Rebranding Buried Cane, part 5 – Back to the Future

Our packaging is now up-to-date, and we’re in the situation summarized in the post titled Rebranding Buried Cane, part 1 … check it out to refresh your memory. Now we can get back to the future.

With the initial launch of Buried Cane so disappointing and problematic, we began adjusting our current and future wine inventories, as best we could. We connected Buried Cane very clearly with the Washington wine family, the Middletons, who own and operate the winery. We began PRing the winemaker, Brian Rudin. We focused on our wines, and what makes them special. And we initiated a packaging redesign, since the current Buried Cane package didn’t tell these stories well at all.

Working with the same designer who created the current Buried Cane package, we explained our “new” story (see above, and that summary blog post) and initiated another cardinal sin (in my marketing book): “Here are some labels we really like – make us something like these.” Then we went through design round after design round, tweaking the layout to add all our good ideas. And we found our way to what I would call a “Frankenstein” label – lots of interesting and disparate parts fashioned into a troublesome whole.

The problem with Frankenstein labels is that they contain so many elements somebody liked, so everyone can find something they like in the package, without anyone having a very happy overall impression.

That was creative round 3, early in 2010. And I got nervous, as we were all saying things like, “I guess it’s OK, and I really like this part of it.” So I brought in another designer, to help me review and think through our work to date.

We discussed the situation, the issues, and what we were trying to achieve. She suggested we look down a new path, focusing on our strongest graphic element: the Buried Cane logo-font with the inverted i and leaf motif dropping below the baseline.

I took this concept to our Buried Cane label designer, and she said, “I already showed you that concept, you know.”

DAH: “Really? When?”

Designer: “In our first design rounds, in 2007.”

DAH: “OK, let’s look at that again.”

Creative round 4 began, and got us to this:

Everyone was initially delighted. But then we began sharing the design again, and, as is to be expected, doubts were expressed, self-doubt set in, and we were feeling gun-shy, and …

Next: Rebranding Buried Cane, part 6 – Here we go again!