From Aisle to Cup: Folgers and Invok Brands Revamp Packaging for Canada
Folgers Coffee is a familiar face in the coffee aisle, a time-tested favorite with significant brand equity. Having recently undergone a brand refresh in the United States, Folgers asked us to support its package design adaptation in Canada. We were excited to undertake the design and roll-out for three Folger's product families: Roast and Ground in canisters, 1850 in pouches, and K-Cup cartons and pods.
Before we started the package design adaptations the Folgers' team at Smucker Foods of Canada tested their foundational brand assets in the Canadian marketplace for each product family and determined that three approaches were needed. For us, this meant deploying our creative and production teams to meet the varying project challenges.
Package Design Adaptation Approaches
As a strategic design agency, our job was multifaceted: take the insights found in the consumer research along with our understanding of the brand's marketplace equities and successfully tailor the new packaging to align with Canadian sensibilities. We are passionate about being staunch brand stewards and crafting the optimal package design solutions, and as such, we carefully leveraged Folgers' new visual identity system to ensure a seamless, cohesive design transition into the Canadian market.
A good agency will know when to be focused, efficient, and effective and when to challenge. Our work with Folgers demonstrated that we knew when to get it done and when to push boundaries.
Here's how the adaptation work played out:
The Straightforward Adapt: Folgers Roast & Ground
The Roast & Ground product family needed a get-it-done approach. Following consumer testing of the new brand identity and label design in the Canadian marketplace against current packaging, the results were in - at parity or better on a number of indicators. It was clear that our job was to adapt the design as provided, meet Canadian language requirements by adding French, and apply the regulatory Nutritional Facts Panel.
Optimize for Shopability: Folgers 1850
Folgers premium line of coffee, 1850, had a package design that was not meeting expectations for brand prominence and performance against competition in the coffee aisle. Tasked with modifying the US design to optimize for shopability and claims in Canada, we offered two adapted designs for consumer testing, and one was chosen.
In this case, we were able to go beyond a straight execution and generated new, creative options that took into consideration the new brand assets and shopability in the Canadian market. We enhanced the important decision-making benefits and features for coffee consumers in the coffee aisle and strategically optimized the design and communication -- elevated premium design details, clear signals between "whole bean" and "ground" product offerings, and familiar colour choices identifying coffee origins.
The result is a design that not only educates consumers about key product differentiators but also excites them about the premium quality of the line.
An Amplified Adaptation: K-Cup
As the third segment of the product family, the Canadian K-Cup design was quite a departure from the American one. It protected Folgers' Canadian K-Cup brand equity to remain familiar to consumers and stay true to the current franchise, yet was enhanced with the new, simpler and dynamic Folgers visual identity system. The Canadian adaptation combined enticing photography that promises robust flavor adventure with premium roasting credentials such as a user-friendly "Roast Meter," to capture the imagination of consumers when shopping in the coffee aisle.
Teamwork
One of the main reasons such a large, multi-faceted project was successful was because of the intense commitment between the Invok and Folgers teams. We created and fostered a trusted and collaborative client-agency relationship. In all, it was a rewarding creative journey to success. Everyone working in parallel and in unison; strategists, account managers and brand directors, along with designers and production artists, all familiar with and supportive of each other in reaching our common objective.
Knowing the right approach and collaborating closely resulted in seamless adaptations for the Canadian market that delighted the Folgers team. From straightforward adjustments to amplified makeovers, the partnership between Invok and Folgers brewed success in the Canadian market.
Keurig, K-Cup, and the K logo are trademarks of Keurig Green Mountain, Inc., used with permission. © / TM / ® The Folger Coffee Company