How Custom Packaging Help Build Your Brand

Packaging can be associated with brands in many ways and assign certain characteristics with products and brands owners provides authority and recognition in various ways leading to higher sales with a rise in credibility and visibility.

Brand before Beauty

Packaging experts do argue that the looks of a package are essential. There is a certain number of seconds in which the gaze of a shopper can lure him into a loyal customer. The appearance of product packaging as some say comes before branding, but a stronger counter-argument exists that suggest that brand dominates beauty in a package.  

Branding experts say is nothing wrong with adding art and beauty but the matter of the fact is that it is not the only factor that translates into a sell. President/Creative Director, Design Force, Inc. Ted Mininn isays that an average buyer has 20 seconds to decide to buy your product on the market shelves and branding plays a crucial role in this decision that happens on the back of the consumer’s mind. It was in 2009. Another article published in Packaging Digest in around 2014 discloses that the consumer decision-making time has gone down to five seconds from 20 seconds that can be directly attributed to the advertisement and commercial campaigns that run around the clock. 

It can boil down to this perception that marketers should seek a harmonized balance between the attractiveness of packaging and its direct relationship with the brand of the product. It should connect with the inner feelings of the consumer convincingly and most importantly, convey the message of the brand given that the average consumer has a shorter attention span now.

Whenever you need to customize a package, the design should make the product packaging stand out from the noise of the rest of the brands. It requires surveys and market research including visits to the markets and observation of the shelves to detect patterns that can be defied to design a product package that conveys the language of your brand. A good packaging design should have unique structure; always facilitate the corporate message with reinforcement of brand communication. 

One other key factor that allows building a brand through customized packaging is the simplicity of the package. If there are simple visual and verbal cues that make a product sell, then there must be nothing better. The most significant brand that has risen to the top of this package design strategy is Apple Inc.

Packaging as a Part of Brand Experience

Everything a brand does is the outlook on the picture the brand paints in the eyes, minds and the hearts of its audience. From TV commercials right down to slogans and the intricate details in the logo is an integral part of the company’s branding. If you spend time and efforts in building a brand image and it does not extend to the packaging then it becomes an unforgivable sin. It is just like you have sketched a beautiful painting, but you did not fill it with color. If your product is shipped in dull brown cardboard boxes, you should seriously rethink about it even if you have a meager competition for your business. When it comes to packaging as your branding vehicle, very tiny and small details matter. For instance, many delivery packages that come from brand sane companies have a small slip saying “Hello” with a smiley face. Little details like this matters for your brand image. It allows your brand to connect with your customers. When you are shipping products from other giant manufacturers, you may find yourself struggling in the waters with the lack of self-identity. But, when you work on small details similar to the ones mentioned above, you can make a difference that helps you to connect with your customers and thrive in better business avenues, and you get to stand apart from the competition.

Cardboard boxes appear to some shoppers, and at first glance, the mind of the shopper generates annoying questions like what is coming in the boxes, from where and for whom? One suspicion that lingers in my mind, whenever I see a boring and dull cardboard box coming towards me or when I am opening it, I think the vendor has sent me a used product or at least tempered with it. A good brand maker foresees these threats and mitigates them as far, as it could be done.

If it makes sense and there is a match with your branding, make an immediate statement with the outer box. Such as,

• In the first place order shipping boxes with your colors, your logo, and slogan, etc. Individual companies are doing this very well.
• Use custom packing tape or branded shipping labels.
• Consider adding attractive stickers to otherwise plain boxes. It is a decent way to add some of your branding flavors without spending a bomb. 

It ingrains into the minds of your customers that your company is the business where the box came from and later on if they communicate with your company for any reason they can say “The package from (your company) is here” instead of “The box you sent is here.”  The package establishes itself as your brand from the start in the receiver’s mind, and you want to make this experience as pleasant as possible for your customers.

Extension of Your Brand beyond the Outer Packaging

Never send a box or a package with only the product.  Your customers are expecting more than your product when it is being unboxed.Many companies include the packing slip, instruction booklet or sheet for using your product and other printed materials that may be pamphlets for other products from your company that their customer may be interested in buying. This printed material is sitting opportunity for you to exploit and extend your brand. If you incentivize your delivery with small useful articles with the portrayal of your brand image, your customer will be happy and your products will shine.  

You can further match packaging with the copywriting on your website, social media pages, and email templates. Remember all of the brandings should have only one core theme and should be extraordinarily coherent and relevant to present the true spirit of your brand.

A critical factor in the success of the business organization is harmony and brand building helps you acquire this harmony that reflects it in its right image. There are endless ways you can package your products but make one thing for sure that it should represent you even at a glance. If you have a luxury brand offering a luxury product, your packaging ought to be luxurious to reflect your brand image. Be open, aesthetic and artistic to express who you are as a business with your packaging.

Differentiate Your Brand

The primary objective of marketing is brand building and highlighting of what makes your brand better than others. To reach your marketing and advertising targets as a brand you need to resort to proven strategies to gain public attention and a hard focus on your customers on your brand.

Packaging can be furnished with every feature that calls for attention to detail of the brand like materials, shapes and unique size.  

Visit shelves of marketplaces and you will find products in your niche lined up with striking similarity. You need to use this to your advantage and devise products that sell the same thing but in better packaging. It can be done by utilizing bright colors that were difficult to print in the past. Use colorful graphics that are simple enough to spark instant recognition in the minds of your customers. Shapes of packaging should attract attention within an instant. The customer should be able to relate your product to the color graphics and the way it is packaged.

The custom presentation also counts to differentiate your product.  Multipack and the variety of packages can make a difference in the price at which you sell, thus the sale can be enhanced. It is when you bundle up some product pieces in one pack increasing visibility and providing uniqueness in a presentation on the shelves.

Give attention to the unique messaging on the product. For example in today’s ecologically sensitive markets providing sustainability and recyclability messages on the packaging does carry weight with the product utility. The packaging industry is continuously evolving reflecting technological advancement and packaging standards. Keeping in pace with these constant changes and staying on top of it leads to a sustained growth of your enterprise.