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Whether you’re launching a new product or revamping an existing product, one of the most important aspects of your market strategy will be your product packaging choices. Designing and developing your product packaging has implications not just for branding and marketing but also for aspects like shipping, logistics, regulatory, and retail strategy.
Choosing the right product packaging solution can make the difference between suffering preventable damages and losses or striking gold with consumers as they decide to pick up your product from the shelf.
The Importance of Product Packaging
Oftentimes, consumers aren’t as savvy as sales and marketing departments may assume them to be. In fact, a Harvard professor found that 95% of purchasing decisions are actually made subconsciously. And mostly as a result of feeling emotion.
So, while brands are busy racing to the bottom in terms of competing on pricing, promotions, or comparable features, where visionary brands can really establish an advantage rests in the ability to speak to and influence a customer’s subconscious.
For example, suppose you have an edible or consumable product, like a craft beer or artisanal cheese. In that case, there is a customer expectation for you to clearly convey the difference in your product’s quality and trustworthiness over another. After all, to convince a shopper to buy your product, you must catch them in the aisle. And to catch them in the aisle, you must stand out on a shelf crowded with similar products.
Since you’re conveying an expectation of quality in your product, imagine the experience of a customer picking up an item that misses the mark. Maybe the label is peeling, the carton is breaking and leaking, or your packaging colors look lackluster and faded. These small but critical interactions signal your product's premium (or lack of) nature and can make the difference between being put in a cart or being returned onto the shelf.
Having high-quality, relevant product packaging requires an expert partner to help make sure that your brand stands out and delivers on the promise you’ve fought so hard to design and develop as a producer. Are you inspiring feelings of comfort and confidence, or is your packaging setting you up for recoil and rejection?
The Key Areas of Product Packaging
When it comes to designing and developing product packaging, there are key areas to getting started.
Physical Product Packaging
Particularly important for food and beverage brands, not having the right type of product packaging can have serious implications. Does your product need to meet stringent health or regulatory requirements? Will it spoil if it’s not light and temperature-controlled? What security measures will your customers expect?
Choosing the right physical packaging for your product can include selecting the material, size, and portioning. Are you looking for pressure sensitive labels, flexible packaging or folding cartons? Do you want to offer trials or sample sizes versus full size servings? Will your products need to be single-serve or should they be re-sealable? Consulting with an experienced packaging expert can help ensure that all your interior and exterior packaging needs are addressed.
Labeling Your Product
Designing the label for your product involves much more than just excellent graphic design that inspires customers to connect with your brand story. In some cases, you may need specialty labeling solutions like Extended Content Labels, holograms, and invisible inks to meet security and regulatory requirements.
Matching the right type of label with your product can help to ensure that your labeling doesn’t fail when you need it most. Designing labeling that holds up to variables like refrigeration, moisture, sun exposure, and transport can differentiate your product by helping it look its best no matter the environmental conditions. Even in reverse, by having a product that’s labeled well but packaged inadequately, there can be a disappointing mismatch with the perception of your brand that you want your consumer to have. This mismatch is a brand reputation faux-pas that is incredibly difficult to bounce back from.
Sealing Your Product
Convenience. Freshness. Sustainability. Visual appeal. Today’s consumers are looking for products that check a value wish list. And it all comes down to packaging. From ready-to-go snacks and fresh produce, to resealable bakery goods to meat or cheese, your product’s packaging can be your greatest advantage in being the first choice for consumers.
Sealutions™ by Belmark offers eye-catching sealed and resealable options to protect your product contents. Some of the important criteria Belmark packaging experts help clients navigate includes deciding whether your product needs reseal-ability, hermetic sealing, easy open vs. tamper-proof protection, or anti-fog capabilities.
Shipping Your Product
In addition to packaging your product well and sealing it properly, ensuring your product packaging will withstand shipping is a critical aspect to winning customer delight. Whether you’re shipping your product wholesale, say to retail or grocery stores, or if you’re shipping direct to consumer, having the right product packaging and picking the right shipping packaging helps to protect your product so it arrives as intended.
Whether you’re shipping in boxes, bags, or crates, keeping in mind the journey your products will take to get into customer hands can help to identify whether you need extra protection.
Sustainability and Environmental Packaging
As consumers show increasing preferences in sustainability, choosing environmentally-conscious packaging can be another way to help differentiate your product and brand. Belmark offers a range of sustainable packaging options that can support your business strategies and help you appeal to conscious consumers.
Where to Start with Product Packaging
As you explore designing and developing your product’s packaging, one unique way that Belmark can help is through our expertise in short-run digital labels and packaging. Testing and adjusting product labels and packaging can be done on-the-fly with low order quantities that allow for more agile prototyping and production.
Bring form to your next big idea with pressure sensitive label, flexible packaging and folding carton prototypes. All carefully built by hand by our team of packaging and design experts. Think of us as an extension of your product development team. We’ll work alongside you to give life to your concept, so you can secure sales or investment—and get to market faster.
Ready to customize your product packaging and labeling to maximize your brand presence? Learn about Belmark’s product offerings and consult one of our packaging experts today to see how you can enhance your product packaging today.
