Forthought Design created Yoplait yogurt designs (Also see portfolio gallery below.)

Merdock Group Inc. of Charlottetown is pleased to announce that they are now working with Forthought Design Inc., an award-winning food packaging design firm in Toronto with long-term clients like Yoplait, McCormick Canada, Smucker Foods and Storck, to provide design for clients in Atlantic Canada.

Vivian Beer, Merdock’s President says,” The packaging design services and comprehensive understanding of packaging trends and standards that Forthought offers is exactly the type of premium package marketing we want to offer clients who are expanding into international markets.“

“One only has to walk through a grocery store to see how competitive product design has become and how essential it is for manufacturers to adhere to changing packaging trends and standards for local and international retailers.”

Rob Sraka, President of Forthought Design says, “We are hearing about significant product innovation in Atlantic Canada and are pleased to be working with Merdock Group to offer our packaging design experience to contribute to the success of these ventures.”

“We are not a big agency; only our clients are big. Our approach to design is called “The Whole Package” and it ensures that your brand’s objectives are met – from beginning to end.”

Prior to forming Merdock Group Inc., Vivian Beer, worked as V.P. Marketing and Sales for a food equipment manufacturer that sold to dairy and food processors in Canada, the US, Southeast Asia, Middle East and Latin America, so she has built a strong understanding and network in the food industry.

They are are already pursuing opportunities in Canada, US, Europe and South America.

For more information, please contact:
Vivian Beer, Merdock Group Inc., 902-367-1818 or vivian@merdock.com

About Merdock:
Merdock Group Inc. of Charlottetown, established in 2004, is a corporate branding and marketing communications company for the food, bioscience, tourism and technology industries. They developed the successful Luscious Lobster Campaign for Atlantic Canada Lobster which has been featured at major seafood events in Canada, US, Europe and China.

About Forthought Design:
Forthought Design is an award-winning package design studio located in Toronto, Ontario with clients across Canada and the United States. Forthought was established in 1992 in pursuit of creating inspirational and innovative package design solutions.

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First of all, Grant is an anthropologist, moves fast, talks fast and he is Canadian. (Is that possible?) He spent most of his career in the US teaching at Harvard Business School and more recently at MIT (ok, that explains it). He is author of the book, Chief Culture Officer. He made many Canadian references including how the Canadian Maritimes was famous for storytelling and how important that is in our current culture.

He arrived at the front of the room in a great suit and baseball hat. It was a long horizontal room, and he swept with a large gait to the far left and right to the point that I was getting a little motion sickness. There were three slide projections on the front wall, and ideas were coming at us in full pages. I had to listen and quickly read the slides, as they would be gone and he was on to the next. I asked him during the break if we would be getting a copy of the slides, and he said that many of the new ideas would be in his upcoming book. That explained it…he is keeping us hooked, but that’s ok with me. I had read his book, Chief Culture Officer, before attending, so most of his ideas were very familiar, so I focused on catching the new ideas or the ones I found most compelling. Here are some statements that stood out for me:

• 60% of mergers and acquisitions don’t work.
• We need more metaphors to describe things.
• There is fast culture and slow culture.
• Status is gone.
• Local culture is growing.
• We have moved from industrial food (less you know about it, the better) to artisan food (the more you know about it, the better).
• Farmers now rival chefs.
• There are now more stories connected to food.
• Celebrity culture has moved into homes – designs of kitchens open to dining and entertaining area has turned a home into a food show. The cook can entertain his/her friends while preparing a meal and likely telling stories about the ingredients and the recipe.
• Young people no longer care about long careers at big name companies; they use their social network to provide career opportunities.
• Content is in motion.
• People need content to sustain their networks. Have you ever gotten to the point where you considered dropping a Facebook friend because they didn’t have interesting content?
• Content is currency.
• Consumers look to us for content.
• Give something to people to talk about.
• We are now content suppliers.
• Look for patterns, what’s new? What kind of things violate our expectations?
• Don’t confuse culture with cool.
• Study assumptions you make and make adjusts.
• Fad – Fashion – Trend – Culture – First something is a fad, then a fashion. If it survives, it is a trend; not all trends become entrenched in culture.
• When things go mass, it’s over.
• Pattern recognition – Is it something or nothing? Is it significant, will it get traction in culture or will it fall away?
• Get lots of ideas in circulation.
• Errors are better than confusion.
• What does a culture find interesting? More importantly, what does a culture find interesting that it cannot tell you?
• When you buy the product, you should get the story.
• Where are the critical assumptions buried?
• Never be the hippest person in the room.

After the day-long session, the Google attendee suggested we go out for drinks off Union Square at Heartland. We met there for another three hours to debrief the day. I walked over with a Canadian who is working in New York and was flying to Istanbul the next day. I don’t know about you, but when you meet a fellow Canadian in another country, it seems so relaxing to chat with them and there is so much you don’t have to explain which makes one question what inherent patterns are changing in our own culture. If you are outside North America, then this is also true of meeting either an American or Canadian. We share a similar humour and experience of being neighbours.

The debriefing went well. We found the ideas discussed to be very stimulating. We all love Grant, his energy and ideas. But always the best part is to connect with people who think about the same things you do, in this case, explorers of culture.

Grant is going to set up a Wiki for us to stay connected and to exchange ideas. Met great new friends and hope to connect with more on the Wiki. If I come across more interesting ideas and discussions, I will post them here. I will be expanding on statements on the session in the coming weeks, so stay tuned. Easily each could be an article of its own. Also, buy Grant’s book, Chief Culture Officer and join the discussion.

Vivian

Here are more thoughts on the day from a fellow explorer of culture, Michael Margolis: http://www.getstoried.com/2010/02/23/culture-as-competitive-advantage/