uk⁠ #packagingdesign #packdesign #packaging #branddesign #branding #colour #houmous #food

Branding and packaging design for contemporary craft beer and the issues faced by FMCG brands using humour. A good while back, I remember working on the packaging design for one of the first alcopop brands. They were pretty exciting products to work on, as it was the first time they’ve been a real competitor, an alternative to beer, spirits and wines.  That excitement wasn’t to last long. There was huge uproar at the time over the advent of these particular products and their potential appeal to underage drinkers as many of the pack, designs, focused on characterisation and exuberant graphics  Many of the packs featured, cartoons and characterisations of the fruits, from which they came from. The overall tone was of playfulness and exuberance, much more of a student night out and refined drinking. Understandably, this led to quite a large backlash from various consumer channels and many of the brands were pulled. The brands that were left, grew up and became a little more serious, more adult and (a little) more refined. The alcohol sector had learnt a valuable lesson, or so we thought. So, it’s quite odd to see some of the beer brands now picking up on some of these cues that led to the downfall of alcopops. In this podcast, will be looking at a few of these brands and how they could potentially be falling into the same trap as their alcopop predecessors. Each week, ‘a slice of’, will take a look at a supermarket brand and critique the pack design to find out what works, or doesn’t. What makes you desire them, or even hate them?  Importantly what makes us put them in our shopping basket! I plan to keep the podcast to around five minutes each, and I’ll include some voice message comments that have been sent through about the packs from my LinkedIn page. You can find our contact details below: Alan Gilbody on Linkedin: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/alangilbody/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Slice Design Company website ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://slicedesign.co.uk⁠ #packagingdesign #packdesign #packaging #branddesign #branding #beer #craftbeer #drinks

Branding and packaging design for bottled water brands and the issues faced by FMCG brands being sustainable. I’ve never really understood the need for bottled water. It’s bulky, it looks ugly in store and we can get it out of a tap, can’t we?  Whilst that may make sense in certain corners of the world, do we really need bottled water in developed countries? Is it actually serving in need or are we being served quite possibly the greatest marketing ploy of all time? Clearly there are certain situations where locally sourced water may not be clean, but we are lucky that in most instances tap water is easy to obtain and completely safe.  So why do we have all of these brands, taking up all of this valuable retail space, requiring logistics that cost much more than infrastructure that is already in place, to transport it from one place to another? So this week we will be looking at the bottled water fixture. Each week, ‘a slice of’, will take a look at a supermarket brand and critique the pack design to find out what works, or doesn’t. What makes you desire them, or even hate them?  Importantly what makes us put them in our shopping basket! I plan to keep the podcast to around five minutes each, and I’ll include some voice message comments that have been sent through about the packs from my LinkedIn page. You can find our contact details below: Alan Gilbody on Linkedin: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/alangilbody/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Slice Design Company website ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://slicedesign.co.uk⁠

Branding and packaging design for Gazebo street food and the issues faced by FMCG brands with authenticity. Authenticity is a word that you see banded around a lot on brands and packaging. Whether it’s been made with authentic ingredients or made to authentic recipe, in a World busy with brands trying to be authentic, How do you differentiate yourself?  Is it possible to be even more authentic than the competition, or do you have to find a better workaround? In this episode we are going to be looking at one of our packaging designs and how we solved that problem for Gazebo foods. Each week, ‘a slice of’, will take a look at a supermarket brand and critique the pack design to find out what works, or doesn’t. What makes you desire them, or even hate them?  Importantly what makes us put them in our shopping basket! I plan to keep the podcast to around five minutes each, and I’ll include some voice message comments that have been sent through about the packs from my LinkedIn page. You can find our contact details below: Alan Gilbody on Linkedin: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/alangilbody/⁠⁠⁠⁠ Slice Design Company website ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://slicedesign.co.uk⁠

Branding and packaging design for Ryvita crackers and the issues faced by FMCG brands with standout on shelf. Honesty in packaging design will always win through. There is always temptation on pack to make everything look perfect. All the logos contained in holding shapes, all of the ingredients shots beautifully cropped and balanced, but sometimes a bit of honesty is the best policy. This week, we look at Ryvita. Each week, ‘a slice of’, will take a look at a supermarket brand and critique the pack design to find out what works, or doesn’t. What makes you desire them, or even hate them?  Importantly what makes us put them in our shopping basket! I plan to keep the podcast to around five minutes each, and I’ll include some voice message comments that have been sent through about the packs from my LinkedIn page. You can find our contact details below: Alan Gilbody on Linkedin: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/alangilbody/⁠⁠⁠ Slice Design Company website ⁠⁠⁠https://slicedesign.co.uk⁠

Branding & packaging design for Easter Eggs & the issues faced by FMCG brands to reduce packaging / be sustainable. It has seemed like Easter for the last eight weeks! What is really odd this year is that in the midst of the cost of living crisis the theme across all Easter Egg packaging design seems to be that of excess. Not just the excess in amount of different offerings available but excess in the amount of packaging associated and allocated to the seasonal treats (All comments are taken from my LinkedIn page and voiced on the podcast by actors) Each week, ‘a slice of’, will take a look at a supermarket brand and critique the pack design to find out what works, or doesn’t. What makes you desire them, or even hate them?  Importantly what makes us put them in our shopping basket! I plan to keep the podcast to around five minutes each, and I’ll include some voice message comments that have been sent through about the packs from my LinkedIn page. You can find our contact details below: Alan Gilbody on Linkedin: ⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/alangilbody/⁠⁠ Slice Design Company website ⁠⁠https://slicedesign.co.uk⁠