Five Properties of a Successful Product Packaging

Sometimes brands are mistaken under the idea of customers making 100% of their buying decision based on rationale. Since research shows, on average, customers only read seven words per shopping trip it is evident that their choices are mainly based on colors, shapes, and how familiar they are with the brand or location they can avail the products. Decisive reactions can be merged into any packaging that can emotionally affect the customers and make them react based on their subconscious before the brain even has the time to respond to the matter.

To make it to the top, every brand must have an element of distinction and a unique view. Good packaging can deliver the message of its importance to the customers in a single glance. A successful packaging must:

1. Stand Out:

No matter what category of products your products fall in, your brand must become the face of that category. A packaging that only covers the shelves and screams louder than other products is not going to be enough for making sales. You need a view on the packaging that can draw the customers’ attention and interpret to them the importance of their existence. Take sharp edges, for example, everyone is wary of edges that are sharp and they can grab attention quite easily. The use of different shapes can have different influences on the customers’ idea of your brand.

2. Simplicity Works Best:

We are faced with a market where not only packaging is crowded with lots of unwanted materials but the varieties are increasing too. So commonly do we come across agitating visuals that once in a while that we don’t, we appreciate it wholeheartedly. The success in the concept can be seen in minimalistic packaging ideas that are growing in popularity among retailers and online sellers. Visuals of the packaging must also be a reflection of the feeling they are trying to deliver and promote. For instance, if you are selling bath bombs that are meant to soothe your customers, your crowded packaging boxes can actually tire them before they even buy your products.

3. Pass the 5-Year-old Test:

Every business and brand test their innovations through different means and for different reasons. Some want to know the impact their packaging produces and some want to know if the packaging delivers the intended message clearly. One test that products must go through is how easily recognizable and memorable they are. Customers could walk into stores after a week and still remember what they bought the last time. The idea is to have your product packaging explained to a five-year-old and have them get it from the store. It is the key to characteristic packaging.

4. Emotionally Engage Audiences:

Customers rely on emotional feedback when it comes to buying from store shelves. Something catches their attention, makes them feel nostalgic/happy or anything, they choose to either buy it or skip it. For instance, eye contact is engaging and we all tend to look back when we see someone looking, however, this opportunity is not fully utilized in most packaging and the pictured people on the packaging can be seen looking away or have an angled look.

5. Use Memorable Elements:

Ever noticed how a bottle of Coke never goes unnoticed? From the shape of the bottle to its typography, signature redness, and that wave sign, every aspect of the packaging is designed to grab customer attention and play with it. Similarly, every packaging must have at least one element that the customers cannot look away from!