This past Saturday, Valentines Day, I strolled into my local Walgreens in search of a card and a box of chocolates for my lovely wife of 10 years (yes, 10 years!). I saw all the normal brands on the shelf and was ready to shell out a few bucks on Whitman’s or one of those other generic red heart brands, when it happened! There on the shelf was one of the most amazing packaging designs I have seen for a box of chocolates – the brand was called “botticelli.”
This was the beautiful box of botticelli chocolates that stole my heart (for about 2 minutes).
The box was absolutely beautiful – everything from the logo, with it’s well, designed, whimsical, swirly B mark, to it’s uniquely shaped enclosure, to the fancy embossing and beautiful little shots of the “Dark Delectables” on the box. It just jumped right off the shelf (and into my hands!). I was even more excited to see a 2 for $12 (although that probably should have been my first clue).
Upon opening the box, I was surprised. The the chocolates themselves were far from “Delectable.” They were just your average chocolates and really nothing special, like the beautiful packaging had led me to believe. Now, if you’re wondering if I ate them…of course I did! It’s a box of chocolates man! Will I buy them again…nah.
My point is, excellent design can absolutely help you win an initial customer or client, but it cannot keep them. You must deliver on your brand’s promise, whether that’s serving up “Illuminated Chocolates” or telling people “When You’re Here, You’re Family.” Are you finding that despite having good design at work in your business that things aren’t panning out? Maybe it’s time to take a survey about your products or services. Maybe it’s time for an introspective look at whether or not you’re really delivering on your promise. Do you even know what your promise is?
If you’ve got a great product or service, good design can help win new business and make a great first impression – actually delivering on your brand’s promise is up to you.
PS – Excellent job on the design and branding for botticelli by Struck.