A Competitive Marketing Strategy Must Consider Product Packaging
As a startup owner, you should constantly strive to improve your company branding strategy. This means that you need to give special attention to your packaging design and marketing materials.
In order to achieve your goals, you need to establish strong connections between your brand identity and the way you package and present your products. If you want to increase sales, then pay close attention to every detail related to your packaging.
Product packaging design has become a significant factor in marketing diverse “consumer goods” and has a key role in communicating product benefits to the customer and a good competitive marketing strategy. Packaging used to be seen as nothing more than a necessity, a layer to protect the product inside and to transport it. Manufacturers didn’t pay much attention to branding simply because there wasn’t an expectation from the customer that they would give so much attention to product packing.
Product packaging plays a crucial role in the development of any brand and its marketing strategy. a simple cardboard box has become a communication channel and a silent salesman as brands look to engage with customers.
Your clients don’t care whether your packages are designed by a professional or an amateur. They only see that they look nice and attractive. Hence, they prefer buying from companies whose packaging designs are simple and clean.
Branded boxes have gained importance due to changes in the business industry. Start-ups, entrepreneurs, and people running home businesses are even giving importance to product packing which adds to the experience of products purchased online and can even promote your brand personality.
When designing your packaging, consider the emotions you want to evoke. For example, if you sell organic food, then include lots of pictures of nature. If you sell clothing, then show models wearing stylish outfits.
Many consumers today value convenience and quality when shopping for groceries. They want to shop where they can get great deals and save time. One way companies can distinguish themselves from competitors is through offering superior product packaging. Consumers appreciate the value of good packaging because it helps them preserve the freshness and integrity of food products.
In what ways does packaging play an important role?
Packaging is one-way retailers can stand out from the crowd in the market. Depending on your audience, it might involve a clean, minimalist cardboard box or something with a vivid print inside or a glam cloth bag. It’s also an opportunity to surprise customers. Personalized packaging might encourage customers to share a photo on their social media platforms.
Packaging refers to the preparation of a product for appropriate transportation and storage. Depending on the type of commodity, the packaging process may include wrapping, bottling, strapping, sealing, marking, cushioning, bracing, weatherproofing, blocking etc.
Fun & different packages differentiate brand products from competitors, ensuring they are recognizable and marketable to the audience. So basically, packaging helps identify, describe and promote the product.
The three types of packaging are:
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Primary packaging: This is the first level of packaging that protects individual products from damage while transporting.
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Secondary packaging: This is used to transport commodities in primary packages. An example is a pack of soda.
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Tertiary packaging: It is used by warehouses when shipping products in secondary packaging. An example is the pallets that hold bulk shipments.
An effective package performs five basic functions
1) Protection:
One of the major functions of packaging is to provide for the ruin of time and the environment for natural and manufactured products.
2) Containment:
This involves the merger of unit loads for shipping. It starts with spots of clue on the individual shippers that stick them together, straps of steel and plastic, entire shrouds of shrinkable or stretchable plastic films and paper or folded wraps that surround an entire pallet of product.
3) Information:
The packaging conveys necessary information to the consumers of the product. The common information that packaging offers includes general features of the product, ingredients, net weight of the contents, name and address of the manufacturers, and maximum retail price (MRP).
Packaging of medicine and some food products is required to provide information on methods of preparations, recipes and serving ideas, nutritional benefits, date of manufacturing, date of expiry, warning messages and cautionary information, and the colour of the packaging itself provides some information.
What Makes Product Packaging Important For Your Marketing Plan?
The importance of good design, high quality materials and well thought out branding are important aspects in creating a successful brand. In today’s ever changing marketplace, designers and manufacturers must have a deep understanding of functional and aesthetic requirements of their product or service to ensure effective differentiation in the marketplace.
Good design can attract consumer attention and encourage purchase decisions. When consumers see a product they want to purchase, they are immediately attracted to its appealing shape and design. This means that their attention will be drawn towards the packaging. Because of this, marketers should always consider the importance of the overall appearance of their product packages. Good packaging can promote trust and increase sales.
Here are some tips:-
1. Function
The packaging contains the product and protects it from damage. Do not forget to think about the structural design of the packaging and the durability of the material you are using for your product. You need to ensure it will protect the product and stay intact throughout its journey until the item is finally opened.
2. Promotion
Product packaging is another way you can use to brand and promote your business. Packaging should include your logo, tagline if applicable, and brand colours.
Make sure the design and information are the same as that promoted in other marketing methods. And remember you should not be changing your packaging too frequently. Changing your brand image, advertising, and packaging can have a huge difference in your sales if done well.
3. Attracts Buyers
For products sold in stores, the packaging is the main thing that will attract buyers to your product. Getting buyers to notice your product and pick it up to learn more is the first step in getting that individual to purchase it.
You will therefore need to conduct research on what colours, images, designs, and other packaging elements will attract your target customers.
4. Facilitates Purchasing Decisions
Along with attracting buyers to your product, packaging will help them make a purchase decision. The consumer will likely have little information, if any, on your product when they find it on the shelf.
They’re unlikely to conduct online discourse in the store, so the product packaging information is each they will use to make a purchase decision. Use your packaging to include the following word as applicable
Elements:
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Nutritive information
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Instructions on use
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Product Description
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Product benefits
Make sure this word is easy to understand, brief, and scannable. Consumers don’t want to spend long making a purchase decision while in-store. Make it veritably clear what your product is, how it’ll help them, and why your product is the most elegant on the request.
5. Discrimination
Well-designed, eye-catching product packaging is a good differentiator. This is especially true for products with many other differentiators.
One-third of consumers make purchasing opinions based on packaging alone. Your packaging, therefore, needs to stand out and look different( and better!) than your competitors.
Packaging will probably be the only thing that influences a decision to buy for low- involvement products. Be sure to conduct a lot of research on what your competitors ’ product packaging is like.
Combining this information with knowing what attracts your target consumer will help to separate yourself through your packaging design effectively.
Summary
Packaging is so much more than just protecting a product it also works as an essential marketing tool, which supports branding, promotes your product’s best features and actually helps a company attract consumers to their product. and creates an unforgettable experience for the customer.
The packaging is the series of emotions the customer experiences as they reach for the box and start unwrapping the product inside. From the moment of purchase, everything leads to the customer opening the box and this should be a remarkable experience. Good packaging can actually add to the perceived value of a product.
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