Research Process Diary: The Whole Concept: Branding, Packaging and Display

The whole concept: branding, packaging and display. Research a company that have won national and international awards for their overall retail concept.

Brand Integration

How does the company integrate packging, branding and display to give you an all round idea of their brand?

Aesop is intriguing and exotic. The layouts of their stores are minimalist and aesthetically pleasing with rows of these glass jars, tubes and boxes. The products are packaged and branded in such a way that it appears clinical, medicinal using very reserved design methods allowing the bottles, contents and ingredients list to do the talking.

The minimalist aesthetic is integrated with the packaging, logo and displays. Unless you know Aesop you would not know what products they specifically sell unless you go and look. The branding is understated and powerful.

Communication and Value

What does the brand "say" to the customer and why would someone pay more for this brand than another brand selling a similar product?

The Aesop stores echo a clinical set up with it's immaculate organisation of glass jars and packaging. The brand is about the chemicals, the elements, the purity; a mix of pleasure vs. performance. There is no need for promotional displays or bright yellow stickers with a price the products and the store layout represent the price point.

Not only are you buying a product, you are buying the Aesop experience. From the moment you walk into the store you are transported into the Aesop world and it's about luxury. You have staff ready to lend you their knowledge and find you the right products and blends; and there is trust in a brand that is working for you, to create the concoctions that will suit and benefit you.

Materials

What materials have they used to achieve the overall "look" and feel of the interior and what does this "say" about the company?

In the example image above the material used is gumtree wood, the grain of the wood running through the entire store echoing the idea of elements and purity.

Aesop stores do not all look like this, in fact the materials vary depending on where they are. Each store uses local materials to create the unfamiliar shapes and landscapes for the individual and unique look and feel. Despite the differences in materials and store shape, lighting and layout they all look similar with an oddly clinical feel, clean and simple; yet merge with their surroundings.

When you walk into an Aesop store, you walk into a room that is strikingly alien, an exotic experience but one that still hints at normal life.