As I explained in a recent seminar, Dorset Cereals uncovered a hidden army of muesli fans when it created a brand new story through packaging, and tens of thousands of consumers sighed with relief: “at last, a muesli that understands me!”
I also showed the plethora of brands who suddenly felt the need to move their product into smaller, matt boxes with a window reveal. Few of these admirers opt for the subtle ‘cereal cosmetic’ story that I reckon dorset tells, however: Here in The Netherlands Albert Heijn’s private label goes for cartoon naiveté instead, charming but less valuable. A window on a bowlful of product is not ownable, as demonstrated by the Euroshopper plastic bag that comes in at a quarter the price of dorset.
Takeout: The lesson here is to understand that it’s the full story behind the design that is the consumer benefit, and not assume that the simple feature of a window on the product is the story.