Successful Branding through Effective Packaging Design

There are times when we visit a local store to pick up items of daily use and suddenly a new product catches our immediate attention? Does it happen with you also? It can be anything, a Baskin Robbins new ice cream, a pack of Amul milk, a Bournville chocolate or even a beauty product from L’Oreal. Well, you’ll surely agree with the fact that it’s the packaging that caught your attention even before you had the chance to know what’s inside it. Packaging has turned out to be a vital tool these days that help companies further leverage on their business opportunities. Packaging can be defined as the process of protecting or enclosing products for storage, sales, distribution and use. Different types of materials are used for packaging which include plastic, metal, cardboard, brick carton, glass, etc. The packaging of a product needs to be appealing so as to catch the immediate attention of the consumers as well as serve as a functional and efficient shipping container. The primary purpose of packaging is:

• Physical protection
• Agglomeration or containment
• Barrier protection
• Marketing
• Information transmission
• Convenience
• Security
• Portion Control

Over the last few years, companies have been emphasizing a lot on the packaging of their products simply because of the fact that good packaging leads to better visibility of their brands as well as increased sales. The design of packaging affects the purchase behavior of consumers through visual, emotional and rational perceptions. Companies that are well aware of these perceptions can easily design packages that can communicate instantly with shoppers and convince them to choose their brand, product and package among others.

Visual Response

Research has shown that consumers are generally affected by different packaging design elements in the following manner:

• Color
• Shape
• Symbol
• Words

When there are too many products from different brands on a shelf, color is processed first by the consumers and words come last. The printed messages on packages do not attract attention instead it is the color of the packaging that stands out among the various other products on the shelf and gets noticed by the consumers. It is also a good idea to use symbols and shapes to capture the attention of the consumers as well as boost recognition and recall. For example, take the case of a uniquely designed juice bottle with different colors which is kept with other ordinary looking bottles at the shelf. The unique design and look of the bottle is bound to catch immediate attention of the customers and some may even feel the urge to try the drink being offered in an attractive package. Thus, effective use of colors, symbols and shapes goes a long way towards ensuring the long-term success of a brand.

Emotional Response

Before coming up with a packaging design, it is important to consider what consumers would feel about that packaging design. It is simply not about providing a list of features on the package to attract the attention of consumers. The idea is to communicate the emotional value of the brand or the product that assists with loyalty, recall and brand awareness. The emotional responses of consumers towards packaging actually help with their perceptions towards the brand. It is crucial to evoke right emotional responses within the consumers so as to secure the long-term success of the brand. For instance, majority of cleaning products and beauty soaps are available in package designs making use of the color white as it conveys a feeling of purity and cleanliness. However, perceptions and feelings of consumers evolve constantly which is why, it is important to make changes in the packaging design to meet the expectations of the consumers.

Rational Response

The rational response of a consumer towards a packaging design depends primarily on the messages communicated to them as well as how much believable that message is. Focused messages targeted towards a particular audience can turn out to be more powerful than broad messages aimed towards each and everyone.

On top of that, it is also essential to keep the message short and easy so that consumers can grasp it within seconds. Too much complexity and text over illustrations can impair legibility and consumers can soon lose their interest on the brand. Apart from simplicity, consumers always search for authenticity and honesty from the brand. They want that whatever is conveyed by the packaging is also available on the inside of it.

A good package can be defined as the delicate balance between design, function and form which is aimed towards creating a harmonious experience to attract and convince consumers to buy a product. With consumers getting more impulsive with their purchasing decisions nowadays, it is crucial for businesses to make the proper statement and evoke the right emotions in consumers for better branding and exposure.