Often, brands think about packaging as a vessel designed to protect the product while it moves from point A to point B. However, this perspective is limiting. When you design custom packaging with the consumer in mind, you have the potential to drive customer engagement and loyalty. Once the product leaves your storage facility, makes it to the shelf at a distributor and finally finds its way to a consumer's home, how do customers feel about the packaging then?
As Packaging World pointed out, the packaging for many products ultimately resides with consumers in their homes, which provides a great branding and marketing tool. When talking about packaging, companies often focus on the shelf impact. The packaging needs to pop and stand out from competitors so it makes it to the consumer's shopping basket. Once the customer has brought the product home, function takes the driver's seat.
Here are some ideas to make your packaging functional in the home:
Identifiable
If the customer needs to be able to find the product quickly, will he or she be able to? According to Packaging World, you need to consider color as well as form so customers can locate what they're looking for promptly. This also plays into shelf visibility. Does the package have a unique look that conveys brand identity?
User-friendly
Whatever the packaging contains should be easy to get out without going to extreme measures. Consider whether it's easy for anyone to deal with the packaging, from seniors to young children. Does it spill easily when you try to get the product out? Is it easy to store when not in use? These are all things to consider.
Consistently innovative
People's needs change frequently. For instance, many people now want on-the-go packaging for food items to suit their busy lifestyles. It's important to review packaging consistently to see if you could tweak some features to bring greater convenience or joy to customers. If the packaging adds value, customers are likely to return to the product again.
Cool and exciting
There's another element to packaging strategy that brands like Apple understand well: the experience customers have when opening the product. There are many YouTube videos dedicated to "unboxing," or opening packaging for the first time, and it's another way to gain free publicity. In fact, according to Apple Insider, the brand had a space in its marketing department devoted to unboxing. Concentrating on this part of the customer's journey is another way to develop a bond with customers, and Apple does it well.
Packaging is the only branding tool that has extended contact with customers, interacting with them in their daily lives. It's worthwhile to heavily consider the customers' perspective when designing packaging. What features will make their lives easier and bring them joy once they've brought the product home? Thinking about these questions can drive long-term loyalty.
