PACKAGING – A QUICK GUIDE TO SUCCESS
Getting a product to market is a long and arduous process with meticulous attention to detail given every step of the way. Yet, many businesses overlook the importance of packaging design, one of the most vital steps in the process, resulting in potential disaster- lower-than-expected sales.
Put simply, when it comes to convincing new customers to buy a product for the first time, the effectiveness of a product’s packaging is generally more important than the effectiveness of the product itself.
While the overall experience a customer has with a product once they have purchased it will determine whether or not they buy it again, packaging is often what influences their decision as to whether or not they should buy it to begin with. You can’t land a repeat customer if you can’t get the product off the shelf and into the trolley.
At Totemo, packaging that nets results is our bag. So here’s our quick guide to some of the points you need to consider when it comes to developing or updating your product packaging to ensure you don’t miss out on potential opportunities to increase sales and secure brand equity.
1. FLAUNT YOUR (BRAND) PERSONALITY:
Think of the first time a customer views your product a bit like a first date. You’ve got to click with them and gain their trust before they’ll take you home!
Different customers are looking for different things in the products and brands that they choose. It is essential that your packaging reflects your brand’s unique personality traits in order to appeal to its specific target audience from the shelf. Ensuring that your brand’s unique personality is recognisable in a product’s packaging cultivates brand equity that leads to increased customer loyalty and protects your market share from being eroded by close competitors.
2. SEND CLEAR SIGNALS:
Even the fastest runner can’t win a race they aren’t in. Customers are unlikely to even include your product in their final purchasing decision if its packaging doesn’t clearly signal what it is and what category it belongs to.
Consumers look for signals and cues in stores rather than reading every single label. Effective packaging should convey category participation by observing certain established semiotic signals, whilst challenging others to secure brand equity and establish key points of difference. Effective packaging must ensure that a product makes itself known to those who might be looking for it immediately so that it can be considered in the purchasing decision.
3. LOOK THE PART:
Would you have faith in a builder who arrived for work in a tuxedo?
Just as the way people dress can give us an insight into their personality and lifestyle, a product’s packaging can do the same. Effective packaging should reflect the qualities and ethos of the brand and product. If a brand is all about style, its packaging should be impeccably stylish. If a product is all about making life easy then its packaging should be highly considered and functional.
Ensuring cohesion and synergy between a product and its packaging enhances the communication of key attributes and enhances brand equity which in turn leads to a greater user experience and increased customer loyalty.
4. HIT THE RIGHT PITCH:
Packaging can serve as an on-shelf sales pitch. Go too hard and no one listens, go too soft and no one hears.
It’s a delicate dance, but crafting your on-pack messaging in a way that draws prospective customers in and guides them through a considered and compelling hierarchy of information will give your product an enormous advantage over its competitors.
5. BE SIMPLY IRRESISTIBLE (TO STOCKISTS):
Packaging designed to strategically appeal to relevant retailers is much more likely to be stocked in stores. Without a stockist, its hard to reach consumers!
Retailers often have a different set of criteria they’re looking for in product packaging compared with that of the end consumer. Retailers understand what works best for them in terms of display, storage and transport – as well as what generates sales. Retailers are often looking for products that can be positioned in a particular way to complement existing ranges, fill a gap in their offering or are packaged in a way that presents a unique retail opportunity. For example, highly decorative, differentiated or premium products are often stocked on counters – a platform that is not available to other products.
6. BE BATTLE READY:
Make no mistake – the shelf is a battleground. In this ruthless arena, it is a product’s packaging that competes for a new customer’s attention and motivates them to part with their precious cash.
Potential prospective customers will often shortlist several competing products on the supermarket shelf and then apply further analysis and comparison of these product’s packaging to inform their final purchase.
Packaging that is strategically designed to respond directly to the packaging of its competitors is able to secure a strong advantage. Sales claims can be countered and enhanced, aesthetic cues can be differentiated and messaging can be refined comparatively, in order to position the product for a strategic advantage and secure sales.
7. BE PRACTICAL:
As the old adage goes “by failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail”.
Now is the time to think about your packaging from every angle to make sure that it makes the utmost commercial sense in every respect.
It is imperative to consider the implications of your packaging on transport and shipping now and into the future to avoid the prospect of unnecessarily high shipping costs all along the supply chain. This is particularly important now as online retail continues to grow.
Don’t forget that careful consideration and clever planning around the materials and production methods involved in creating your packaging can result in more cost-effective solutions in the long run through reduced costs and the potential for extended shelf-life which could make a significant difference to your bottom line.
8. BE COLLABORATIVE:
It takes a village to raise a child… and also to make effective packaging!
Great packaging is generally the result of great teamwork. It spawns from partnerships that are able to leverage the unrivalled product knowledge of those within a business with expert skills and experience. It can’t be done without the input of creative practitioners that specialise in branding and packaging design.
Totemo Creative is an award-winning studio that specialises in branding and packaging design. With a team of expert creatives possessing an invaluable collection of unique commercial insights garnered over decades of hands on work in this field. Combine that with a vast tried and tested print and production network and it’s clear that Totemo is the perfect partner to help ensure your packaging is performing at its best, working tirelessly to achieve your commercial objectives.
Contact us now for an obligation-free chat to learn more about how we might be able to help you create exceptional packaging that leads to commercial results.
