Saying a lot with packaging colours and motifs

Arab society is characterised by social collectivism. Tribal origins and a strong sense of pride in a rich culture are some of its defining traits. This has a direct bearing in terms of how Middle Eastern societies decode packaging symbols such as colour, mnemonics, themes, etc.

As packaging in the region becomes more competitive and complex, it becomes critical to cue a coherent and insightful brand message via packaging to influence choice.

Marketers use a host of signs and symbols such as colours, graphics, mnemonics, textual structures, etc. to communicate messages on packaging. The discipline of ‘semiotics’ studies these signs and symbols and helps understand whether consumers get the intended message of the brand via pack or not.

* Semiotics of colour in packaging:

Packaging needs to use colours intelligently as colours connote different emotions across different cultures. Hence, what one colour communicates in the Middle Eastern packaging may be different — for instance, yellow represents warmth, friendship and collective growth in the Arab world and hence is a popular colour in packaging of brands that help people bond, such as Tuc Biscuits, Lays chips, Lipton and Rabea tea, etc.

Blue colour represents purity, security, truth and is commonly used in categories such as packaged water, dairy products, news media to reassure on inherent solidity eg. Al Marai and Masafi. Green has strong connotations of freshness and naturalness, and hence, popular in packaged foods and juice brands.

Purple colour represents indulgence. Chocolate and jewellery packaging use it well (Cadburys and Damas).

However, as the region gets integrated with the rest of the world, some colours are getting globalised in terms of their semiotic connotations. Red has a strong duality globally. It stands for ‘warning’, as well as potency, youth and Americanism and is common in American brands. Black means different things to different cultures, i.e., sophistication in western societies and mourning in Eastern societies, war and valour in Arab societies.

* Semiotics of heritage cues:

Arab society is proud of its long standing heritage and yet seeks to strike a balance with modernity in their everyday lifestyle. Brands have leveraged these symbols well to their advantage.

Symbols of regality : Crests, crowns, horses etc. are well used by cigarette packaging to cue status. Gold, silver, glitter are used by cosmetic industry to promise ageless beauty.

National pride : Al Marai has done a commendable job of communicating Saudi pride through its packaging and thus managed to challenge well established international players. Financial institutions like National Bonds also leverage this emotion well.

Goodness of the past : Simpler packaging, retro-looking containers are some of the cues that reassure consumers on the simplicity of the past.

Stamp of authority: With authority comes a sense of security, an unstated promise. These stamps of authority are well used by a host of personalcare categories such as oral care, cosmetics and soaps.

* Semiotics of other elements:

Packaging has numerous elements which offer functional as well as emotional messages. The manner in which these are positioned help reinforce overall the brand insight and message.

Pack mnemonics : Mnemonics are characters, symbols or caricatures which are placed on packaging to cue messages. These are used in the region on packaging for children’s products to play up on the child’s fantasy. Oral care products and insect killers use these to cue efficacy.

Ingredient stories : The cosmetic industry is witnessing a shift to efficacy via naturalness. Hence, use of leaves, visuals of ingredients followed by a write-up on actual benefits is a common persuasion strategy.

Packaging thematics : Thematics are means of associating the brand with occasions and festivities around the time of the year via packaging. This is done either by changing shape of the pack or through visuals on the packaging.

The Gulf is a uniquely dynamic region. Today, it is opening up to new realms by integrating itself with the rest of the world. Hence, while consumers in the region do appreciate modernity and dynamism in packaging, they would still like to see shades of their regional values to engage better.

The writer is a director at AMRB, a market insights consultancy.