Redesigned Packaging for Tang Boosts Product Popularity
1. First used off the Earth in John Glenn’s Friendship 7 mission on the Mercury spacecraft, Tang has forever remained tied to space travel. Bulletproof linked the redesigned packaging to the brand’s history with a dramatic exclamation point that suggests an optimistic spirit and energizes the design.
2. Bright, juicy fruit slices dance on the packaging’s bold background to illustrate the product’s flavor story. The brand asset of the orange and green colors has been in play since its creation in the late 1950s.
3. Consumers will still easily recognize the new look on shelf: The powdered drink’s structure retains the familiar shape of previous package iterations.
The story: Tang, the fruit-flavored mix containing minerals and vitamins, is one of Kraft Foods’ top powdered drink brands. The product is available in a wide variety of flavors and is obtainable in more than 30 countries. Famous for its trips to space beginning in the 1960s, the beverage has since graced the breakfast tables — and beyond — of many homes.
The challenge: Though popular with previous generations, Tang was losing relevance with contemporary consumers.
The New York office of international brand design agency Bulletproof worked with Kraft Foods to breathe new life into the much-loved Tang brand in the United States with a bold new brand identity and revitalized packaging design, bursting with color and energy.
The agency was awarded the project in May 2013 by brand owner Kraft Foods Group.
The solution: Bulletproof created the strategic direction and visual articulation of the brand’s new “Win Morning” positioning, aiming to reinstate the Tang brand’s iconic status while giving it new relevance in store. With a new Orange-Pineapple variant launching and a pipeline of future innovations to consider, the new pack architecture provides a flexible design system that can easily adapt for any new launches.
Commenting on the new design, Bulletproof’s New York creative director says: “Having grown up loving Tang and drinking it as a young kid, this redesign was a thrilling opportunity to reinvigorate the brand for yet another generation of Tang fans. At the heart of the brand lies a rich heritage grounded in both its taste and its history as the drink of choice for astronauts and would-be-astronauts everywhere.
“To best represent these fundamental brand truths, we considered a design architecture which delivered big-time flavor appeal and an optimistic spirit in equal measure. This standout design architecture is anchored by the Tang exclamation mark, which dramatically cues the brand’s pioneering spirit and its ‘to the moon and back’ roots. To further elevate the flavor story, we added luscious fruit slices, making for undeniable Tang taste appeal.”
Bulletproof’s New York creative director adds: “Having viewed the new packaging stacked up against the competition in the retail environment, we’re very pleased with the new look and attitude. It breaks through with its own unique tone of voice and confidently signals a new mission for the brand — one designed to attract a new generation of fans.”
Bulletproof’s strategy team states: “From a strategic perspective, the ‘I can be anything’ brand essence was an incredibly strong starting point, which yielded a number of fruitful design platforms. While the competition between the platforms was fierce, we ultimately felt the ‘jump start your day’ design positioning best aligned with both the current equities and future focus of Tang, seamlessly connecting the sought-after morning occasion, the taste profile intrinsics and the brand essence.”
The new Tang canisters will be available in both the existing Orange flavor and a new Orange-Pineapple flavor (6qt. canisters) in select Walmart stores across the United States.
> PACKAGE DESIGN
Bulletproof
Looking for a reprint of this article?
From high-res PDFs to custom plaques, order your copy today!
