When I left South Carolina four weeks ago, I would have never imagined everything that was to come. I spent the last four weeks creating and living in a world so different than my own. Sprawling cow pastures were replaced with Victorian buildings, Walmart with Tescos, slow southern accents with clipped British affections.
As I began to compile my final thoughts for my pitch to Chris Griffin, the head of pi global, I realized how much of an impact four weeks of surrounding myself in British culture—and briefly, Parisian culture—had on this seemingly simple design challenge. The design was influenced by British staples like Peppa Pig and The Great British Bake Off, but it was also subconsciously influenced by The Natural History Museum, walks along the Thames, and rides on the Tube. Learning how to market to a new country is not just about reading statistics or asking for the opinions business executives—It’s about immersion. To understand a culture, or even begin to understand a culture, you have to break free from as many pre-conceptions as you have.
In my case, I tried to lose my American voice and find my British one. When presenting to Chris, I used that British voice—not with a literal accent, but by adopting British terms, slang and cultural references. I worked to make sure I respected and elevated the British perspective, despite my Americanness. Chris’ critical feedback—himself a native Brit and a potential consumer with whom I wanted my work to resonate—reminded me that despite how much I immerse myself, I will always need that actual British perspective when creating a design for British culture. His life, living and growing up in the U.K., innately enables him to catch mistakes I might not ever notice. For example, he suggested I make the Little Debbie aspect of the package less prominent, as that brand name means nothing to British consumers. This was a concept that, even with all my research, I did not consider.
Throughout the final pitch, I felt both empowered and humbled. In those final moments, I realized how much I truly enjoyed this project. It was exhilarating to be challenged and pushed to think outside of myself, my culture and my experiences. I also felt humbled by how much I still have left to learn. Learning and creating in London, a city with such rich culture, diversity and history, was the greatest learning experience of my life and truly showed me the power of packaging.
About the Author: Emma Woolbright is a graduate student in graphic communications at Clemson University, with a focus on branding. Emma has previously worked in social media, design and marketing at Converse College’s admissions department and currently with the City of Greenville’s downtown association. In the print world, Emma has spoken on the Youth Leadership panel at DSCOOP as well as been a leader of Clemson’s Phoenix Challenge team. She will be a part of a panel discussion at FTA’s Fall Conference 2018. She hopes to combine her passion for brands with her love of printing in a future career.