The packaging of "Italianity" 2/2

I'm now speaking of another cult product of Italy: the panetone. In the same spirit of tradition pasta Rummo, the milan brand G.Cova & C is also positioned on the know-how and craftsmanship.

In an art deco style (the brand was born in 1930), with the creation and typography which seem never to have changed, vintage packaging is magnificent. 

Work, quality and tradition are still here put forward with great attention to detail. 

Vintage design is definitely happy way to communicate by the Italian traditional food brands.

The packaging of "Italianity" (1/2)

As Roland Barthes (a french semiologist) did in 1964, I'm looking into Italy and more precisely, on "Italianity" represented by the packaging of two Italian brands typical products which are pasta and panetone. 

I’m starting with the pasta. Today, the two main brands of pasta are Barilla and Panzani (!). For the first one, a luxurious packaging is intended by the systematic use of blue on its cardboard boxes : the other, as Barthes pointed out, sporting the colors of Italy... 

For us, these brands are common. Yet, I found an Italian brand, distributed in « la grande épicerie de Paris » or Monoprix, which took over the codes of olden days, the tradition : Rummo. 

The packaging made ​​of thick matte paper, italic «old style » typography, a barouche logo, and a story telling around the legend, crafts and especially: slowness. 

The packaging shows the positioning of the brand and excite the taste buds ... besides, I've already bought two package ! 

The "Italianity"

Rummo pasta packaging designed by Irving & Co.

"We must cultivate our garden".

As Voltaire, French writer and philosopher of the XVIIIth century said: "we must cultivate our garden" ... So we will take this topic at the foot of planting ... literally.

"the third half"

The following packaging caught my attention because I think it’s a great idea, well done and nice designed. This product responds very well to the home-made trends as cooking, gardening and DIY.

"a spicy evening"

The concept of a french company, proposes a kit consisting of a pot and seeds to plant yourself. 

What is original is especially the choice of plants and the idea of ​​being able to offer when you are invited for dinner. 

"I bring the aperitif"

Instead of eternal bottle of wine, you get fitted for your plant to germinate for a drink, peppers or even hops for beer ... Of course all this depends on a lot of humor and a very good packaging crude cardboard made ​​with very clear explanatory drawings .

On the packaging, we can find a little bit the Monoprix' slogans style : " spicy evening " for chili, " the third half " for seeds hop beer (although it seems that it is easy to do yourself ), " I bring the aperitif » with peanut seeds or the " tomorrow I'll stop… » for a Virginia tobacco plant.

I also noticed that the brand offers kits for children in particular a little vintage metal box.

"Tomorrow I'll stop"

Beautiful girly box for strawberries shortcakes

The Jaws and the hanger tea...

Packaging’s tea is often very pretty. I especially liked the idea for an indispensable accessory of tea: tea ball floating. The "sharky" one, created by the Argentinean designer Pablo Matteoda. is a little bit gore, but the least we can say, is that it is original, isn’t it? 

I also notice this pretty packaging of "hanger tea" from the designer Soon Mo Kang. The target of this tea is clearly feminine but anyway, it’s nice to have a new dressing ! The only problem is to not forget to buy it before the end of the box because, in this case, we could say (like every morning in front of our true dressing) "we do not have anything to wear "!

Monoprix: an original communication

In a number of countries, the design of packaging is currently worked out with great care and enjoys creative elegance. Although France can be seen as still lagging in this field, and is clearly behind the US and the UK for instance, several French brands have engaged into this discipline and offer very interesting packagings. 

This is the case for the French retailer Monoprix. The Monoprix shops propose a family of packagings that benefit from an original design with a modern graphic line, and that has the distinctive characteristic of carrying funny messages printed in changing fonts, sizes and colors. Collectors will definitely need to buy a same product again and again, until they get the whole range of packagings and messages, or unless their cupboard gets full before that…  

But more interesting is their new billboard campaign that turns packaging into the new star, and invites the spectator to come and see the commercial website. This concept even led Monoprix to exhibit a giant potato canned food in front of the Beaubourg modern and contemporary  art museum ! This innovative communication does not provide any information about products, but the packaging is telling a story, the story of a strong brand.

Packaging trends analysis : the importance of packaging in brands strategy and their sensorial universe.  

Packaging has departed from its original functions of protecting and identifying the product content. 

No longer a « box » in customers’ eyes, packaging has gained the sensitive and priviledged position of marketing tool, and is now considered as central to the strategy. 

Indeed, it became patent in many innovative strategies deployed recently, that packaging has a role in conveying the brand’s message and identifiers. 

Furthermore, marketers and product designers see it as a true complement to the very product, through the « experience » that it can offer to customers’ senses, be by the mean of a real sensorial experience (fragrance, visual, touch), or through more psychologic influence through suggestion and imagination. 

Customers do not buy anymore « what is inside » only, but more than that, an experience which goes beyond the purchasing act...