Page 22 - Packaging News Magazine May-June 2018

22
COVER STORY www.packagingnews.com.au May-June 2018
Co-creation is disrupting packaging design
ANDREW ARCHER
Today’s highly successful and disruptive brands have almost all used co-creation to tackle complex challenges. So it ought to come as no surprise that the same innovation principles can apply to packaging design, writes Amber Bonney.
LEFT: The Edison Agency co-created the Untold brand via a strategy that was open-minded and striving for category disruption.
RIGHT: Untold comes in the form of a distinctive, full-bodied, full strength spiced rum in a 700ml bottle and
a range of premixed spiced rum drinks, curated by renowned Australian bartenders, available in cans (supplied by Visy).
The artwork on the can pictured right is by Australian street artist, Tim Phibs and the can design on this issue’s front cover is by illustrator, Andrew Archer.
surge of crowdfunding platforms is also an inspiring demonstration of collective opti- mism that speaks to a modern cultural economy that celebrates entrepreneurial spirit and collaboration.
The Edison Agency recently created a new rum brand for Asahi Beverages for the trans- Tasman markets. Untold is rum for modern- day drinkers searching out new taste experi- ences. The marketing, innovation and research and development team at Asahi Beverages engaged two of Australia’s most awarded bartenders to help co-create the liq- uid for a full-strength spirit and two pre- mixed products.
Collectively we tasted, critiqued and lis- tened to the industry experts to help us bet- ter understand what was going to create a product that was unique – what would they as bar-owners be looking for and advocating in their venues?
Our agency then co-created the Untold brand via a strategy that was open-minded and striving for category disruption. It’s a rum for here and now – not a tale of days gone by. This category is cluttered, with several brands already alluding to pirates and sea monsters. The creative idea captures that anti-establishment ethos; one that cele- brates genuine co-creation.
UTHENTIC co-creation is occurring in many industries, and eyebrow-rais- ing collaborations like Snoop Dogg and Martha Stewart, Mercedes Benz and pro surfer Mick Fanning, Dolce & Gabbana and Smeg appliances, all consistently show that surprise beats consistency every time and that the uncanny yet authentic co-creation captures and keeps even the most estab- lished and traditional brands relevant in
the market.
At both The Edison Agency and Bonney
Creative, our most recognised and award- ed products are born out of co-creation – bringing different parties, brands, compa- nies and groups of customers together for a mutually valued outcome.
The most outstanding strategies and de- signs are now being out-sung by products designed via the co-creation model be- cause of the impact, responsiveness and curiosity it creates. However, genuinely knowing and understanding the value of
the product you are selling is key to work- ing and engaging with consumers in flaw- lessly delivering their most-loved brands.
This year I celebrate my twentieth year in the brand design industry, having worked in a broad range of industry sec- tors, including food and beverage, pharma- ceutical, health care, automotive, tobacco (oops), and government.
Although trends do revisit, there is something different and new about what we are seeing. There is a shift of power and a focus on change. Sometimes, there is a sense of desperation for a need to be seen to be different as well as the uprising of anti- establishment tones.
COLLABORATIVE CULTURE
The proliferation of large-scale global mu- sic festivals as an alternative to the solo concert also speaks to the rise of a collab- orative culture, one where the benefits of shared resources and creative diversity outweigh the ego of individualism. The