I don’t think it’s possible to overemphasize the need to get your brand’s packaging right. After all, packaging is arguably a brand’s most important consumer touch point quite often the vehicle through which consumers first come in contact with the brand in a tangible way. Therefore, it must make a great first impression. It absolutely can’t afford to fail.
Consumers are buying again, but they’re doing so more wisely and deliberately. And they’re staying loyal to the brands they feel very strongly about. So, how can your brand capture the attention of today’s cautious and somewhat skeptical consumer? Add visual impact to your packaging.
If you feel it may be time to rethink and refresh your packaging, here are three simple things to consider as you begin the redesign process that can step up the visual appeal of your brand at retail.
A signature color for your brand
Does your brand have a signature color, or are you just another brand leveraging your category’s prevalent hue? If you don’t already own a color, emphasize one that refers back to your brand. If it’s too close to others in the category, punch it up by adding a secondary color to your brand’s palette. Quite often, consumers look for color first when searching for their favorite brands at retail.
Associate your brand with an icon
Much like color, a well-designed icon can help identify your brand at a glance. Think of the ‘flame’ in Mattel’s Hot Wheels logo. Consumers see this icon and instantly recognize the brand it’s associated with, conjuring up the messaging and brand promise quickly and clearly in their minds.
Differentiate your brand with a unique package structure
When almost every package in a category is uniform in size, shape and appearance, a differentiated structure clearly stands out. Although the use of new substrates and printing techniques can add further differentiation to your structural strategy, your brand can appear unique simply by changing the package shape. Just be sure that the shape visually aligns with your brand.
Consider improving the delivery system your structure provides, or leveraging your structure as a storage solution. These not only add visual impact to your packaging, but add value as well.
Questions:
- If you’ve successfully refreshed your brand’s packaging, which aspects of its package design did you address and how?
- By citing examples, which consumer product brands have successfully improved the visual impact of their packaging through redesign initiatives?
