We attended the the JOM (Journal of Marketing) Breakfast Debate this morning (07:30 am – 09:00 am GMT +2) at the MichelAngelo in Sandton, hosted by Jeremy Maggs (@maggsonmedia), presented by Future Group and sponsored by Sappi and  ABSA bank, marketing debates supported by Remata. The focal subject of the event was Design and Packaging.

We had a great line-up of panelists to address us on Design and Packaging from various industries that are very influencial in the entire process. The panelists were as following: Gareth Pearson – CEO and Shareholder at BMI Reasearch, Andrew Human – CEO of The Loeries Awards, Adam Botha – Creative Director of Switch Branding and Design, Mariette Du Plessis – Partner at Adams & Adams, and Karen Saville – Client Service Director at Y&R (Johannesbburg).

Jeremy Maggs opened the discussion by sharing a few consumer behavior studies done which reveal that 70% of purchase decisions by the consumer are made in-store hence the importance of outstanding packaging which gives the consumer a different experience in their “mood of purchase moment”.

Gareth Pearson then took over taking us further into detail of “Consumer Insight” by adding how consumers are looking for value and convenience as the main factors influencing their purchase decision. And with the “Green” movement, now consumers are also environment conscious which affects the packaging of products.

The recycling process has quite a huge impact on logistics therefore added costs to the manufacturing of packages. Even though the Green movement has slowed down over the years, government regulations are being discussed to be put in place and the packaging industry will self-regulate through the Waste Management Bill.

Also social media has an impact on packaging, one example being the QR  codes on Doritos pack which pack design and product testing were done resulting from the impact of Waste Management Bill. But regardless of some of the limitations that affect design of packaging, we still come up on top for creativity and innovation in the world with the 2009 World Star Awards being testimony to that as South Africa won 9 awards, Japan 7, Norway 2 and Singapore 1. We must not downplay how creative we are.

Andrew Human then filled us in on how new and innovative packages create a different experience for the consumer. The Loeries Awards focus on the following quality of packaging trends: innovation and relevance to brand and audience. He then shared a few winning examples like, packaging by Bushmills and Cabriere.

It appeared that the most package conscious manufacturers are the Alcohol and Perfume industries. Well it has been researched and discovered that Alcohol and perfume purchases are highly driven by their packaging. Consumers almost exclusively purchase based on the packaging, which affects the pricing of the product.

Another example of great packaging is the Café Royale Tequila packaging – great innovation where South America meets Italy was the theme of the design.

Adam Botha talks sustainability of packaging design, the impact of CPA and the challenge to be creative taking all those parameters into consideration. As packaging is the final point of contact before the consumer makes a decision to purchase, it’s important for your product to stand out driven by creativity as the consumer notices what’s different.

A few techniques you can use is illustration to create a hand crafted, sustainable look. This can also help to curb the new rules of the CPA as The new CPA legislation is challenging creative minds to stay within the boundaries therefore limiting designers from being more innovative.

Karen Saville from Y&R shares with us their Pick ‘n Pay on Nicol project with us and all the design elements that went into the project including their target of their entire concept and how they brought that innovation to life with the help of the contractors they worked with. PnP brought global best practice, briefed architects and went away from the box format.

Y&R focused on making the store a sensory and comfortable experience for the visitors by being involved in every detail of the store. They used iconography rather than wording to achieve a more pleasant and interactive in-store experience for consumers which will make them spend more time in the store and make more purchases there.

Thyme on Nicol restaurant is seamlessly intergrated into PnP on Nicol whereas Good Food Studio is sexier and focused on ingredients. “the more pleasant and interactive you make your in-store experience, the more time people will spend in your store.” ~ Karen Saville.

With all the creativity and innovation needed in the design of your packaging, the companies who succeed at this face a lot of copy cats of competing products using the same theme of their creative to try to steal the loyal consumer purchases made based on the winning packaging.

Therefore it’s very important to register your creative to avoid such, as most companies do not register their creative which would cost them way less than a legal lawsuit against copy cats would cost them. Product creative counterfeiting is the biggest growing industry in the world!!!, and that’s where legal firms such as Adams & Adams come in.

Mariette du Plessis educated us on the legal and regulations side of the whole matter at hand. Any packaging can be protected if it can be graphically presented. She used the Jack Daniels packaging as an example of a very distinctive and subjective design. The Coke bottle is also a great example of trade marking.

Words like “pure” and “natural” cannot be used on packaging. “Original” can only be used if you are the first to launch such a product in that category.  Due to the CPA we need to design packaging to be more transparent and give the right and full information for the consumer. The package must not just only say “green” but the brand must be able to support by giving more information.

Conclusion:

Packaging design is a highly influencing factor in consumer purchase, therefore for product manufacturers, design innovation must be an informed business decision. Not just the design, but also the green and organic factors are now being considered by consumers in packaging.

Innovation in packaging is determined by budget as packaging can cost up to 45% of the overall product cost. Design registration is very important to protect your creative design from copy cats.

