T in T: Prototyping Peanut Butter Jars in Arusha

Tanja Baeck
Jul 20, 2017 · 2 min read

In order to make a consumer product successful, you have to have an attracting packaging!

How to best get there? Of course! With Design Thinking! We defined our brand image (social, local and organic) and developed tons of labels, which we though could kind of work. But what design attracts our target customers — high income Tanzanians, expats/volunteers and tourists — most?

Ask them! We therefore built prototypes to be validated: The biggest challenge with the prototypes was finding jars made out of glass! Basically all the packages here are made out of plastic. As we could not find ones to buy, we were asking at the hotel, on safari and wherever for used ones…and found some. We got labels printed and we finally ended up with 3 prototypes with different glasses, different colors, different logos, different fonts…

Now, the fun part started: Asking customers! We therefore went to various places, where people buy peanut butter:

In front of a very popular supermarket in Arusha

And lucky us, we have a clear winner:

Together with David we can now start to meet potential retailers and wholesalers to establish distribution channels for Mama Bora.

And we can move ahead with our marketing material (flyers, posters, social media):

Gerry taking pictures for the flyer

)
Welcome to a place where words matter. On Medium, smart voices and original ideas take center stage - with no ads in sight. Watch
Follow all the topics you care about, and we’ll deliver the best stories for you to your homepage and inbox. Explore
Get unlimited access to the best stories on Medium — and support writers while you’re at it. Just $5/month. Upgrade