“That’s what’s exciting- making changes to make things better moving forward.”
Dave Newman, Brand Manager
The new and improved packaging is just one of the many ways Majority Audio is striving to be the first carbon-neutral audio brand by encompassing environmental sustainability. We sat down with Majority’s Brand Manager, Dave Newman & Industrial Designer, Aidan Smith to find out how Majority Audio is not only helping to save the planet for future generations but also breathing new life into the unboxing experience.
Majority are striving to become the first carbon neutral audio brand- how has this affected the packaging?
Dave: Well, you need to look at everything the brand is touching from, manufacturing through to delivery. We realised there was polystyrene, plastics in our packaging that were not needed. So, we’re working with a company called LE, a packaging specialist company that is based in the fashion world. We just wanted to make sure we got rid of all our plastics and polystyrene.
Aidan: We’ve gone for a complete overhaul from the internals to the overall look, giving it that natural aesthetic. Looks aside, it’s much easier to recycle and all the inserts give it the eco-credentials we want our packaging to have. Rather than using polystyrene to protect the product, the box wraps around the product to create a nest. The product is now protected by a wall of card and it’s all made out of one piece of card and it folds in on itself. It presents the product better, when you open it up you see the product looking at you.
I’d say when designing the packaging, rather than just redesigning it to just be eco-friendly and get us towards that carbon-neutral goal, we wanted to improve the overall user experience as well. Making the unboxing experience the best it can be from receiving it on your door to opening the packaging and taking the product out and using the product. It’s giving a much better user experience. We haven’t just redesigned the packaging externally, but we’ve moved our manuals online. From removing our chunky user manuals from the packaging we’ve saved so many trees and pieces of paper, so as part of that unboxing experience, the user will now be greeted with a message of what our goals are and why we’ve got rid of the paper manuals explaining the benefit of that for us and also the benefit for the consumer as well.
What inspired the change?
Dave: We were looking at what was happening in the industry to improve the user experience but internally we wanted to make a difference. We’re planting trees and doing the best we can, and we decided we need to be designing greener. Let’s go back to the source and make a difference. The messaging has come off the back of that. It has been organic to change the messaging, but we always knew we were going to change the brand look, feel and messaging. It’s all come along at the same time. It’s all worked cohesively to come together. It’s an overhaul of the brand and the manufacturing process- and we’re still looking at how we can further improve, even down to cable size and wrapping them in bags. We just don’t need them. All those things have been eradicated.
What is the difference between the old packaging and the new packaging?
Dave: The old packaging was using a full-colour gloss- laminate varnish that wasn’t recyclable. The ink is now made from soy, it’s recyclable, we’ve got rid of plastic. In general, the new packaging much more useful to the consumer.
Aidan: I’d also say the image. We’ve been going through a brand redesign. So along with the new material and the improved user experience component, the actual image of the box is different. The font, the written content, the messaging.
When designing the new packaging, what were the key requirements?
Aidan: It’s that transparency between the consumer and the company.
Dave: Reminding people that we are making an impact. We can make a difference and be greener.
What have you enjoyed most about the changing over to the new packaging?
Aidan: It’s been exciting designing the packaging. It’s seeing the potential in the initial design phase and seeing where it is now.
Dave: I’m proud of seeing how we’ve recognised the impact we have on the planet and making the changes to help the environment that bit more. That’s what’s exciting- making changes to make things better moving forward.
What encouraged your decision to move the manuals online?
Dave: I was looking at the Oakington and I saw how thick the manuals are and I thought, how many are using the manuals, it would be easier for the customer if it’s digital. We sell online so it makes sense we store the manual online. This is a way we can use technology to help save the planet. Also, if when we need to change information in the manuals, we can easily go onto the back end of our website to do that but when you print 10,000 copies, it’s much more complicated.
We’ve 100% seen an improvement in our quality control. we were doing paper tests in the packaging and saw the paper was leaving dust on the products, so we’ve scrapped that. We’ve also built a strong relationship with our packaging supplier- they’ve become a crucial part of the business.
As of August 2021, our new packaging and digital manuals will be used for all products. To find out more about climate positive initiatives, including the Majority Forest, subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on social media at @majorityaudio, @majorityaudio.us & @majorityaudio.de #majorityaudio #carbonneutralaudio