Retail Display Research

Through examination of product displays in a couple of different supermarket chains, I noticed a few trends. The ends of isles generally advertised the best current sales with large signs declaring the discounted price above them to draw the eye. These are highly visible, sometimes even from outside the store, which makes them great for drawing customers further into the shop, which may lead them to a number of products that jump out at them along the way. The area around the registers is for the merchandising of impulse purchases like magazines, drinks, and chocolate bars. These are merchandised near the end of the shopping transaction as a last grab for small extra sales. The fresh produce section is full of well organised and well lit displays that use the bright colours of the food to draw the eye. Often the displays of fruit and vegetables will have step-like prop shelving that slants upward and involve use of mirrors, all to make the display look more bountiful. Isles contain products of a similar nature to ensure the shopping experience is straightforward and intuitive for the customer. If products are easy to find, they are easier to buy. Customers are also likely to find another product they could buy of similar nature when searching for something specific, like party supplies. Clip strips are hung through isles with products that don't necessarily directly relate to the subject of the isle, but are just things that average people generally need, in order to promote more impulse buying. Some new products are emphasised with their own temporary cardboard displays. There are also large cardboard displays for any promotions being run by the store at the time, like Jamie Oliver's association with Woolworths. Essentially, any products or deals that are new are emphasised as being exciting with brightly coloured eye-catching tickets. Fresh produce is kept looking well-lit, well-stocked, and well-considered in placement, and the isle designs will use natural green imagery to promote the idea of freshness.

T2 vs Lipton Comparison and Mood Board

As we learned from our visit to T2, their branding is all about educating the customer and giving them an experience. T2's packaging designs for each individual product are made to work in harmony all together in their specially designed store environment. The usual form of packaging for T2 tea is in bright orange printed card cube-shaped boxes with white text in a simple, clean, sans-serif  typeface with a unique bright colour assigned to each flavour of tea. The packaging is designed to be bold and eye-catching as well as sophisticated. The different packages are all clearly connected while still allowing for each flavour to be easily differentiated. The packaging for T2 feels very artistically designed and suits the premium image of the brand and dresses the product well as a luxury item.

Lipton's packaging takes a completely different strategy to the T2 packaging. Although they are both brands of tea, the two are marketed in completely different contexts, which is reflected in their packaging design. While T2 is marketed in a store filled only with merchandise from their own bag and focuses on creating a meaningful store experience, Lipton is marketed in grocery stores on shelves next to its direct competitors. Because of this, the goal of Lipton packaging is to catch the eye of the customer and draw them to that brand over rival brands. The standard flavour of Lipton is sold in bright yellow cardboard boxes that are immediately recognisable and attention grabbing. Lipton's logo is red to signify a long-standing trusted brand. To differentiate between flavours of tea, Lipton alter the packaging to incorporate imagery related to the flavour, such as a peach or berries. The packaging overall is simple but neat in design so as to express that the tea is quality but not costly in order to attract customers. Lipton's packaging is done well to ensure the brand is instantly recognisable and eye-catching and appealing to its target customer.

Moodboard:

Brand Research: Smiggle

What is the company's "brand story" and how is this communicated in the design of the products and packaging? Who is the target market of the company? 

Smiggle is a quirky designer stationary store began in Melbourne in 2003 by Stephen Meurs and Peter Pausewang. The idea proved to be popular and their business expanded to 20 stores, attracting the attention of Australasian fashion and apparel retailer "the Just Group". With the help of the Just Group, Smiggle expanded overseas in 2008 to New Zealand, and later to Singapore and the United Kingdom. The idea was to market stationary products that were engaging, collectable, and affordable, targeted at boys and girls (but mainly girls) aged 14 to 25.

How do you think they address this target market (ie. use of colour, graphics, type of products) What type of packaging does the company use (branded carry bags, tissue paper, branded boxes etc.)? 

The name "Smiggle" was chosen as a combination of the words "smile" and "giggle" to give the brand a fun and happy label that would be appealing to the target market. The Smiggle brand designs are brightly coloured and cartoon-y making them fun and youthful. The products run in matching sets to entice customers to buy the rest of the products in the set, which works really well on the young market. Smiggle products are sold in simple white paper bags branded with their logo.

What does the packaging say/make you feel about the brand? 

Smiggle's brand design highly successful in presenting a fun, playful range of products that are enticing to their target audience. The in-store experience is colourful and engaging which helps customers get the feel of the merchandise. The simple packaging is clean and effective. Having white bags makes the colours of the products stand out and matches with all the different products, no matter the design. The logo on the bag as the main focus is appropriate as Smiggle products are considered to be cool within the target audience, so part of the price you pay for the product is to have certified Smiggle gear. Paper bags are well suited to the stationary-type merchandise they sell, and are environmentally friendly and make the product feel more special, like a gift bag.

References:

Smiggle.com.au,. (2015). About Us - The History of Smiggle | Smiggle. Retrieved 10 August 2015, from http://www.smiggle.com.au/shop/en/smiggle/about-us

Wikipedia,. (2015). Smiggle. Retrieved 10 August 2015, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smiggle