Patterns

Patterns
about design in consumer packaging
Coffee
June 2004
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Designing Brand Corporate and Net ID R.Bird & Company, Inc. Ten Bank Street • White Plains NY 10606 USA • 914 989 9300 • 914 989 9318 fax
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Coffee
Intro & Contents
Introduction & Contents
Introduction
If you’re a brand manager, marketing professional, or package designer
about to begin or in early stages of a package design initiative, it’s essential
to be aware of context. “Patterns” is a series of published reports that provide
professional observations about package design practices within specific
product categories.
Method
Armed with digital cameras and note pads, our designers visit retail
environments and observe product packaging in its natural habitat. We then
purchase a selection of examples and bring them back to R.BIRD for closer
study. The packages are photographed and analyzed by the team in search of
common design threads and patterns of opportunity in the category.
Contents
Introduction & Contents
Overview
Environment
Structure
Structure: Innovation
Theme: Origin
Theme: Growing Coffee
Theme: Drinking Coffee
Theme: Experience
Color: Ownership
Color: Decaf
Color: Roast Level
Photography
Illustration
Endorsements
Premium vs Value
Thank You
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Designing Brand Corporate and Net ID R.Bird & Company, Inc. Ten Bank Street • White Plains NY 10606 USA • 914 989 9300 • 914 989 9318 fax
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Coffee
Overview
Overview
Overview
Our observations include some of the brands and categories shown above.
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Designing Brand Corporate and Net ID R.Bird & Company, Inc. Ten Bank Street • White Plains NY 10606 USA • 914 989 9300 • 914 989 9318 fax
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Coffee
Environment
Environment
Environment
The images above were taken at supermarkets in the New York metropolitan
area. Typically, the coffee aisle is divided into instant coffees, canned ground
coffees and premium or whole bean coffees (shown in branded shelving units
in the bottom right).
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Designing Brand Corporate and Net ID R.Bird & Company, Inc. Ten Bank Street • White Plains NY 10606 USA • 914 989 9300 • 914 989 9318 fax
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Coffee
Structure
Structure
Structure
Coffee is sold in a variety of structures depending on the type of coffee,
volume, and use. Value-priced and bulk coffees are typically sold in cans, tubs,
or bricks while bags are reserved for whole beans or specialty coffees seeking
that “corner roaster” image.
Response
Structure, just like every aspect of design, should constantly evolve to meet
new usage patterns, shipping and selling concerns, brand strategy, even
changes in consumer lifestyle.
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Designing Brand Corporate and Net ID R.Bird & Company, Inc. Ten Bank Street • White Plains NY 10606 USA • 914 989 9300 • 914 989 9318 fax
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Coffee
Structure: Innovation
Structure: Innovation
Structure: Innovation
Nescafé, Harmony Bay, and Folgers have introduced plastic containers which
allows them to create comfortable handles, pop-up lids and unique shapes.
International Coffees has added a line of instant cappuccino blends sold in
individual pouches, but they continue to hold on to their signature rectanglular
metal tin, still a unique stand-out in the category.
Response
Notably absent from the stores we visited were the increasingly popular coffee
“pods” (lower right). These little one-hit-wonders are by far the most dramatic
innovation in coffee-making. Rather than making an entire pot of coffee at
once, each pod makes a single, balanced cup of coffee. Perfect for the onecoffee-drinker family or the coffee fanatic rushing out the door in the morning.
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Designing Brand Corporate and Net ID R.Bird & Company, Inc. Ten Bank Street • White Plains NY 10606 USA • 914 989 9300 • 914 989 9318 fax
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Coffee
Theme: Origin
Where It Comes From
Where It Comes From
Like a fine wine, the character of a coffee is often determined by its place
of origin. Whether it’s the mountains of Columbia, the rolling hills of New
England, exotic tropical highlands, or even the streets of New York, a unique
sense of place reinforces the experiential qualities of the product.
Response
Projecting a generalized, macroscopic sense of place such as “Mountain
Grown” is common to big name brands seeking the widest audience.
Focusing on a more specific locale (real or imagined) may be more
appropriate for smaller mom-and-pop brands or those seeking a “specialty”
image.
