Nick Dormon06.18.15
In a brand world where competition and personalization are driving greater product ranges and variants, the challenge is to own a global range that is united but not uniform. And design is your greatest tool.
Global brands dominate the personal care industry with giants such as Unilever, L’Oréal, and Johnson & Johnson homogenizing and scaling up their major brands. We are as likely to recognize our own deodorant brand in Shanghai as in Chicago, our favorite mascara in Paris or Durban.
While there are still many local jewels, the commercial benefits of scaling up are clear; rationalized production and supply-chain, savings on one set of global communication and design and, in a shrinking world, global brand recognition is vital.
But this global view comes with significant brand management challenges. Some choose centralized control while others prefer regional control, which is often the case when a local understanding is critical such as in the personal care and fragrance industry.
Regional control of brands, however, can mean a dilution of core brand values as they fight local competition like for like with whatever claims are popular, even if they are off-brand. It can result in brand assets being misinterpreted and packaging quality varying depending on suppliers.
To counteract this, trends are moving toward global control that defines a clear brand model as part of their centralized decision-making. We are starting to see global design and communications agencies creating strict guidelines to create a strong, uniform brand impression across all markets.
As a branding agency dealing with the design aspects of global brands, ECHO’s plea is for a degree of flex in this structure. There is a real danger of uniformity leading to blandness and a lack of emotional connection with the user.
This can be avoided – and it starts with the brand idea. The brand idea must resonate across all markets so as to connect with fundamental human needs, while also being flexible to interface with the consumer.
Coca-Cola’s idea of happiness is universal, 24 hour odor protection is not – many markets are not even conscious of perspiration as an issue. So when we helped Unilever redesign their Rexona Brand, their largest single category offer, we built the design around the broadly appealing idea of top freshness performance for active people.
From a design perspective we were then able to create a visual identity that brought together several brand names under the unifying idea of the tick – a strong performance symbol, but with a more flexible approach to the range and variant architecture.
This is key; it's the variants and ranges that need to directly interface and relate with individual consumers. In some countries, stronger fragrances are preferred and in others this is not so - we needed to communicate this sensitively on pack. We created a design that could accommodate hundreds of variations across different ranges, formats, sizes and products, but taking a step back they still appear as part of the same brand.
This required a set of Brand Guidelines with clear rules as to what can and cannot be done focusing on the brand name, mark and overall architecture; as well as Design Principles demonstrating the scope in which design can flex at a range or variant level. While the Guidelines will show do’s and don’ts and measurements, the Principles show examples and scales of variation.
Design Principles also help with structural and product design where form, function, behavior and sensorial aspects can be described in a brand context and so guide innovation where tight rules will only limit exploration. This will become increasingly important as technology and consumer expectation will drive personalization and customization of brands in the future.
So any global brand that is suffering from dilution across its markets needs to find a united approach –to get a clear agreement and leadership on the brand ‘crown jewels’ and set rules in stone to protect them. Collaborating markets to sensitively build a set of Design Principles will help them win locally and give the innovation team something to work with. This requires a collaborative and consultative approach to branding that is as much about negotiation as it is about creativity in order to create unity not uniformity.
Global brands dominate the personal care industry with giants such as Unilever, L’Oréal, and Johnson & Johnson homogenizing and scaling up their major brands. We are as likely to recognize our own deodorant brand in Shanghai as in Chicago, our favorite mascara in Paris or Durban.
While there are still many local jewels, the commercial benefits of scaling up are clear; rationalized production and supply-chain, savings on one set of global communication and design and, in a shrinking world, global brand recognition is vital.
But this global view comes with significant brand management challenges. Some choose centralized control while others prefer regional control, which is often the case when a local understanding is critical such as in the personal care and fragrance industry.
Regional control of brands, however, can mean a dilution of core brand values as they fight local competition like for like with whatever claims are popular, even if they are off-brand. It can result in brand assets being misinterpreted and packaging quality varying depending on suppliers.
To counteract this, trends are moving toward global control that defines a clear brand model as part of their centralized decision-making. We are starting to see global design and communications agencies creating strict guidelines to create a strong, uniform brand impression across all markets.
As a branding agency dealing with the design aspects of global brands, ECHO’s plea is for a degree of flex in this structure. There is a real danger of uniformity leading to blandness and a lack of emotional connection with the user.
This can be avoided – and it starts with the brand idea. The brand idea must resonate across all markets so as to connect with fundamental human needs, while also being flexible to interface with the consumer.
Coca-Cola’s idea of happiness is universal, 24 hour odor protection is not – many markets are not even conscious of perspiration as an issue. So when we helped Unilever redesign their Rexona Brand, their largest single category offer, we built the design around the broadly appealing idea of top freshness performance for active people.
From a design perspective we were then able to create a visual identity that brought together several brand names under the unifying idea of the tick – a strong performance symbol, but with a more flexible approach to the range and variant architecture.
This is key; it's the variants and ranges that need to directly interface and relate with individual consumers. In some countries, stronger fragrances are preferred and in others this is not so - we needed to communicate this sensitively on pack. We created a design that could accommodate hundreds of variations across different ranges, formats, sizes and products, but taking a step back they still appear as part of the same brand.
This required a set of Brand Guidelines with clear rules as to what can and cannot be done focusing on the brand name, mark and overall architecture; as well as Design Principles demonstrating the scope in which design can flex at a range or variant level. While the Guidelines will show do’s and don’ts and measurements, the Principles show examples and scales of variation.
Design Principles also help with structural and product design where form, function, behavior and sensorial aspects can be described in a brand context and so guide innovation where tight rules will only limit exploration. This will become increasingly important as technology and consumer expectation will drive personalization and customization of brands in the future.
So any global brand that is suffering from dilution across its markets needs to find a united approach –to get a clear agreement and leadership on the brand ‘crown jewels’ and set rules in stone to protect them. Collaborating markets to sensitively build a set of Design Principles will help them win locally and give the innovation team something to work with. This requires a collaborative and consultative approach to branding that is as much about negotiation as it is about creativity in order to create unity not uniformity.