From authenticity to respect, from accuracy to distinctiveness, let’s see together what the key words are for branding and design projects oriented towards effectiveness, the ability to create effective and concrete commercial value.

The intervention that Fabrizio Bernasconi, founding partner of RBA Design and NABA teacher, gave at Dynamo Camp Onlus, as a guest of Crealis Group, was based on these guidelines.

A speech that talks about the value of design, in particular packaging design, in the Wine & Spirits world.

An opportunity to share RBA Design’s point of view on the value of packaging with industry experts, through a journey through some words that become guiding concepts in the development of new branding projects. . An agency method that leads to analyzing not only WHAT is done, but also how and why (a distinctive aspect today more than ever in the choice of a branding partner) to create identities that are not only beautiful, but are right, have a meaning and, in the end, help to sell.

So what is the value of design in relation to packaging?

It is certainly the greatest means of contact with the consumer, there is 100% interaction, become a brand ambassador!

But is this value adequately recognized? A packaging project is often seen as a cost while the investment and the return that can derive from it are often significant.

Awareness of the value and effectiveness of design must first of all involve the agency, its attitude, its method, ensuring that the designers themselves better understand the marketing processes, and how their choices influence the decisions of the customer. This also means becoming partners with your customers, developing problem solution logics that go beyond a correct response to briefs. Becoming a visual business manager.

This path includes what according to Bernasconi are the key words that underlie a creative process, in particular the creation of labels for the Wine & Spirits world. Labels that can tell stories, journeys between the past and the future. Labels that can tell stories, journeys between the past and the future.

Here are the 6 fundamental words:

Authenticity Perhaps a fashionable word but it certainly marks a trend that will last over time. Building a brand means knowing who you are first. . It means being authentic, beyond the concept of provenance so relevant in Food and Beverage, but focusing on the mission of a company, its distinctive characteristics and its reason for being on the market. . An example of this is the history of Cinzano, one of the oldest, most authentic, 100% Italian brands. A story that began in 1757, which expresses all the Italian know-how and genius. A story that we have treated with attention and respect, because we believe that only in their own authenticity can companies solidly found a brand story capable of standing the test of time.

Uniqueness. Among the various definitions of brand, the one I prefer is the most concise: the brand is the difference and therefore creating a brand means first of all creating differences because the brand establishes itself and is strengthened above all through recognisability, identification, visibility, followed certainly from meaning and sustainability. An example of this is the Aperol 100 Y project. Aperol is unique as are the 2 million labels, all different from each other, printed to celebrate the centenary of the famous Italian aperitif. A project where creativity and technology met, creating innovation and supporting brand values.

Flexibility/Adaptation. . We always try to put packaging at the center of a branding ecosystem. This means equipping the brand, in its unmistakable visual assets, with a language that can adapt to different situations, which allows it to always be recognisable, albeit different. . In this regard, a project that has seen us engaged for some time with great satisfaction for the design results achieved, is that of the rebranding of AMARO AVERNA,which saw in-depth packaging restyling and visual identity work; A project aimed at making Amaro Averna an icon of lifestyle and culture of a new Sicily.

Accuracy. Details, at a high level, make the difference if we want to communicate high quality through packaging. We are talking about finishing, embossing, closing systems, executive. Attention and attention to detail must be part of every phase of the creative project. We almost go so far as to say that attention to detail is more important in the design phase than in execution; I am thinking of the search for new techniques, new materials, to give greater perceived value to the pack and therefore to the product. There are several cases that can arise from an agency like RBA design which, through illustrations, finishing, special papers and other materials, manages to give value and personality to label design.

Simplicity Packaging is often a good interpreter of lifestyles and needs. It represents the values of a period through style; for example, we live in a climate dominated by uncertainty;
consumers / people need to be reassured, they want clarity in product choices (and the search for authenticity is a sign of this). The translation of design is in simplicity, essentiality, it is the right way to talk to consumers. It is important, once again, to find the signs that most characterize you, that make you recognisable.

Respect. We don’t know if when talking about respect we can also talk about effectiveness, performance, sales (I think so). We certainly talk about responsibility and sustainability. In the case of wine, it certainly translates into respect for the environment. An emblematic case is that of Fattoria La Maliosa, with the creation of a label that tells the method for growing and producing natural wines; method which the patent is obtained and which constitutes the USP of the agricultural company, on which to leverage; we therefore decided to make the method an element of identity by describing it on the labels; a credible and authentic story of sustainability, which starts from the territory, passes through experiences and reaches the bottle.

Here are the 6 key words of packaging, authenticity, uniqueness, accuracy, flexibility, simplicity and respect, to which we must add a seventh:
Digital. The present and the future (more and more) also in packaging through QR codes, and other methods that help to tell, to deepen, to create experiences; but let’s also remember that
“digital everything but not everything is digital”; we live in a hybrid world in which digital and physical will always be there and will have to help each other (in the world of consumption) to support consumers’ expectations to buy no longer products but stories, experiences, solutions.