Designing Packaging For a Premium Product

Two weeks ago I wrote about the launch of a new website for TheoWanne.com A few days ago we launched the ecommerce portion of the website enabling musicians to finally purchase the much anticipated AMMA mouthpiece. Sales are off to a fantastic start.

Now that musicians are able to buy the mouthpiece online, I thought it would be fun to share the packaging we designed for the AMMA. First, a quick creative brief to better understand the situation:

• The AMMA is a superior-quality saxophone mouthpiece and as such, sells at a much higher price point than any currently manufactured mouthpiece.
• TheoWanne.com is the only place to purchase the mouthpiece; you can’t find it in music stores.
• The Theo Wanne Classic Mouthpieces brand is all about craftsmanship and providing musicians with a high-end products meticulously designed by well-known mouthpiece refacer Theo Wanne.
• Musicians who buy the AMMA are pioneers in a sense as this is the first time the mouthpiece has ever been available, and not everyone can afford one.

We set out to create packaging for the AMMA that would convey the attributes of the Theo Wanne brand as well as reward and reinforce the musician’s decision to purchase a premium priced mouthpiece. If you invest a large sum of money into a pioneering new product, and it shows up in poor packaging, a disconnect forms in your consumers’ mind between what the perceived quality of the product is and what they now actually receive. We want musicians to feel as though the time they waited and money they spent on their new mouthpiece was well worth it as they slid that mouthpiece out of the box for the first time, experiencing something that not everyone will get to experience (due to availability and price).

The look and feel of Theo Wanne brand references imagery of old Jazz concert posters, Blue Note album covers and other elements of jazz heritage. Having the packaging letterpressed at a local specialty print shop reinforces this heritage, emphasizing the vintage texture of the unique paper stock and recalling a time when the package was given as much care as the product inside.

~ by Jason Lee on June 26, 2007.