Comparisons...

Morrisons current design:

My current Re-design:

Tesco:

The white background is quite strong here, and allows the type and image to stand out well. The two colours are a strong contrast to each other, which makes the design a little difficult because everything seems to have an equal impact. The images are a little odd, they seem to be recoloured, which is a bit strange. The overall design is quite strong, compared to mine I think that mine needs a little more consideration with the layout and placement of information.

Asda:

Comparing this design to mine I can see that the layout of information is very central, and I think that this could work better for my design. Keeping the information central is strong, and makes the design feel balanced. The limited colours here work well, but the impact isn't amazing. I can see that my design needs to be lighter and less coloured.

Sainsburys:

Similar limited colour pallet, but the design feels much lighter and simpler. The orange colour works really well because it stands out so strongly against the white background. The hand written type is interesting and works well with the personality of this design. It is certainly stronger than my current design, mainly because it is fun and friendly.

Waitrose:

These products feel quite high-end, despite being part of an 'essentials' range. The use of coloured illustrations is good, but they are very detailed and would take a lot of time to produce, which isn't very practical for value products. Compared to my design these feel much better quality, as they have a more considered design. The surface areas feel spacious and uncluttered. I want my design to be more desirable and attractive to the buyer, so I think that I need to focus on creating more space for the information within the design.

Successful Food Packaging Design

"Packaging is people's perception of the brand; it's that core. It is your single most expensive for of advertising; and if you're a small company it's your only advertising. When people think of your product - whatever kind of food it may be - they picture the package it comes in" - Mark Greene, Pecos Design, New York - Page: 45 Hargreaves, B (2006) Successful Food Packaging Design. Rotovision SA. Hove, UK

Morrisons Product Ranges

Morrison's have several food ranges in addition to their standard, mid range products.

The Best - Premium quality products

Free From - Products that contain no allergens - dairy, wheat etc

Food Fusions - A range of products that are aimed at food enthusiasts for cooking quality and exciting dishes

Fresh Ideas - Fresh easy meals aimed at those with a busy lifestyle but enjoy more than beans on toast for dinner. Recently introduced a range of single serving dishes

East Smart - Lower fat, sugar, salt etc.; for those who watch what they eat or are on diets

Organic - Over 350 organically produced products

What I have learnt from the research:

1. Morrisons is always written next to the logo in full

2. The branding for each range uses the name typographically designed - no other icon or symbol logos are used

3. The designs utilize photography - except the food fusions range, this is very plain and simple

4. The information is clear and concicse.

5. None of these ranges use the brand colours anywhere near as heavily as the current VALUE brand.

Essential Waitrose Article 2

Article by: Popshop 11th March 2009

Waitrose has introduced ‘essential’ own label range

This Monday 9th March Waitrose started introducing a new own brand value range in stores across UK. The roll-out of the new product lines will continue until October.

The introduction of a new range called essential Waitrose is set to raise the bar on own label quality standards. The range consists of over 1400 lines comprising of staple grocery items with the quality and welfare standards you would expect from Waitrose – at prices you wouldn’t.

The range spans the majority of Waitrose aisles, from fruit and vegetables to household goods, grocery to meat, fish and poultry. As with all Waitrose own label products, the supermarket hasn’t compromised on quality standards or sourcing integrity. All pork used in essential Waitrose is British and outdoor reared, all chicken is British and eggs are free range; bananas are Fairtrade, and UK fruit and vegetables are LEAF accredited.

essential Waitrose is designed to make shopping for staple groceries easier for customers. The packaging design has a consistent look and feel making it easy for shoppers to navigate ranges throughout the store.

“Customer research tells us that although we are a destination store for quality products, shopping for our own label essential items hasn’t been as easy as it could be.” says Mark Price, Managing Director of Waitrose.

“Waitrose Own Label lines have always been produced to a superior quality and even sold as a stand-alone brand in quality supermarkets throughout the world. essential Waitrose effectively combines the quality our customers have come to expect and the reassurance of Waitrose values, together with affordable prices and an easily recognisable brand.”