Insights for the day: Be interactive, responsible, sustainable, innovative and creative.

Social Media marketing and management of this event was done by saidWot and Virtuosa.

Today’s Journal of Marketing (JOM) debate session titled “Brand Attack: How to protect your brand” (held at the Michelangelo Hotel).

Our panelists were:

• Geoff Whyte – Brand Consultant
• Jermery Sampson – Group Executive, Interbrand Sampson
• Jenny Pienaar – Partner : Trademark and Litigation Department, Adams & Adams
• Noah Greenhill – Senior General Manager – Marketing and Business – JSE
• Zayd Abrahams – Sparkling Beverages, Coca Cola Company

The debate began with a showing of the now famous Darth Vader – The Force: Volkswagen Commercial .

Jeremy Maggs [@maggsonmedia] led the discussion and here is an overview of all the questions and answers from the session:

What should brands protect their brands in ads?

• Jeremy Sampson – brands should entertain and use copyrights to protect their brands.

Can brands copy other brand logos and ideas?

• Jenny Pienaar - The more successful you brand is the more prevalent it is in terms of exposure – there is law that supports brands. As a brand owner you must act fast to protect brand from infringement
• Noah Greenhill - This is a tactic used by brands (copying ideas) – for example “No name brands”.

How do you deal with infringement threats?

• Geoff Whyte – There is a huge amount of brands passing off as others so it is important to protect your brand space in every way.
• Zayd Abrahams – Smaller operators are outclassing bigger brands as they copy colour, mottos, brand ideas for example.
• Geoff Whyte – Challenge for businesses is managing value propositions and quality as Chinese goods flood the market.

Can Brand laugh off imitations?

• Geoff Whyte – You cannot afford to as the brands name is at stake therefore a brand needs to make sure that they protect the brand legally from such infringement.
• Jenny Pienaar – Infringement must be dealt with in any way possible as its damage to the brand can be huge. You may be ignored by the perpetrator but this is worth pursing in the quotes.

“There is no quick remedy to copyright infringement” – Jenny Pienaar – Partner : Trademark and Litigation Department, Adams & Adams.

How do big companies deal with infringement?

• Zayd Abrahams – Consumers need choice however within the boundaries of copyright infringement. Brands must make sure that the employees understand the rights that they have.

How else can brands try and make sure that consumers don’t move on to other brands?

• Geoff Whyte – The emotional questions come to play: “how emotional does brand A make me feel”? or “how do I feel about the cost of product A vs. product B”?
• Noah Greenhill – You may also try and often change your brand packaging so that you cover yourself from any infringement (to protect your brand space).
• Jermery Sampson – In order to protect the brand make sure you register all variations and aspects of the brand (e.g. colour, image variations, logo aspects, packaging shapes).

Do people fail to protect their brands?

• Jenny Pienaar – One you identify what your rights are then you must protect them. Then from there you will know once someone has infringed on your rights. These trademarks must be able to be represented graphically in order for them to be registered.

Examples of copyright infringement cases:

How critical are price points when it comes to imitation products?

• Jeremy Sampson – It is very important but we must not forget quality even in times of recessions.
• Noah Greenhill – Consumers buy according the trust of the brand therefore brands should not worry about imitations and the price of these goods.

How does trademark infringement affect local brands?

• Noah Greenhill – Brands often forget to register globally and concentrate on the local markets. If they do this early they can avoid international infringement.

Our next Journal of Marketing Debate will be titled:

“Direct Marketing – What changes does the CPA bring? And what’s the best way to reach your customer, and get results?”

Date: 30^th of June, 2011.

For further information contact – Megan Larter, 011 803 2040 or email – megan@thefuture.co.za.

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Japanese retailer Uniqlo’s new flash micro site is by far one of the best sites I have come across in ages. Engaging and fun, I spent hours coming up with the best loop possible. The site allows you to visually create a music loop using small video clips of individuals wearing the UT clothing range while making a sound. You can see/hear and rate loops created by other uses as well.

UT is an innovative store concept designed by UNIQLO creative director Kashiwa Sato of a futuristic convenience store for t-shirts. Each t-shirt style is displayed on forms in stainless steel display cases, with individual t-shirts packaged in clear plastic canisters resembling tennis ball cans. The t-shirts are stored on open shelves, making the shopping experience virtually self-service.

The microsite can be found here

More and more the balance of power is changing in favour of what the consumer decides a Brand is all about. Many factors have contributed to this but the most significant being technology and the ability to rapidly disperse information in a totally transparent manner giving the person-on-the-street that ability to voice her/his voice.

The internet and specifically web 2.0 has provided the various platform for this with blogs, social networking sites, forums, wikis to name a few. Marketers need to embrace this change, understand the conversations that are happening around Brands in this space and continuously find ways through passive engagement adding “content” value and allowing consumers to then “pull their Brands in” rather than aggresively pushing our one-sided messages onto them.

See Andy Rice of Yellowwood in an interview on eTV talking about this trend.