Revising Product Packaging after a Company Name Change Made Easier by MIIDEL! 

'LIPTON' is a world-famous tea brand that offers delicious tea in a wide range of products, from tea bags to bottled options. Originating from Scotland, it has since become a global product and today we will be speaking with Mr. Kutami, the brand manager of their flagship product 'Yellow Label'. 

MIIDEL (M): 'Yellow Label' is such an iconic brand that I think most people have seen it at least once in their lives. How did you use MIIDEL in managing that brand?

Mr Kutami: In the consumer goods industry, not just Lipton, there is a process of verifying package designs. After receiving a design from a design company, we compare and make sure their information matches our internal records. It's common for slight discrepancies to come up so after several revisions, we need to manually compare different versions to ensure that only the necessary changes were made. After introducing MIIDEL, comparing and spotting these subtle differences became much easier, helping us save time and reduce errors.

M: Was this verification process challenging before MIIDEL?

Kutami： Well before MIIDEL, it took

2 people to thoroughly check designs, but now a single person can do it easily. In some cases, there are multiple rounds of revisions, up to 3 or 4 versions, which is frankly not a big deal if it was just a single product. But with a complete relaunch, it can involve up to 40 or 50 items. For example, if it takes 2 people 15 minutes to thoroughly check a single product, it can add up quickly. Not to mention their exhaustion which makes it difficult to maintain focus and accuracy. MIIDEL is really helpful in these situations.

The bright colors of the 'Yellow Label' packaging stand out in cafés

M: You need to modify 40 to 50 products at once sometimes?

Kutami： That's right. It can happen when a company undergoes a name change and since we recently just changed to 'Lipton Tea and Infusion Japan Service Co., Ltd.,'. MIIDEL is very handy right now and we are using it quite often.

M: Since the company name change would apply to all your products, that must have been quite a lot of work.

Kutami： Well the company name and number code for product packaging to be precise. Slight changes in design mean the codes change too and although it doesn't directly affect the customers, we always make sure they are accurate.

M： Comparison checks seem like a big part of the responsibility in brand management. Are there usually parts of the year that are busier?

Kutami： Yes, in the consumer goods industry, March and September would be the busiest since that is when new products are typically released. We design packages with that timeline in mind to prepare for the busy periods. It also gets quite busy when certification labels get updated. I am pretty sure other companies in this industry feel the same way too. However, MIIDEL takes what is normally a 10-minute 2-person job and makes it a 2-minute 1-person job, which is a big time saver.

M： Do you mainly compare PDF files?

Kutami： It's all 100% PDF files at the moment. We use MIIDEL to compare pre- and post-revision PDF files, review the results, and make an instruction sheet for the designer to fix. Other than packaging, we used it a few times to compare press releases by PR companies before and after revisions.

M： I see, it seems like a good way to include MIIDEL in the consumer goods industry.

Kutami： Exactly, I highly recommend MIIDEL to others who are involved in branding or marketing departments. If I started working at branding in another company, I would recommend them to adopt MIIDEL as well. Support was also very thorough in helping me with my questions.

M： That is very encouraging to hear. We are glad to be able to support the brand!

Kutami：'Yellow Label' will also be launching a major campaign in November 2024. It is going to be something quite interesting and I hope many people start wanting to drink Yellow Label more.