Have you noticed when you go shopping in the supermarket that you tend to scan the shelves for a product that you recognise, with which you have that emotional connection, that you trust. Often it’s not about price, but about knowing that you are buying a product that is familiar to you.
And have you ever felt that disappointment when your favourite brand changes its packaging, and it doesn’t have quite the same appeal anymore, it loses an elusive quality that affects you negatively and almost forces you to look at alternatives. Sometimes it can take a while to rekindle the love for a brand when it is changed too much and too quickly.
How important is your packaging?
The above illustrates how absolutely crucial it is to get your packaging and branding spot on if you are to win the hearts and wallets of distracted shoppers in a busy supermarket. If one beer bottle packaging design fades into the background against another, then your sales figures will suffer as a result – even If you offer better value. Follow these following rules with regards to your packaging and you will be on the way to standing out from the crowd.
- Be consistent in your brand representation
You have probably invested heavily in your brand. You have done a lot of work understanding your target market and producing a visual representation that appeals to that demographic. Your advertising has been finely tuned to amplify the message.
Does your packaging do the same job? Is it consistent with all other marketing channels?
Any conflict within the branding will immediately put off the buyer. That momentary discord will sound a sour note that will turn the potential purchaser away from your product and on to another. Ensuring that your packaging is consistent and representative of your offering maintains an objection free route through to the cash desk.
- Don’t underestimate the tangibility of the packaging
In an online world, the importance of the tangibility of a product has grown exponentially. To feel the weight and texture adds value to your product, and a packaging design that responds to this will encourage greater customer loyalty.
Make sure that your packaging responds to the product itself in terms of texture, weight, materials used, colour and wording.
- Don’t be quick to change the design of the packaging
Shopping is a groove – there’s a comfort to finding a brand product that you like, that you know, and that you trust. While change sometimes feels like it could be good idea, often your customer base will feel jarred by the changes, and this will upset the purchasing flow.
Repeat business is more valuable than new business – finding and wining new clients costs more money and investment than maintaining the ones you already have. Keeping clients should not be difficult, but sometimes the onus is on winning new business and not looking after the ones that you already have. It is a fine balance.
- Good packaging means less returns
Your packaging is not just there to entice – it also needs to protect and dispense. As a result, it needs to be ergonomic, functional and practical. Faulty packaging, wrapping that is difficult to get into, bottles that don’t pour properly, sauce bottles that leave half the product in obscure corners – these are all faults in the packaging design that is going to jar with your potential buyers and prevent that repeat purchase and brand loyalty.
The more obstacles you put in the path of your potential buyer, the more you will turn them towards your competitors. Your packaging is a powerful weapon in your marketing arsenal.