Dog Blog 23.0 – Missing the Mark

Before I get started on what’s going to sound like a personal attack – I will say that I have nothing against the Garnier company, the products they make (I actually use quite a few of them), or the agency they’ve hired to do their branding and packaging design. With that out of the way, I can say what I’m here to say – Garnier’s new Whole Blends line of hair care products has completely missed the mark with its logo and packaging design. BIG TIME. Here is what I’m referring to:

I was at the gym doing some elliptical-ing when I noticed a Whole Blends commercial for the first time. Since I didn’t have my headphones plugged in I couldn’t hear the ad, and I initially thought it was a parody of a 1970s shampoo commercial. I was wrong. Just by seeing a 30 second commercial (with no sound), I conjured the following images in my mind: the shampoo probably has a sickeningly sweet fake-coconut smell that doesn’t come out of your hair for 4 days, it probably leaves behind a greasy residue that makes the sides of your face feel like an oil slick, and it probably makes your hair look dull, lifeless and weighed down. Yeah, I got all of that from a commercial!

Garnier was trying to make a step in the right direction by producing a natural product line – which is actually great! Natural hair care products are much safer, cause fewer skin reactions, and are better on the environment. All things that I actually want in a hair care product. When I think of natural or organic products, I think of products that have few ingredients – which is reflected on the packaging. If you take a look at some of these natural or organic products I’ve rounded up, you’ll notice they all have a few things in common – the packaging is clean and simple (a reflection of the product), the logos are sophisticated (reaches to their target audience), and all around feature a wholesome look. Take a look:

Whole Blends is clearly going for the retro look, and I’m not really sure why. I realize the 1970s are having a big moment in fashion right now, but that doesn’t mean I want my shampoo to be straight out of the 70s. Here’s a couple examples of 70s shampoo so you can see what I’m talking about:

I have a feeling that Garnier is not trying to market this product to the 60+ crowd who might find this product to be nostalgic. In fact, I even saw Whole Blends mentioned on a sponsored blog post just yesterday (a blog that is definitely geared toward the all-natural millennial mom crowd). All in all, the product is trying to market itself as natural, sophisticated, clean, and simple, and that entire image is blown away with one glance of its random logo.

If you have made it to the end of this post, I am impressed you stuck with me this long to listen to me tear apart a shampoo logo. What I am really trying to get at here is this: logos and packaging design are never to be taken lightly. They are the first thing people see, and they are what people remember. Do I even remember the Whole Blends commercial that sparked this post in the first place? I do not. But I DO remember the packaging, the logo, and all the thoughts that ran through my head after seeing them. Logo development is a lengthy and arduous process, but deciding on the right one is essential to your brand. Garnier, I do not dislike you…but I’ll be sticking to the Fructis product line for now!