The Language of Packaging: Industry Shifts to Know
Packaging tells stories. Take, for example, a bottle of Chablis, a bottle of Reisling and a bottle of port. Completely different shapes, and instantly recognisable. There’s no way a producer would put their sweet eiswein into a Chablis bottle. It’s not a snob thing, it’s just a way of sending a signal to the buyer what to broadly expect.
It’s an enviable position to be in - the rest of us have to work much harder to stand out. The continued popularity of ‘unboxing videos’ on YouTube shows the power of great packaging. It closes the deal, validates the purchase decision and continues to educate.
Even if most consumer packaging has reverted to looking like it’s from Apple, the power of that reveal remains.
Most Americans agree that the design of a product’s packaging (72%) and the materials used to package a product (67%) often influence their purchase decisions when selecting which products to buy. Package design is seen to be even more important when buying a gift, with eight in ten agreeing that packaging design can influence their gift selection (81%).
When buying shifts online, packaging works harder
But fancy end-caps in-store aren’t much use if most of the purchases are online. Iconic British chain John Lewis reports that a single location - its online warehouse - sells more than all of its 34 stores combined.
So, to summarise - good packaging tells stories, a sizable portion of consumers take pictures of the boxes as they open them, and most non-grocery purchases are trending towards online purchasing.
New approach to packaging
What’s a marketer to do? The answer is - and we apologise in advance for this - to think outside the box. Yes, if most shopping is going to be done online, there’s not much point in designing packaging that will appeal to robots. Larger barcodes, perhaps.
However, once the product reaches your customer, packaging assumes its traditional importance. While the unboxing video phenomenon is at the extreme end, the packaging is the first contact your company has with your customer, starting a relationship that could last through multiple purchases.
Customers really care about packaging
Consumers have strong opinions about the packaging, and first impressions can drive those opinions. Overwhelmingly, according to the Ipsos research, they prefer paper/cardboard packaging over plastic. Here are some highlights:
63% would purchase products packaged in paper/cardboard so they can reuse the packaging (63%).
88% see paper and cardboard packaging as easier to open and 88% declare it to be easy to recycle (88%).
84% say that paper and cardboard packaging is less wasteful than other packaging.
Bringing the best ideas to life to make that first impression
Our advice to marketers is this: you’ve spent huge amounts of creative energy on developing, marketing and positioning your product. Spare some of that energy for packaging that tells your product’s story before the box is opened. Consider these concepts:
Vintage packaging
Transparent window packaging
Using geometry and shapes
Personalised packaging
On-pack storytelling
As in so many ventures in business and in life, you never get a second chance to make a first impression. Make sure your packaging works as hard as you do. It matters.