Essential Waitrose Article 1

Article by: Which? 10th March 2009

Waitrose launches cheaper own label product range

Supermarket chain Waitrose has launched a cheaper range of own brand products.

The range – named Essential Waitrose – is made up of more than 1,400 lines of staple groceries including fruit and vegetables, household goods and meat, fish and poultry.

Waitrose was voted as the top high street shop by Which? members in our recent survey of stores.

Waitrose own label products

Waitrose said Essential Waitrose is made up of 200 new lines and existing Waitrose products. Around 450 of the existing goods will be reduced in price.

Products will have a consistent packaging design so shoppers can identify the Essential Waitrose range.

The launch of Essential Waitrose began yesterday, and will continue until October 2009 across 98 grocery categories.

Waitrose quality

Waitrose said that the Essential Waitrose range ‘hasn’t compromised on quality standards or sourcing integrity’. Bananas in the Essential Waitrose range will be Fairtrade, eggs will be free range and chicken will be British.

The range is set to compete with the already comprehensive own label ranges in Waitrose's 'big four' rivals - Asda, Morrisons, Sainsbury's and Tesco.

Waitrose managing director Mark Price said; ‘Essential Waitrose effectively combines the quality our customers have come to expect and the reassurance of Waitrose values, together with affordable prices and an easily recognisable brand.’

Economy Food Ranges

Britains largest supermarkets all have a low cost range of products. The names vary, but they essentially mid-low quality products for a cheap price. The names denote that the range is the lowest price they sell - Tesco - Value, Asda - Smart Price, Sainsbury's - Basics and Waitrose - Essentials.

Sainsbury's and Tesco have the largest range of value products - from fresh foods to store cupboard goods, household products and personal hygiene, they even sell economy alcohol. Asda has a more limited range - they sell a value version of most of their products, but they do not sell budget alcohol. Waitrose Essentials are the most recent brand to add a 'value' line - this range currently covers 1000 products, but is due to expand. The cost of the value products is of course in line with the cost of the medium level products - therefore Waitrose have to most expensive economy range.

I have managed to get direct comparisons of Sainsbury's, Tesco and Asda products, and a few photographs of the Waitrose range.

The Waitrose range uses a very plain font for their logo/name, it is also lower case which implies innocents but also that it is a lesser product. The images are really engaging - they are all hand drawn and water colour painted; this gives every product a unique imagery, and shows a great deal of variety within the range. The style of drawing implies that these products are still good quality - the illustration would obviously have taken a lot of time and care.

The use of colour is also appropriate - the colour of the product name is taken from the image - creating a lot of different colours within the range, but creating a complimentary design for each product. The overall range does not have a 'brand' colour, so using complimentary colours is ideal. The use of the white background is very good - it keeps all of the designs looking very clean and fresh, and allows the illustrations to really stand out. Overall this packaging is very successful - it is well executed and appealing, but it doesn't try to go overboard.

These ranges by Sainsbury's, Tesco and Asda, are all quite different, but they share certain traits.

1. The all use a brand colour. Sainsbury's use their signature orange, tesco the red and blue from their logo and Asda use their bright green. The amount of colour on each product varies. The teso products only use colour - no black printing. The Asda range uses black and green on the front of the packaging, whereas Sainsbury's stick to only orange for the main design and use black for the information section.

2. Logo - All of the products clearly show the logo on the front of the product. It is not the first thing in the hierarchy, it is kept low key, but relevant.

Sainsbury's -

Using the hand drawn illustration and type

creates a friendly feeling toward the packaging. The overall design is just one colour, but does not look cheap or too lower quality. The overall design is very engaging, the use of phrases below the name of the product help the buyer to understand why the product is cheaper. The Self Raising Flour reads - A little less refined, still rises to the occasion - this is an indication as the why the product is lower quality, but assures the buyer that it is almost/equally as good as a more expensive product.

