Farmers Union Iced Coffee Stubby

Our team often find themselves in the position of project mediators – balancing brand managers, production manufacturing constraints and demands of consumers. The key to success is transparent, open communications – when all parties are heard and understood, they work productively toward a common goal, and become valuable members of the development team.

The Farmers’ Union Iced Coffee (FUIC) packaging re-design and engineering project for National Foods is a good example. The brief was to design a 750mL blow-moulded bottle that would compliment the 600mL cardboard carton already on the market and to increase total sales.

Consider
Farmers Union Iced Coffee was first introduced at the Royal Adelaide Show over 30 years ago, and is now Australia’s market leader with over 27 million litres consumed annually. Its strong history and tradition has developed a fiercely loyal following throughout Australia. It was understood that introducing a new packaging format was a risky move, as it may be rejected by its core consumers.

Outerspace Design realised that a deep understanding of the target market would be required. Market research revealed the primary consumers were stalwart tradesman who would consume several cartons per day often referring to it as a “Daytime Beer”. Core values of honesty, trust, loyalty, and mates arose from the consumer insights and were used to drive the design philosophy.

Create
Armed with consumer insights, the team compiled research into the lifestyles and positive imagery associated with the users so that the new offering would be consistent with their brand perception and expectations of the product.

Brainstorm sketches were generated evolving stylised yet sturdy geometric shapes such as canisters, stubbies, barrels, trophies, and bricks. Full-scale weighted mock-ups were quickly produced and proved an invaluable communication tool bringing the concepts to life. They facilitated interest and engagement from all stakeholders including the marketing department, manufacturing engineers and importantly consumers. The wide grip feature was tested and accepted as supporting the daytime beer moniker. Issues such as appearance, labelling, shelf-presence, line-filling, material efficiency were openly discussed by all parties in order to select the most appropriate design.

Build
The “Stubby” was chosen as the standout concept and further refinements such as texture and embossing were captured in 3D CAD. The labelling was conscientiously changed from a shrink-wrapped sleeve to matt adhesive stock in order to reflect the core market values and was integrated into the manufacturing process. Photo-realistic renderings of the labelled bottle helped convey the finished product before it went to full-scale production. These were later used in the marketing and advertising graphics. All engineering details were captured and optimised to ensure a smooth transition from concept to tooling and production line. Quick digital communication of the design and refinements to the development team ensured no issues were missed, and everyone supported the project direction.

Deliver
When the new package hit the shelves, it resonated with the staunchly traditional target market. Demand was so high that many outlets reported it selling faster than it could be re-stocked much to the delight of the brand managers who had invested in a new advertising campaign to coincide with the launch. The new design clearly resonates with the consumers who are happy that the packaging isn’t “trendy”, they now have a choice between the smaller carton and the larger re-sealable and cup holder-friendly Stubby. The production engineers were happy because the design was delivered on-time and was compatible with existing manufacturing and filling equipment and seamlessly rolled off the lines. Outerspace Design wrapped-up a project that has gone onto reinvigorate sales of an iconic brand.

For more information on the development of this package, or to see how to use consumer insights and industry experience to increase the success of your next package design, contact Michael Grima here