Design to a tea
Somage Fine Foods boasts premium product lines “Chamellia” Single Estate High Grown Organic Tea and Tisane; “Kali” 100% natural gluten and dairy free premium drinking chocolate and “Amoda” spiced Chai powder, and had successfully built a national distribution channel supplying wholesale 450 accounts within the food service channels, primarily cafes, restaurants and specialty coffee roasters.
Increased daily demand for the Somage beverage range from the take-home market, fired by the highly successful presence in food and beverage outlets, had completely altered the company’s original charter to solely supply wholesale to the food service sector and moved to consumer retail markets and now, export.
Speed to the untapped domestic market to capitalise on the demand driven growth opportunities, necessitated the use of existing commercial packaging only adapted to smaller quantities. Initial results, while positive indicated a need to redesign the company’s labelling, packaging and brand aesthetic, to strategically address the particular challenge of engaging the domestic shopper at Point of Sale.
Marketing, brand and design consultancy Taylor & Grace, facilitated workshops over a fourteen week period to effectively explore brand, positioning and packaging and were deemed critical to the success of the design process. The workshops provided Taylor & Grace with a substantial assessment of the aesthetics, design and functional mandatories.
“In today’s market, consumers are increasingly seeking unique products that tell stories… Most often, product packaging, a brochure or website is the first point of contact a potential customer will have with a brand. A brand’s collateral and packaging need to communicate the essence of its product; its values, reflect its personality, reinforce and support its reputation.” Taylor & Grace.
Taylor & Grace determined that a redesign would effectively:
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promote the organic, health benefits of the product
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engage and excite customers to identify with and connect emotionally with the brand
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communicate the brand’s integrity and social conscience
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paint a vivid picture of the personality of the three product lines
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assist in raising the profile of tea to influence the primary demand
- more potently express brand values and philosophy and expand on the existing brand story
- increase consistency and refinement of the look and feel of the marketing collateral also ensuring sensitivity to specific market audiences
This Business Immersion serves to highlight both the importance of design in branding and conveying a story and in the overall functionality of a product’s delivery to its target audience. Issues of sustainability and eco-awareness became a priority both in best-practice method and in considerations of product consistency from materials in the making to marketing message.
Facts at a glance
Challenge
To create a unique packaging concept and redesign of key marketing and communications collateral to strengthen the brand identity of the Somage Fine Foods range of organic beverages as it moves from wholesale supply of the café environment into the domestic retail and export markets.
Solution
Incorporation of existing concepts into a redesigned range of key marketing tools: finished art packaging, design prototypes, Point of Sale collateral and refreshed website, which consistently spoke the story of the company, its product range and position within specialised markets.
Result
Taylor & Grace are pleased with the Client’s response and describe their [very pleasant] surprise at the reaction the prototypes generated at CafeBiz, a recent national trade show. On the strength of the packaging, Somage secured a major NSW distributor and around 40 new customers. Orders from existing customers have doubled. Selling with the prototype has increased interest in the product generally.
Click here to read the full Somage / Taylor & Grace case study.
Related Links
Somage - www.somage.com.au
Taylor & Grace - www.taylorandgrace.com.au
18 June 2008