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Designing Brand Corporate and Net ID R.Bird & Company, Inc. Ten Bank Street • White Plains NY 10606 USA • 914 989 9300 • 914 989 9318 fax
page 8
Coffee
Theme: Growing Coffee
The People Who Grow It
Who Grows It
Many coffees feature an archetypal persona of the grower, cultivator, picker, or
roaster as a key component to their brand.
Response
The “human touch” is the ingredient that makes this product much more than
a simple agricultural commodity. From seedling to sip, it has been cared for
by people, not the least of whom are the many people, rolled into one iconic
persona, who cultivate and nurture it along the way.
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Designing Brand Corporate and Net ID R.Bird & Company, Inc. Ten Bank Street • White Plains NY 10606 USA • 914 989 9300 • 914 989 9318 fax
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Coffee
Theme: Drinking Coffee
The People Who Drink It
Who Drinks It
The presence of someone enjoying a cup of coffee is common across the
category. The are often depicted in a pre-sip state of contemplation where
aroma and taste converge - a moment here defined as the “sip-sniff.”
Response
Coffee is often revered as a rich, thought-provoking product. Depicting a
person in a state of enjoyment helps build a strong connection with the
powerful sensorial qualities of coffee.
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Designing Brand Corporate and Net ID R.Bird & Company, Inc. Ten Bank Street • White Plains NY 10606 USA • 914 989 9300 • 914 989 9318 fax
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Coffee
Theme: Experience
What It Feels Like
What it feels like
Almost everyone in the category makes an effort to convey the experiential
qualities of the product in some way. JavaNa tries to bring the bistro-esque
café experience to the grocery shelf, while others play up coffee’s warming,
aromatic qualities.
Response
Starbucks has not only changed the way coffee is sold, they’ve changed the
way people think about it - from a simple commodity to a richly-engaging
experience, and ultimately a deeper aspect of one’s daily lifestyle.
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Designing Brand Corporate and Net ID R.Bird & Company, Inc. Ten Bank Street • White Plains NY 10606 USA • 914 989 9300 • 914 989 9318 fax
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Coffee
Color: Ownership
Owning Color
Owning Color
Folgers dominates the red spectrum of mass market brands with several
others nearby. Chock Full o’ Nuts owns yellow while other brands exist as
price-conscious options or use gold to communicate “premium.” Maxwell
House owns blue along with other mass market and specialty brands.
Response
There is opportunity to compete alongside Sanka, the lone entrant in the
orange spectrum, particularly since the product line is so narrow. Green is an
option, but care should be given considering the color largely stands for decaf
across the board. Violet, long known for its associations with royalty, is wide
open with only a couple smaller names or specialty products represented.
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Designing Brand Corporate and Net ID R.Bird & Company, Inc. Ten Bank Street • White Plains NY 10606 USA • 914 989 9300 • 914 989 9318 fax
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Coffee
Color: Decaf
Decaf Is Green
Decaf is Green
With the exception of Sanka, virtually every other brand in the category uses
the color green to indicate “decaf.”
Response
If one is considering green as a core part of their brand, they should only do
so for a very strong, specific purpose. Many Italian coffees, for example, use
green as part of their brand because of its presence in the Italian flag - an
indispensable ingredient in Italian equity. Likewise, a few specialty products
use green as an indication of the natural or organic aspects of the product.
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Designing Brand Corporate and Net ID R.Bird & Company, Inc. Ten Bank Street • White Plains NY 10606 USA • 914 989 9300 • 914 989 9318 fax
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Coffee
Color: Roast Level
Darker Colors = Darker Roast
The Darker the Color, the Darker the Roast
Almost without exception, the darker the color, the darker or richer the roast.
Folgers (top left) and Chock Full o’ Nuts (top right) even provide a color key
on the package so customers can understand the roast level at a glance.
Espresso roasts, more common to European brands, range from rich deep
colors (Sclafani, middle right) to completely black (LavAzza, lower right).
Response
Roast level is an important purchasing consideration. If executed well, color
value can help the customer quickly understand how light or dark the coffee is
compared to other varieties in the line.
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Designing Brand Corporate and Net ID R.Bird & Company, Inc. Ten Bank Street • White Plains NY 10606 USA • 914 989 9300 • 914 989 9318 fax
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Coffee
Photography
Product Photography
Product Photography
If it isn’t a picture of beans, it’s probably a picture of a cup of coffee, steam
rising, centered at the bottom of the package.
