Emily Mogami


LAWSON Strategy/Art Direction Analysis

Link to slides


Ask:


Analyze a change that a specific product/service went through looking at the stages of marketing strategy formation:
  1. 4Cs (consumer, company, competition and context)
  2. 4Ps (product, price, promotion, place)

Insight:


Substance is always the priority over style.

Strategy:


Demonstrate why Lawson’s redesign of its packaging was controversial despite well-intentions to modernize their brand image.


*Japanese Convenience Store = “Konbini”
Chosen Product:
Lawson’s PB (Private Brand, or In-House) Products

Change:
Rebrand of the packaging design to soften and unify their
visual branding identity and appeal to specific consumer segments
Company

  • Japan’s “densely packed cities and increasing modernization” led to Lawson’s huge success
  • Huge food selections and augmented benefits like  buying tickets, printing documents, paying bills, etc.

Why the Change?
  • GOAL: unify brand image to make them recognizable across any product category and increase brand awareness. 
  • Wanted PB to evoke “joy and comfort to everyday life” and appear as a friendly brand, so they chose cozy fonts and hand-drawn illustrations 
  • Lawson collaborated with design firm nendo to change the packaging of their PB products to look softer


Target Customer/Context

Foreign Tourists 
  • Included 4 languages (Japanese, English, Hangul, Chinese) to make shopping easy for them
  • Convenient for those with (religious) dietary restrictions who could easily understand the ingredients
Social Media Users
  • Inspiring them to buy the PB products for the pretty packaging
  • 28.6% of the products Japanese people saw from Instagram were groceries at supermarkets and convenience stores”
Women
  • Nendo chose a gentle look so it’s easy for “non-regular female consumers” to pick up
  • 31.4% of konbini users are female
  • Women “hold the family wallet” 

Competition

Lawson differentiates themselves by having multiple store formats for different segments

*get pics, caption them

7-Eleven: bolder fonts and bigger pictures, more straight

Lawson: simple and fashionable, aesthetically pleasing

Action Plan - Product, Pricing, Place, Promotion

  • Product - Post-sale assistance: Lawson has a page about how they fixed products/services after feedback from customers
  • Pricing: Lawson’s PB are more affordable than the manufacturer brands 
    • In a survey about konbinis’ PB, 70% of the respondents have an image of private brands as "affordable” 
  • Place - Distribution: Lawson sells their PB/in-house brands (in addition to manufacturer brands) which makes it easier for them to promote and make changes to their own products
  • Promotion: posters displayed in-store and on social media featuring the new packaging
  • Encouraged taking precautions against COVID  like staying home


But style should never sacrifice substance...


Customer’s Reactions

  • Packaging is hard to read and distinguish
    • Some bought the wrong product
  • Especially troublesome for those who are visually impaired, have allergies, or are older
    • Japan has the oldest global population with a median age of 49.2 years in 2022
  • Konbinis could be lifesaving during natural disasters so convenience is a MUST

Lawson’s Response

  • Sales didn’t decline but Lawson fixed their rebrand in less than a year
  • The new design is easier to understand with photos and bigger fonts 
  • Lawson was brave for experimenting with non-traditional packaging so they can change the perception of PB products being cheap meals







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