Buyers trust traditional medicine for its lineage, and only then look at the packaging.
A remedy with a long history and real herb-growing regions is what counts most. Sinh Vũ helps packaging and wording keep that root, while staying close enough for younger buyers to pick up.
Three things first: a remedy story told truthfully and briefly, imagery of real herb-growing regions, and clear, clean packaging. Those three decide whether a buyer sees this as goods with a lineage or goods of unknown origin.
Who passed it down, since when it has been used, why it is still kept: told truthfully and briefly, without embellishment.
Where it is grown, where it is harvested, who does the work: things that can be verified and seen.
Name, ingredients and directions easy to read; avoid dense type and dragon-and-phoenix imagery that breeds suspicion.
Traditional medicine comes in many forms, with different buyers and ways of buying, so the brand has to speak differently too.
Their customersBuyers are usually young and middle-aged, buying at pharmacies, supermarkets or on marketplaces.
Brand challengeBring the product close to a daily drinking habit while keeping the look of something with a lineage.
Their customersBuyers trust recommendations from people they know or from a practitioner.
Brand challengeGive it packaging dignified and clear enough that buyers feel more at ease than with goods of unknown origin.
Their customersPatients come because they trust the practitioner, usually on a family's recommendation.
Brand challengeGive the place a name and character of its own, not only the practitioner's name.
These are the places where traditional medicine often loses out even when the remedy has a name.
A box full of patterns, Chinese-style characters and a yellowed ground; younger buyers assume it is for their grandparents.
Keep the traditional spirit, tidy the layout and type, so a younger buyer picks it up without feeling it is foreign.
Start from this problemBeside hand-carried and unbranded goods, buyers can't tell which has a lineage.
Present origin, place of preparation and manufacturer information clearly and consistently on every piece.
Start from this problemThe story lives in the practitioner's head, and buyers see only a name.
Write the remedy's story as a few short lines usable on the box, the leaflet and the website.
Start from this problemGoods piled high, with no way to help customers choose or know what they need.
A clear shelf layout and signage, so customers can look for themselves and ask in the right place.
Start from this problemAt the checking stage. Buyers ask people they know or search online to see whether this remedy is real. If they can't see the lineage and where it is made, they don't buy.
Touchpoints are the places where a buyer sees, touches or reads about the product. You don't need to do everything at once. These five touchpoints decide most of the impression.
Buyers see and smell it the moment they pick it up; the packaging has to be clean and inspire trust.
The main reason a buyer chooses you over other goods.
Proves origin with real imagery that is hard to fake.
The place where buyers make contact, ask questions and decide to buy.
Gives buyers directions and ingredients, creating the feeling of being carefully guided.
Listed in the order to do them. A single product can stop at step two; a whole range goes all the way.
Write the remedy's story and the way of speaking first, because imagery has to serve the story.
Name, mark, color and type that keep the traditional spirit yet stay tidy.
Box, pouch and label, with the origin clearly placed.
Photos of the herb-growing region and the people who make the medicine, usable for years.
Signboards and shelving for a traditional medicine shop.
Sinh Vũ has not published a traditional medicine or herbal project. The two projects below solve the two nearest problems: turning a familiar symbol into your own, and talking about health in a warm voice.
Green Cross Medical carries the cross familiar to healthcare, and Sinh Vũ set it inside a heart to build a brand identity that could not be mistaken for anyone else's.
Keep the symbol everyone can read, then make it a mark of its own: a way to carry a traditional element without being confused with others.
2011JoyFM is the specialised health radio channel of Hanoi Radio and Television Station, broadcasting on FM 98.9 MHz. Sinh Vũ built the mark, the guideline system and the corporate profile…
A mark, a standards system and a set of documents for a health channel, in a voice that is warm and close yet still trustworthy.
The principles behind it
Keep the traditional spirit in color, material and a few details, then tidy the layout and type. Drop some of the dense patterning so younger buyers find it easy to read.
Avoid shapes everyone uses, such as leaves, dragons or the bagua. Sinh Vũ looks for something distinctive in the shop's own roots, such as the remedy, the herb-growing region or whoever passed down the craft, and only then chooses a shape.
Let them see the roots: photos of the herb-growing region, the place of preparation, the people who make it, and manufacturer information stated clearly on the box. Things that can be verified persuade more than any praise.
Yes, if the story is true and told briefly. Tell only what can be proven, and don't tie the story to a promise to cure disease. Have your legally knowledgeable person review the final version.
A name and mark for the place, not only for the practitioner, a clear sign, a tidy reception room, and an introduction page that lists the license and the team.
A few lines about the product, its roots and what is holding you back is enough. Sinh Vũ will read it and reply within one working day.