A very successful design overall; it engages, it informs and it reassures the buyer that lower priced products are not necessarily worse quality.

Tesco -

This packing isn't as engaging as Sainsbury's, initially it certainly feels cheaper. Some but not all of the products use a photograph of the product to illustrate the content. In some cases these are tinted red - which is a bit weird and off putting. The overall design is very basic, sticking to two colours and limited information. This packaging is probably very cheap to produce, but also has a very cheap feeling. Informative, but not eye-catching.

Asda -

For a start, Asda seem to have a continuity issue. Their products are either green and white, or red and white. The green design carries the brand colour and makes it clear that the product is Asda own brand. The red design is DULL and carries no indication that it is an asda product other than the black logo at the top. This needs to be addressed, and all products bear the same livery. The designs themselves are basic, limited colours and information. Some of the green branded products carry a vector image of the product to give a better indication of what it is - though the name of the product is already quite clear. Overall, this brand looks cheap, is cheap and can't get away from the limiting design used. Not great.

Morrison's Value Range

The current Morrison's Value range...

Pros

• Two colour printing - yellow and green are the only printed colours, in some cases white is required and in some white is the substrate colour. Low printing costs
• Clear - the VALUE stands out well, as does the name of the product.
• Recognition - the brand colours make the products instantly recognisable as own brand products. Strong brand.

Cons

• Cheap - The instant reaction is that the product is cheap and therefore lower quality
• Colours - the colours clash and the yellow is ridiculously garish and bright. The yellow tone also seems to vary across the products
• Hierarchy - the VALUE text is larger than the name of the product. The product name should be the first thing you see so that you can identify it on the shelf.
• Information - the amount of information on the front of each product is limited. This looks a little careless and unconsidered.
• Circle - the name of the product is designed to fit inside the circle, but in most cases the name is too long or short and there is a lot of wasted space within the circle with looks silly.
• Ink - the amount of yellow ink on each product is huge which increases the cost of printing.

Do cheap brands require design of brutal economy?

JKR - Do Cheap brands require design of brutal economy?

This article asks the question of how far do you strip back a design for a value product before it devalues the product and the store?

Martin Francis laid into value own label packaging for looking not just cheap but ugly. His point was not a designer lovey one - rather he was saying that everyone, no matter what they are spending, deserves to have nice looking packs - why make folk feel like they are getting the cheapo rubbish with design to match? Making the basics range look more attractive might confuse a “good, better, best” strategy, but I suppose there are degrees of design refinement that can be applied. - JKR

I think the main issue here is that value packaging needs to do its job, be easily disposable and ultimately low cost. The sacrifices made to design within these parameters have been so far removed that the design work is simply ugly rather than low-key or budget.

Comparing these 4 tins of own brand, budget value baked beans clearly shows the differences in the consideration of presentation. All of the brands, bar Morrisons show the product - one is a photo graph, one a line drawing and the third some kind of coloured illustration. The image is not totally necessary, but it helps the customer to create a link to what they are buying more quickly.

The Morrisons Brand

"We are one of the country’s largest supermarket chains, offering a range of goods including both branded and own label products. Our aim is to provide all our customers with the very best value for money wherever they live and uniquely, we have always charged the same prices in every one of our large stores." - Morrisons

Morrisons market themselves as a friendly and value for money brand. As a Morrisons customer I can safely say that they are just as dull and commercial as any other British supermarket chain, with no real feature to set them apart. I would suggest that; in terms of their branding and company image, they sit just between Sainsbury's and Tesco in the supermarket hierarchy:

1. Waitrose 2. Sainburys 3. Morrisons 4. Tesco 5. Asda 6.Lidl/Netto/Aldi

In terms of cost Morrisons are equal to Sainsbury's, and in some cases are more expensive. As a brand they want to give value for money, and offer own label products sold along side brands. The issue arises with the own-brand products - these need to equally appeal to the customer, if not more so. So how do Morrison's convince the customer into buying own brand products?