Purpose sparks passion across any marketing brief, said Jose Gorbea, head of Marketing, Digital & Sales, Mondelez Europe, speaking at Interpack.
"A pack designed with true pupose inspires consumers to look beyond what they need, to purchase a brand that offers meaning. And beyond the act of purchase, it inspires consumers to talk about what makes it meaningful," said Gorbea. "This creates word of mouth – or earned media – and that is, I think, the holy grail of marketing."
Gorbea was addressing marketing and brand/packaging design professionals at The Dieline and HP brand design conference at Interpack, and he opened by quoting entrepreneur extraordinaire Richard Branson, who has famously said "brands will thrive if they have a purpose beyond profit".
Expanding on his theme, Gorbea asked: "Should a brand 'stand out' to disrupt, or 'stand for' to be distinct?"
In his view, marketers need to strive to make brands more than just different, they need to be distinct. He says that for a brand to be distinct, brand purpose and pack design need to work together.
He cited numerous examples of purpose-led campaigns, including Mondelez's highly successful Oreo ColorFilled campaign. [This video 'fills in' the story in under 50 seconds here] which took off in the US in flexible packaging and was extended in the Asian market using a cartonboard gift box packaging application.
He explained that in this case, it was all about "simplicity to enable engagement", along with the flexibility and speed to market offered by digital printing, which in combination created a distinctive pack and a memorable brand experience.
The solution provided for consumers to interact with the brand and interact with other people by giving a pack of Oreos - and this concept, he said, was "strictly at the heart of the brand".
"Oreo's mission is to fill people's lives with wonder, and this pack solution struck it right in the middle," Gorbea said. "In this case the technology solution was a fit with what the brand is trying to achieve."
Gorbea went on to discuss methods for building distinctive brand assets, through 'fame' (how easily recognised the brand is) and 'uniqueness' (once it's recognised, can it be easily identified?).
"Colour and shape are two of the most important elements when you do purpose-led pack design, and even better when colour is attached to a shape."
He gave three strong examples of brands that meet this criteria: The yellow/gold triangle of Toblerone; the instantly-recognisable shape of a Coca-Cola bottle and the brand's associated red colour; and the square box of Tiffany's in its distinctive blue.
He went on to give other examples from the Mondelez group, including an in-depth case study on the Stimorol gum brand, which can't be disclosed here as the campaign has yet to be released to market, and will include digitally printed elements that Mondelez is developing in partnership with HP. Suffice to say it delivers on what the brand has always stood for [confidence] and gives credence to how the brand has become a verb in some markets like Denmark.
"When people go to a night club [in Denmark], they ask each other, 'have you Stimoroled yet?' and if they say 'yes' it means they are ready, not just with fresh breath, but ready to open thir mouths, say what they want... ready to interact with each other."
"So, the meaning of the brand is embedded in the lives of the people using it, and that has allowed us to create a whole platform of solutions that not only engage consumers but evolves the brand identity significantly."
The most important point of this campaign, he emphasised, is that "purpose is guiding our work".
"This [campaign] will allow the brand to stay relevant... it's closely linked to its purpose which is driving self expression and shareability – and that's the thing that will take this brand to the next level."
"What I like about this most is that the pack is at the heart of the solution and it has the brand meaning at its heart."
During the course of the presentation Gorbea imparted these words of wisdom, which are an appropriate final take-away: "LIVE ON PURPOSE. It will guide you, it will be that beacon of light that will allow you to understand how to connect the dots between technology, brand solutions and what consumers are inspired by."
