Ambitious brands create innovative packaging solutions to promote their products because they know that the package works as a business card. When entering a room, people impress through their attire.
If you have doubts, see the movie A Simple Favour. When Emily (Blake Lively) enters a room, she draws everyone’s attention with her clothes. She has a unique style that stops people from forgetting her because she makes a long-lasting impression. When you create product packaging, keep in mind the suits Emily wore in the movie because you want your products to make the same impression.
Let’s say you sell shampoo. Your bottles of shampoo will stand on shelves next to their competitors, waiting for someone to notice and give them a try. You want people to see nothing else than your bottles of shampoo, and to make sure this happens, you need to create packaging that works like Emily’s suits.
What is an innovative packaging?
Innovative packaging as the name implies is a design that has the wow factor and helps your products stand out from their competition.
Packaging design is an innovative field because it combines elements from various industries, from art to science and engineering to create something that matches the market’s needs and draws people’s attention.
Innovative designs have a positive effect on the brand’s marketing campaign and the public because it encourages loyalty.
The package tells a story
The companies that want to reach their clients and impress them need to use packaging to establish a connection with their public. And do you remember how Tyrion motivated his choice for naming Bran the King of Westeros? Bran had the best story to tell. So, if you want your brand to be king against its competitors you need to tell a story your clients find interesting.
As the client unboxes the product, the package should tell them a story that enhances their experience. This feature is essential especially for the products sold online because people don’t have the luxury to touch and see them in real life, so they must trust the package and presentation.
Create a central message your brand sends and focus on integrating it in all marketing efforts.
Metamorphoses
Buyers are overwhelmed with options because various brands offer the same products. Coming back to shampoo, yours may be great, but at the end of the day it does the same thing your competitors do. It cleans the hair. So, it’s challenging to convince people to buy your product and stay loyal to your brand.
Purchasers stick with a brand only if it resonates with their values. When you want to design something memorable, you need to display fascinating ideas. Packages that metamorphose are the hot trend of 2020. Artsy packages with fruits that become birds, a landscape that becomes animals do more than telling a story, they become pieces of art.
Transform your design to appeal to your public. And because different people like different elements, merge their preferences into something special something that tells the story of the brand. A package with an optical illusion adds a touch of interest and catches people’s attention with its intricate details. They take it from the shelf to look closely at the package, and they put it in the cart to try it at home because the package intrigues them.
Transparent packaging
In the past, transparent packages were a thing for companies that sold beverages, but nowadays, they are useful to any company that wants to show their clients that they stay true to their values and offer them exactly what they promise.
You sell Red Velvet cookies in heart shapes, and you want to show to your clients that each cookie is handpicked to have a perfect form. A transparent package proves to them that you are transparent about your products’ features. You have nothing to hide and they can check on themselves.
When the colour of the product can attract buyers, there’s no reason to hide it in an opaque or coloured package. In the upcoming year, brands will experiment with transparency and use product’s colour as a design feature to make the product pop out when exposed on the shelf next to its competitors.
Customisation
Customisation works like a marketing tsunami. Technavio’s study suggests that global customised gifts market will reach $38 million by 2021. Buyers consider personalisation a mean of keeping memories and celebrating events through the products your brand provides. You need to use customisation in a way that allows you to share your core philosophy. Experts like PakFactory recommends using personalised packages to gain competitive advantage.
Customised packages include your story and address people’s preferences. Unique packages they are irresistible for the consumers because you connect with them on an individual level.
Sustainability
Climate change has reached the crisis level. Companies worldwide focus on creating products and packages that have zero impact on the environment. All brands are taking an eco-friendly approach when designing packages, and you should do the same. The main challenge for you will be to find alternative packages that have the same characteristics as plastic.
Packing that is easily recyclable or reusable is highly desired. Speaking of shampoo, more and more brands have converted their classic liquid shampoo in solid bars people can use to clean their hair, minus the plastic bottle.
Sustainability pushes people to think outside their box because they need to come up with ideas that have no impact on the planet.
Nature-inspired tones
2020 revives the vintage trend. Bold colours fade away and leave room for earthy tones and urban retro designs. Because people are environmentally-aware they came closer to nature and expect the companies they buy from to do the same. Changing the flashy coloured package in one in a subtle earthy tone tells your clients you’re ready to make the change towards sustainability.
If you promote your brand as having a goal towards the welfare of the planet, you encourage a sense of belongingness. Work with earthy tones, from green to brown.
Is your brand ready to revolutionise packaging? Combine older concepts with new ones to maintain a sense of continuity.
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Interesting related article: “What is Merchandising?“