Weighty award for NZ design company

News release

November 10, 2004

Weighty award for NZ design company

Trans-Tasman brand design company Dow Design has beaten more than 80 other entrants to win a prestigious Australian packaging award.

The company's work for the Weight Watchers food range received the gold medal in the AMR Hewitts Printpackaging Family of Packs Award in the 2004 Australian Packaging Awards.

Dow Design's win was in the tough 'family packs' category which is for two or more packs designed to convey a common image over a range of products or sizes.

The award 'recognises the special association between brand identity and consumer packaging' according to the Packaging Council of Australia.

Dow Design principal Annie Dow says the focus of the packaging design was to dramatically improve the appeal of Weight Watchers on the supermarket shelf while communicating benefits such as lower fat content and 'points' value.

"While the primary target market is Weight Watchers members, other consumers with a negative perception of 'diet food' are also of growing importance. And that means the packaging shouldn't scream out 'I'm on a diet' from the supermarket trolley," Ms Dow says.

According to the judges 'the Weight Watchers brand is deftly expressed and unmistakable, a common brand image carried across the packs, a real winner'.

The design links fresh blue and white graphics and simple typographics for box, sachet, tub and tray containers across 24 separate product categories. The judges say the design 'succeeds in communicating a lot of information about the product, its contents, calories value and appealing product imagery'.

Weight Watchers brand manager Kate Rickard says the design provides 'cut-through on shelf and stronger brand identity' that has had a positive effect on Weight Watchers' business.

"The family feel that now runs through the range brings consistency on shelf across the 36 different grocery categories we operate with 15 different supplier licensees.

"The design provides greater prominence on shelf and sets a new precedent for our supermarket products, one of the biggest ranges in New Zealand and Australian supermarkets," Ms Rickard says.

Dow Design's Weight Watchers project was a true trans-Tasman effort.

"The Weight Watchers packaging is for the Australasian market and involved work by both our Melbourne and Auckland offices," Ms Dow explains.

Because there are Weight Watchers suppliers in both Australia and New Zealand, Dow Design was ideally placed to provide design input from both its offices in Melbourne and Auckland. Ms Dow says more than 80 per cent of suppliers have decided to implement the Dow Design template.

The company pitched for the business against two other design companies about two years ago and won the project with a three level brand strategy across brand consistency, appetite appeal and product clarity according to Ms Dow.

About Dow Design

Dow Design specialises in brand identity; bringing products and services to life so they 'communicate' effectively with consumers. The company was founded in 1993 by Annie and Greg Dow in their Auckland home and is currently based in simple stylish offices in Newton, Auckland. In 2001, an Australian office was opened in Melbourne. Dow Design presently has a staff of more than 20. The company works across a wide range of graphic design disciplines and numbers amongst past and present clients some of this country's biggest brand marketers. Fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) is an area of particular expertise.

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Issued for Dow Design by Pead PR

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