Designed By Customers

Heinz is an iconic brand; its red bottle is instantly recognizable worldwide. The red bottle is a powerful symbol that evokes emotions in many people. Yet, it has always been simple but distinctive, with the bright red color standing out on store shelves. 

The design of the bottle has evolved over its 150-year history. While the latest plan addresses specific consumer desires, it is also the most significant departure from its heritage. Being a member of the innovation agency that redesigned the last Heinz bottle and recalling how much effort went into preserving and celebrating the brand's heritage, I was surprised to see this latest bottle redesign.

This is an excellent example of the misunderstood term, ‘customer-centricity.’ Customer centricity is not about consumers designing the product. It is about optimizing the development for the customer’s most essential needs. Customers driving the design of your product often leads to poorly designed products that will not deliver the intended value and, most likely, will lack brand authenticity. Customers do not understand a company’s brand DNA or strategy, and it is not their job to protect it. They also do not necessarily can assess the viability of their product design ideas. In this case, the extra R&D, tooling, and material cost will likely lead to higher product packaging costs and the overall product price, which may lead to a loss of revenue. Will the extra few drips of the ketchup be worth the markup and potential damage to the brand?