What makes people buy one bottle of water over another at the supermarket, when they all taste the same?
Instead of bashing your brand over the heads of everyone that sees it, you instead want to be more delicate, never risking them getting sick of the sight of you. So, here are 5 ways that you can improve your brand and communicate it with just your packaging, written by Claire Leach from DPack, an industry-leading provider of bespoke packaging and postal supplies for businesses throughout the United Kingdom.
Say a lot with a little
While a lot of good packaging comes down to graphic design and small flourishes, you shouldn’t underestimate the copy you can fit on there. Some stories and information can’t be conveyed with images, so be sure to milk the copy you can fit on there for as much as you can. However, don’t make it too busy, or no one will bother to read it!
Consistency
A consistent brand is a brand you can trust. Not only that, a sense of steadiness in the brand (keeping the same logos, colours, etc) will give any customers the feeling of stability which could provide that extra push you need for them to convert with you and not another competitor. Other brands can be volatile and change their identity with each passing trend, but these will struggle to build long term stability.
Sell your USP’s
Find out what unique selling point your business has that makes it better (or just different) from the rest of the brands that are fighting for your audience’s time. Reflect this in your packaging where you can, so people can tell at a quick glance what makes you unique. For ice cream, this could be a particularly low-calorie count. For shoes, this could be new heel support technology. Even your background story could make you unique!
Reflect the product/service
Outside of your USP’s, your brand elements should accurately reflect your business and the audience you want to target. Even something like the main brand colour, which may have been an afterthought when setting up your company on the first day, can have a considerable impact on your brand.
Are you an eco-friendly brand that believes in sustainability? Ditch any reds and move to earthy greens and blues. Is your target audience predominantly males in their thirties? Swap out any purples for greys and blacks. You want someone to be able to understand your brand without having to read a word of copy, and a colour that reflects it is a nice and easy way to do just that. Don’t underestimate a good logo, either!
Stick out from the crowd
Dedicate a good amount of time to studying your competitors and their packaging. What are they doing right? Even more importantly, what are they doing wrong? They make mistakes so you don’t have to, so be sure to spot them early on. Once you’ve looked at the packaging that you’re battling with to get your customer's attention, think about how you can stick out from the crowd.
Yes, in the last point we suggested changing colours to suit your audience, but if everyone else uses that colour, would jumping on board just make you blend in? This is a case-by-case basis, but remember that one of the worst things a brand can do is blend.
