MEDIAMARKETING:GRAPHIC DESIGN is important for a company's image, branding and reputation. To prove that good design can also boost sales, every year the sector's trade body, Design Business Ireland, organises awards that showcase design effectiveness.

This year the main IDEA award went to Dynamo, who developed new branding and packaging for Voya, a Galway firm owned by brothers Mark and Neil Walton.

Two years ago, the company’s brand, Celtic Seaweed Baths, generated sales of €30,000. After Dynamo’s makeover, sales have increased to over €300,000, according to the company.

The product range spans seaweed-based organic bath wash, moisturiser, hand lotion, soap, shampoo and conditioner.

Besides dumping the brand name, Dynamo designed environmentally-friendly and recyclable packaging.

The idea behind the Voya brand was the connotation of a “journey of discovery on the sea”.

Jamie Helly, managing director of Dynamo, added: “Seaweed is the essence of this brand, so we chose a simple hand-drawn illustration of seaweed which wraps around three panels of the box.

“We used a natural uncoated box board, as recycling is a priority, but we also wanted a very natural base colour that would resemble a natural cardboard.”

Achieving cut-through on crowded cosmetics counters is a challenge. Top brand Jo Malone stands out for its beautiful cream and black packaging.

Using green was the rather obvious choice for an organic range like Voya, but Dynamo insists it gives the product “real ownership”.

Green stickers seal each item and the gift boxes have green tissue paper inside and are even tied with green silk ribbon.

Other design firms which the judges deemed commercially effective with their projects were Eamon Sinnott, Principle, Brand Union, Dolmen, Baseline, Creative Media, Huguenot, Red Dog, Drawinginc and Martello Media.

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This week the Lord Mayor of Dublin, Eibhlin Byrne, turned on the Christmas lights early and urged Dubliners to go out and spend. Shopping has become a call to patriotic duty.

But in these challenging economic times, consumers have begun to re-evaluate their behaviour.

Big spending splurges are taking a back seat to a more pragmatic sizing-up of options and judgments about perceived value.

In the view of ad agency Owens DDB, consumers are asking: is this brand a want or a need?

Brendan McElroy, the agency’s planning director, explains that wants are brands that help a consumer define who they are, or who they want to be, ie the SUV, original UGG boots, a meal at a Michelin star restaurant etc. Needs do not have to be absolutely essential, eg, make-up, but consumers are not prepared to sacrifice them (the bottle of wine on a Saturday night).

McElroy added: “Competitive influences will affect the desire to shop around more and sacrifice pure brand values in favour of price.

The definition of value changes its meaning in a recession market, insofar as the more pragmatic side of the value statement comes to the fore in the mind of the consumer.”

The agency is advising its clients that consumers now require a clear statement of the benefits that represent overall value.

Brands must demonstrate and communicate solid, concrete and believable benefits that take stock of a now altered cautious consumer mindset.

“When communicating value, make sure you appeal to emotional benefits as well as the tangible ones,” said McElroy.

On pricing, Owens DDB is sending out mixed messages. After stating that price is the “first consideration” for shoppers, the agency goes on to state that advertisers should resist the temptation to discount to maintain sales.

“Think beyond the downturn. It will cost a great deal more to reverse the negative impression of the deep discount after the event than what accrues to your brand in the short-term.”

Not surprisingly, the agency is advising clients to keep on spending. “In any relationship, if one party stops the dialogue, the other moves on.

“In a downturn, people do not stop buying; they just buy carefully, in a more deliberate and well-informed manner.

“Take advantage of the general decrease in marketing investment to grab a larger share of voice and stand above the usual communications clutter,” the agency recommends.

siobhan@businessplus.ie