DESIGN AND MARKETING

z Designing fun packs for modern kids can be seriously good business

Taking on the Brat Packs*

Stone Age Moms certainly didnt have them. Victorian era Moms probably didnt suffer too many of them either. Picture the pampered kids pulling their Moms around stores in Malls and screaming for their favourite products and you have the modern day Brat. Of course it is not fair or accurate, to label all privileged, modern day kids between 4-14 years as brats, but it cannot be denied that the demographic is powerful enough for brands to aim their packaging directly at it.

Deepak Manchanda

Top corner: Eyeballs to grab eyeballs Below: Luring kids towards a brand remains an aesthetic challenge for companies

es, the pester power of modern day kids has influenced buying decisions in a dramatic way, obser ves Shweta Mohare, Creative Group Head, DY Works the design group that works on Kellogs Chocos and Cadburys packs among others. Especially, with the growing modern trade shopping experience, the kids can touch and feel the product and just toss it in the cart. Moreover, todays kids have easier access to things. They are aware of whats happening around them and across the world. They are constantly in search of new things. It is thus important to constantly churn out innovative and engaging ideas that will keep this generation hooked on at all times, she continues. (www.dyworks.com) Around the world, brands have realized that investment in child-centric pack design pays off. Children have emerged as a significant consumer group that cannot be overlooked. It is acknowledged that while parents may be doing the spending, it is their offspring who dictate where the money goes. In Western Europe children between the age of 5 and 14 are said to represent between 9 to 12% of the population and they have specific demands

Note:*Brat Pack: With apologies to the original group of young Hollywood actors to whom this term is usually ascribed.

Packaging South Asia 6 / June 2013

DESIGN AND MARKETING

Keeping a kid happy ensures sustained market dominance for companies

when it comes to food and drink, requiring a unique approach to marketing and product development. (www.packagingtoday.co.uk) Sudip Mondal, Head of Packaging Development at Perfetti Van Miele India, agrees. Branding for children is big business, he says. Children offer a captive audience and wield enormous purchasing power directly and indirectly. They are seen as a future as well as current market. Brand loyalty developed at a young stage helps in the quest for continued sales, later. However, in India as yet Shweta Mohare observes, There are very few childrenoriented packs in the Indian market today.Mostly, all packs follow the conventional structure, barring a few like the Junior Horlicks or Cadbury Wowiess. We hardly see any innovation in terms of the structures, printing techniques or substrates, as most emphasis is paid on graphics only. Whilst, international markets display immense emphasis on child-centric packs starting from Lego to Crayola which have built in the sensorial experience of using crayons. The recent launch of Perfettis Alpenliebe Mangofillz confectionery pouch shaped like a funny mango shaped face perhaps is just the kind of holistic approach to which Shweta Mohare is referring. As Sudip Mondal says, the unique Mangofillz pouch was conceptualized to be shelf and self appealing to kids. It was designed to catch the attention of kids with shiny big bright holographic eyes and unusual shape while being displayed on the shelf promote interactive exploration and imagination, with its leaves which also work as an easy-open notch while being held in hand. Shweta Mohare appears to agree with the above approach. While creating a pack for children, she says the visual power and experience plays a key role in wooing the audience. An element of unexpectedness or a sense of surprise makes it that much easier to connect with kids. Playful being the operating word, the colours and graphics need to be bright so as to catch the eye immediately and more so, the childs attention. While all this may seem easy and fun at a marketing level, the technology challenges in such a process can be daunting. Steve Osborne of Osborne Pike aptly terms it the serious business of designing for fun. (www.mediapost.com/publications/article/). Sudip Mondal refers to the challenges of minimizing material waste arising out of a non-geometric mango shape pouch; making profile-cut pouch sealing and cutting dies as well as having to lay down standard manufacturing quality

Product design can help ensure steady attraction for kids

Packaging South Asia 6 / June 2013

DESIGN AND MARKETING

parameters for a non-regular pouch shape. In addition there is a dire need to ensure the use of safe, non-toxic inks and lacquers. Shweta Mohare refers to the necessity of adhering to easy product nomenclature, category codes as well as Nutrition Tables which almost all mothers would like to see even if they are not necessarily the final consumers of the product.

z Not Just Funny Faces

Steve Osborne while defining his understanding of what works best for contemporary childrens packaging suggests that due to the media influence of Pixar and Dreamworks, packaging for kids has gone well beyond just funny faces. His prescription for developing a successful brat-pack suggests one or a combination of three following strategies: Draw a face on it Hire a back-story Use best of both above Kids can anthropomorphize practically anything from animals to apples, strawberries and every other recognizable ingredient known to man, observes Steve Osborne. This is why draw a face on it seems to work well as an entry-level strategy for kids packs but it still needs more to get serious credibility from the Mom. Hiring the rights of using a popular TV or film character on the pack (see example, Angry Birds on Lipton Ice Tea promo pack) is the next level of engaging with the kids imagination. However this approach ends in building up the featured characters brand more than the product brand itself. In this context, while Steve Osborne suggests a best of both approach, Shweta Mohare is perhaps closer to the winning strategy when she says, I try and make the pack interactive and keep in mind the after-use of the pack. For example a cereal box turning into a toy or an activity which is engaging and fun for kids. Among the main reasons cited for the success of a kid pack is what could easily be termed as the First Law of Pack Design: Sensation Transference. It stipulates that all packaging has to transfer consumer perception of its design, quality to the product inside. When this law combines with an ingredient of story-telling by which the child can enter a fantasy world of adventure, brand loyalty can be assured. Much research with children has also been cited to suggested that kids by nature are neophobic (afraid of the new) and this is what makes the brat-pack market so risky. It is also believed that a key stage of neurological development among children takes place between the ages of 7 to 8 years. It is at this age that kids test out rebellion behaviour to find their place in the world. As they develop a keen interest in fantasy worlds and are deeply influenced by TV, video as also what their peer group thinks is cool. In simple pack design terms this can translate into choices of packaging that looks different or opens and closes funny. Modern day parents, too are influenced strongly in the packaging choices for their children by their inner need to assuage a feeling of guilt for not having enough time, from their busy working lives, to spend with them. Combined with the trends of smaller families with higher disposable incomes this assures that kids packaging becomes a strong niche for brands to explore. No wonder then that markets in Europe and US are already teeming with the likes of lunch-box and dairy snacks and beverages like: Rippa Dippa, Dairy Maniacs, Moo, Munchcup, Ben10, Chewits, Coco Pops, Frosties, Cheesetrings, Yosicle, Yoplait, Yazoo, Boobee and hundreds more. Isnt it time for the likes of our Appy Fizz and Grappo Fizz for example, to get a makeover? z
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Converting kids obsession into brand and packaging success

Deepak Manchanda, Consultant Packaging Design & Technology, www.firstouch.in, Over 35 years experience in the packaging industry; From the Central Design Services of Metal Box, to Packaging Development in Ranbaxy, Dabur and Oriflame India. Currently, with Firstouch Solutions, a division of Autumn Design, he offers packaging design solutions to a wide range of clients in varied industry sectors. deepackmanchanda@gmail.com; deepakmanchanda.firstouch@gmail.com

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Packaging South Asia 6 / June 2013