You create brand awareness, run paid campaigns and all sorts of marketing mediums are used, but when your product hits the shelves in the store, that’s where consumers make all the buying decisions. They can choose to use the brand they always have used or pick up a new brand that attracts their attention. Right packaging design plays a very important role in making that decision.
What is Packaging design?
Packaging design is the process that combines the art and science of creating containers for a product so it can be securely contained, transported, presented, and identified.
Packaging design is a very vast and creative world full of its challenges as you need a packaging design for almost every product ever made. You will need a packaging design for everything from everyday-use items to luxury gift items. Every product in goods and sales inventory from bananas in the fruit aisle to heavy-weight lawn mowers and vacuum cleaners needs a packaging design that is effective for both securely transporting and presenting the product.
Packaging is a lot more complicated than simply pasting a sticker on a cardboard box. It needs to secure the product from damage and waste, make it identifiable as well as memorable, and state important information on it. The packaging can be a bottle of shampoo that contains the product itself or a box securely containing a fragile glass bottle of perfume. A packaging design can be a bag of laundry detergent or a box containing a handbag from a high-end brand.
Different Elements of Packaging Design
Designing packaging for any product has 3 main elements:
- Material
- Graphical
- Physical dimensions
1. Material
There is a wide range of packaging materials ranging from:
- Basic and practical – cardboard, tin, polythene, plastic, and styrofoam
- Elegant – glass bottles and silk bags
- Sophisticated – plastic or cardboard box covered and cushioned with exotic fabrics such as silk and velvet
- Modern: Biodegradable and eco-friendly materials such as paper bags that have micro-seeds for planting
Materials are very important, as they add to the user experience but can add to the cost overall cost of the product. If not chosen correctly, it can either downplay the value of the product or can elevate the packaging cost more than the product itself. Sometimes packaging material itself can be used as a unique selling point for example eco-friendly packaging material.
2. Graphical
This includes the colors, fonts, copy, and imagery used in the design of the packaging. This plays a very significant role in helping the product stand out and claim the attention of consumers.
- Colors should be attractive and reflect the brand as they can single-handedly make or break the deal by attracting the buyer’s attention
- Font should reflect the nature of the product and the taste of the user, it should also be visible and easily readable.
- Copy must be simple and emphasize the unique selling points while appealing to the intended users
- Imagery can be used to have a product identified, grab attention, or help communicate with the user
3. Physical Dimensions
What shape and size of the packaging of your product will be can help it gain attention on the shelves, and also add to its perceived value. While large-shaped packaging can add to the perceived value of the product, small pocket-size packaging and travel-friendly packaging also have unique marketing advantages depending upon the nature of the product and target audience. It is important to understand the cost and design limitations of the company and product. Huge and complex packaging design can grab you all the attention but cost more and sometimes also compromise the security or integrity of the product.
Importance of Packaging Desing in Marketing
Packaging is not merely to protect or transport the product from the manufacturing plant to market place. It is an element of your marketing that if done right can help you stand out among competitors during advertisements, promotional campaigns, and on shelves.
1. Introducing Product
Packaging is designed to introduce the product in a market full of competitors.
Packaging is a dynamic and very creative medium for marketing. It introduces the product even before someone can see the product itself, for example, a box of a ring “hints to” the soon bride-to-be about the upcoming marriage proposal. Packaging establishes the anticipations and expectations for the quality of the product. It gives the product introduction, identity, and opportunity to stand out. For example, blue vs pink packaging for shaving razors highlights the gender of the intended audience of the product.
2. Competing for Attention
Packaging is the only competitive edge that can bring attention to your product when your product is placed on a shelf with many other competitors. It can help you gain attention even as a new brand standing among popular and established competitors. A big round bowl-shaped cereal packaging helps a brand stand out in the cereal aisle full of colorful flat boxes.
3. Communicate Value
A good packaging design will not only communicate the value of your product by presenting its unique selling points, but it can also add to the perceived value of the product through an elevated unboxing experience.
Choosing a packaging material that looks expensive and high-end can help you position your product above your competitors and you might be able to even sell it at a relatively higher cost.
Picking rich colors such as gold or scarlet can help you present your product as “royal” or worth more than the competitors.
Similarly using good imagery or clever copy that appeals to the emotions of buyers can add value to the product itself.
4. Unique Selling Points
Packaging can highlight the unique selling points of the product through physical dynamics, great copy, or imagery. For example, a football-shaped packaging for sports gear can emphasize that the product is intended for football players. Similarly “3 in 1” written in bold and big font on the packaging boosts the multi-functionality of a product.
5. Enhance User Experience
Packaging plays a very significant role in user experience from presenting the product, to identifying and purchasing the product to finally unboxing the product. It contributes to the overall desirability of the product, as buyers can decide which brand of shampoo to buy without actually testing the product itself, based on colors, imagery, and overall feel of the packaging.
A lot goes into a packaging design that can function as an efficient marketing tool. You need to research the market, have experience in designing, and understand the psychology of the intended audience. While it may sound overwhelming, you can be leaving a lot on the table if not leveraging the best packaging design. Don’t worry, if you need to upscale you need help with packaging design, we at Biztack have a team of expert designers experienced in packaging design. Feel free to contact us for consultation.