Response
Providing some depiction of the product can go a long way toward improving
appetite appeal. Few of the big name canned coffees had any representation
of the product on the package, leaving the customer with no understanding of
the product conealed within.
When showing a cup of coffee, the choice of cup (a classical gold rimmed tea
cup versus a casual diner mug, for example) can provide subtle cues about
the positioning of the product.
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Designing Brand Corporate and Net ID R.Bird & Company, Inc. Ten Bank Street • White Plains NY 10606 USA • 914 989 9300 • 914 989 9318 fax
page 15
Coffee
Illustration
Illustration
Illustration
Custom illustration is a common approach in the whole bean and specialty
coffees. New England Coffee (upper left) adopts a style similar to 19th century
New England folk art. JavaNa employs a whimsical French bistro style first
popularized by Starbucks. And Green Mountain Coffee (lower right) uses a
style similar to Post-Impressionist Paul Gauguin to evoke a sense of tropical
paradise.
Response
Illustration not only describes the product experience, it implies a sense of
craftsmanship. It lends a “one of a kind” aura to the product, prompting the
customer to care that much more about it.
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Designing Brand Corporate and Net ID R.Bird & Company, Inc. Ten Bank Street • White Plains NY 10606 USA • 914 989 9300 • 914 989 9318 fax
page 16
Coffee
Endorsements
Endorsements
Endorsements
There are many different forms of endorsement across the category - from the
New York-ish “I Love Café Bustelo” to Maxwell House’s ever-famous “Good
to the Last Drop” (lower right). Products which adhere to fair trade standards
such as Green Mountain Coffee (upper right) proudly display a stamp of
certification, while others rely on a simple gold ribbon for added confidence
about quality and taste.
Response
The best endorsements are those that come from unbiased sources or, as is
the case with Maxwell House, offered up unsolicited by a former President of
the United States (Roosevelt).
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Designing Brand Corporate and Net ID R.Bird & Company, Inc. Ten Bank Street • White Plains NY 10606 USA • 914 989 9300 • 914 989 9318 fax
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Coffee
Premium vs. Value
Premium vs. Value
Structure
Premium coffees come
in bags, just as they’re
sold by the corner roaster.
Value coffees sell in cans,
bricks or other less delicate
structures.
Graphics
Premium graphics tend
to be richer and deeper,
with greater attention to
detail and materials. Value
graphics tend to be much
simpler and flatter.
Personal Appeal
Premium brands often
provide a compelling reason
why the customer should
care more about them. Value
brands often focus more on
the facts than they do on
any “greater” motivations.
Premium vs. Value
Three ways of differentiating between premium and value brands are
structure, graphics, and personal appeal.
Response
There appears to be a significant gap between premium and value brands.
Maxwell House is now selling a midrange “premium blend” in bags alongside
higher-priced coffees by Starbucks, Newman’s Own, and others.
Look for that trend to continue and for other brands to fill the gap using a
combination of structure, graphics, and personal appeal to reach their target
market with a “premium” message.
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Designing Brand Corporate and Net ID R.Bird & Company, Inc. Ten Bank Street • White Plains NY 10606 USA • 914 989 9300 • 914 989 9318 fax
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Coffee
Thank You
Thank You
Thank you for your interest in “Patterns.”
Interested in a custom report?
We can expand further on a report we’ve already published or we can build a
custom report specifically suited for your business initiative. Interested parties
should contact Joseph Favata, Creative Director, at 914-989-9300 or by email
at jfavata@rbird.com to learn more or to make a request.
Questions or comments?
For questions and comments please send email to patterns@rbird.com.
About R.BIRD
R.Bird & Company, Inc. is a New York identity and design consulting firm with
more than 20 years of experience creating package design, brand identity,
corporate identity, corporate communications, website, application, and user
interface design solutions. Its clients are internationally-recognized brands and
strategy-oriented organizations.
Copyright notice
The contents of this document are ©Copyright 2004, R.BIRD & Company,
Inc. All rights reserved. No portion of this document may be reproduced,
published, or distributed in any form without prior written consent from R.BIRD
& Company, Inc. Any trademarks referenced herein are the property of their
respective owners.
www.rbird.com
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Designing Brand Corporate and Net ID R.Bird & Company, Inc. Ten Bank Street • White Plains NY 10606 USA • 914 989 9300 • 914 989 9318 fax