When multinational FMCG companies like Asahi and PepsiCo run simultaneous campaigns across diverse media channels in multiple markets, maintaining consistent brand messaging – particularly in imagery – can be a costly and time-intensive challenge.
Identifying a solution to this problem, about 18 months ago, a team of Australians under the umbrella of Kirk Group developed a digital agency called Visual Lab, which aims to empower businesses, creators and individuals by transforming how they engage with the world through innovative, high-quality visual content that’s dynamic, cost-effective and accessible.
Visual Lab was formally launched in Melbourne this month, before an audience of FMCG executives and brand partners, including PepsiCo digital e-commerce manager Scott McGregor.
“We know that in today’s fast-paced world, visual appeal and technology are critical for brands to captivate and connect with their audience instantly,” John Kapiniaris, CEO of Kirk Group, told the audience.
“Some studies have shown that we decide whether we like a brand within 50 milliseconds – that’s faster than you can actually blink your eye and to captivate and connect with your audience instantly, we truly believe that Visual Lab can help bring your ideas to life through high-quality photo-realistic content.”
As Mark Henderson, GM of Visual Lab, continues, the company was established to provide brands with expertly created photo-realistic 3D product rendering and digital content. “We like to think that our 3D renders help amplify a brand’s presence and, ultimately, customer engagement.”
Ensuring brand imagery aligns
McGregor explained the challenge from a brand owner’s perspective: “When we looked at our pack imagery a little bit closer, we found some divergence over time. We started to see different packaging executions across different instances, and it’s not surprising to see how it happened. We had one brand manager approving a piece of imagery who was then sending that out to several different creative agencies who were producing a TikTok ad, a Facebook ad, an out-of-home ad, or a TVC – all of whom were producing their own 3D renders of our pack, not necessarily with the same oversight that the original design received.”
As a major multinational brand, PepsiCo knows that if pack image renders are not being done well and variations occur, “we can be undoing the work that we’ve spent so much energy and effort to achieve”.
Producing high-quality visuals
For many FMCG brands, being able to produce high-quality visual assets can be a challenge in itself. Visual Lab meets that challenge with a high-tech studio that specialises in product renderings that are adaptable to any medium.
“Sometimes we get images from people who have grabbed their mobile phones, taken some photos on a kitchen top and sent them to us, asking if we can do anything with it,” shared Henderson.
“We tend to throw that away and start with our own process. Traditionally, photography is expensive, lead times are long, and, normally, updates are required after the photoshoot which is when you get into post-production. The costs and lead times associated with that puts additional pressure on marketers and brand owners.”
Complicating the situation further, the production of these assets happens just before the product launch, so getting marketing collateral together ready for a marketing launch can be hampered by not having the assets to create the content to promote the product and get it into the market.
“It’s a bit of a vicious circle,” continued Henderson. “The Visual Lab solution is a high-quality 3D render that we build as a true 3D model. Traditionally – going back to studio days – it would be a 2D image that had been worked on in Photoshop to create a 3D image which is then used online. The challenge of that is if you then want to view that image from a different angle, you have to go back to the agency, which costs you time and money. So the beauty of our product is you get a true model that can easily be rotated on screen to view from any angle and then output as a new asset,” he said.
“It is easily done, its low cost, and your speed to market is faster without compromising your product campaign launch.”
Brand consistency is vital
As McGregor explains, FMCG brands need to focus on digital excellence on the shelf, in advertising and in packaging – his role within PepsiCo.
“Anytime that you’re engaging with our brand you’re probably engaging if not with the logo, then with our packaging. When it’s done well, it helps us to invigorate our consumers, helps to build brand trust. When it’s done poorly, it can undo work that we have spent decades building.”
The specifications of a visual file will be dependent on where the product image is going to be placed: In a grocery channel like Coles or Woolworths, it needs to be a very clean image that meets all of GS1 standards, with no background, but on Amazon, you will need multi-packs because most people buy in bulk on that platform.
Visual Lab is on top of that. “We can render what a carton would look like full of product with a hero image at the front,” said Henderson.
Craig Feeley, Asahi national business manager, said the possibilities that Visual Lab’s solution enables are endless.
“E-commerce images are literally just the tip of the iceberg. We’ve continued to push the boundaries of what’s possible.” Now, Asahi can place an accurate digital render of a product and digitally place it into a fridge. “This is the type of technology that can set us apart from our competitors and it’s been delivered thanks to the partnership we have with Visual Lab.”
A single source of approved visuals
One of the core challenges Visual Lab addresses is creating a single source of authorised and original visual content for brands, a service that’s underpinned by these dynamic digital asset management solutions. Multiple agencies specialising in different media channels all have their own files adapted for purpose. Sometimes, an agency might charge a client to access an image that it has effectively already paid for; at other times, images may be stored on portable drives, on an internal server or elsewhere.
“With every brand we deal with, when we ask for asset files, people aren’t sure where to locate them,” says Henderson. “Getting these assets together is an inherent problem for every brand.”
Visual Lab has addressed this by building a cloud-based storage system accessible by desktop or mobile where clients and agencies can access files instantly.
Pepsico asked Visual Lab for guidance on connecting its creative agencies and how it could work smarter, not harder.
“Visual Lab came to us with a solution, rather than having seven different renders produced and seven different bills sent to us, and those same renders being produced seven different times … we could have a centralised render touchpoint. This means that across three different countries and several different agencies – more than seven now at this point in time – they are all accessing a centralised render that can be for the single pack, the share pack, the party pack, the group pack, the pallet – whichever team in our business needs access to this content – has access to it instantly,” McGregor continued.
“That convenience is what powers us to make sure that these creative agencies that we’re engaging with – who are partners in our business – can do their best work.”
Saving time and money
Ultimately, Visual Lab’s solution is all about maintaining brand integrity, saving companies time and money, streamlining essential product visual rendering services and enabling clients and their agencies to access them where and when they need to.
Concluded McGregor: “Visual Lab’s technology allows PepsiCo’s creative agencies to invest more time and energy into what matters – their creative output – rather than redesigning a pack that we’ve already approved years ago.”
Henderson finished the launch with a preview of a new DIY product developed by the team called Visual Studio. This innovative tool will enable users to produce global-standard assets across all their digital platforms. With the ability to use current AI technology, Visual Studio is set for a global launch early next year.
- To see the Visual Lab solution in action, watch the launch video online where Henderson takes you through the entire process of creating, manipulating and storing/accessing graphics for your next new brand or product.
