It takes just a quick glance, maybe three seconds, for someone to evaluate your products packaging. In this time the person forms an opinion on your product based on how it looks. These all important impressions are often impossible to reverse and set the tone for the customers thoughts and feelings of your brand. Your brand is more than just your name, your logo or your colours. Your brand is everything you stand for and represent. Your packaging needs to reflect this brand so the customer can perceive it on first glance. Packaging that reflects the value of the items inside reinforces brand image, complements your products and shows your customers they are important to you. Here are 5 ways to make your product packaging reflect your brand.
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Your brand should be more than just the product. To create a strong brand you need to sell a lifestyle, not just goods. Recylable packaging establishes a credible loyalty between you and your clients by showing the eco-friendly nature of your brand. Studies show that 90% of millenials would choose an enviromentally friendly brand over their non enviromentally friendly counterpart. Millenials are the currently the biggest consumers in the world, so if you want to appeal to the customers of tomorrow, enviromentally friendly package is a huge step in the right direction.
Not standing out on the shelf is the number one mistake you can make when designing your brands packaging. New potential cusotmers won't notice your product amongst the other choices, and returning customers may find it hard quickly spot it. The best way to stand out is to be different, this is easier said than done however. Here are some ways that you can make your brand visible:
The consumer has spotted your product on the shelf. The challenge now is to prove that this product is the one they want. If you don’t quickly tell your consumer what type of product you are, you will lose relevance instantly. Keep in mind that a business is generic and faceless without its history, values, mission, vision and personality. To refine the story you'd like to convey to the public, ask yourself some of these questions:
What beliefs drive you and your company?
What makes your business and product unique?
How would like to see the business a few (or many) years from now?
How can your products change the lives of your consumers?
Once you've answered these, it'll be easier to focus your brand story—and that story can inform the choices you make with product development and package design.
Once the product has been purchased, its time for it to deliver. The ideal scenario is that the product meets or even excels the first impression set by the packaging. The job of the packaging doesn't finish after purchase though. A pack that’s nice to hold, easy to open, easy to pour, easy to reseal, easy to store is a winner and is likely to create strong brand loyalty.
Brand consistency is the key to earning customer trust and elevating your ROI. And alternatively, inconsistent branding dampens brand status and creates confusion in the marketplace. The packaging design concepts need to reflect your brand. Even if your product doesn't share the aesthetic characteristics of your brand, it should feel congruent with its values.