Carbonated. Flavored. Water. I gave up pop a long time ago (yes, where I come from, we call it pop). Just a personal choice, a choice that has trickled down to my family to where we don’t bring it home. What we do purchase is A LOT of flavored water. To anyone who does their grocery shopping in-store, I don’t need to tell you about the explosion of this product in the last five years. Doubled, tripled, quadrupled? It has successfully become its own category in the beverage market only to be followed closely by the grown-up version of canned flavored alcoholic seltzers.
A while back I was strolling down this aisle wondering if we should try a different brand or flavor. It’s a colorful happy aisle, and as I was perusing all the options my designer instincts started making an obvious observation. All these brands look the same. Bold bi-colored can, check. Full size can on the packaging with the flavor colors and color blocking extended in the background, check. Floating fruit in a clear bubbly liquid, check. Simple, legible logo, check. All flavors organized in large color blocks down the aisle, check.
Now don’t get me wrong, all these options are designed well. On their own they are clean, their color pops, they are reflective of the product. But they ALL LOOK THE SAME. We have been involved in some of those conversations with a brand assessing their competition. Many of their decisions have been a reaction where there is safety in the familiarity of what is already out there. Brand X has had success with this approach so our Brand Y will probably have that same success. Maybe, but as a consumer, how do I make a choice in an aisle of sameness? How do I hear one brand when they are all speaking the same language at the same time in the same place? And does that sameness represent the same qualities about every brand?
Ironically after thinking about this, one of my favorite catalogs showed up at my door, Boden Clothing Company. How I would describe their brand: well-made classics with a bit of a twist. Bold patterns on timeless silhouettes, a ruffle or cuff in an unexpected place. Professional, yet creative. Something was different in their catalog; they changed their logo.
What used to be a personal handwritten mark of their brand name, a signature style, has transformed to a bold sans serif all caps expanded font. My first thought, I have seen this before. The first company that comes to mind is the beauty company Lorac - bold, sans serif, expanded font. When you start to look around, you may notice many well-known brand brands apply similar attributes. Cover Girl, Yahoo!, Facebook, Google, Chanel, Phillips, Lacoste, all start to look the same. I don’t know why Boden took this direction; most consumers won’t. But at first glance if your brand looks the same as the others does that reflect that your product is the same as everyone else’s as well? Why are you choosing to blend in as opposed to standing out?
Are any of these poorly designed? Of course not. Do some of these design attributes make sense for that brand? Sure. Should a brand mark evolve? Of course, if it is right for that brand. From a consumer and designer, this is about brand authenticity and standing apart from the rest. I simply would like to remind those that are in the room making brand decisions to make sure your brand solutions are right for you. It is so tempting to follow trends, there are reasons they are trends. If you are willing to stand out, you are communicating to the consumer you are not just another follower. Be true to yourself, your brand, and the rest will follow. Otherwise, you have another consumer strolling the water aisle who is probably going to stick to the brand she knows because yours looks like you copied her original brand anyways.
Qiana Graham - Account Executive / Senior Graphic Designer
