Everybody knows the old saying “don’t judge a book by its cover”. Everybody also knows that book-publishing companies (and marketing-conscious independent authors) put a lot of effort into creating great covers for books.
In fact, book covers are widely held to be crucial to the success of a book and some of them even wind up being reproduced as separate artwork. In short, packaging matters a lot and customers will use it to make judgments about your brand. With that in mind, Ansini, who specialise in consumer packaging, share their three points to consider when looking at your packaging options.
Sustainability Is Now A Big Issue
Customers understand that packaging has to protect the product, hence, if a product is large and/or delicate they will appreciate that it will usually need a decent amount of packaging in order to keep it safe. There is, however, less and less tolerance for brands using packaging purely for their convenience (e.g. plastic-wrapped fruit and vegetables) or to “enhance the brand’s message”. In other words, use the minimum amount of packaging to do what you need to do and say what you can say on that, do not use packaging just because you can.
Accessibility Matters
The Equality Act requires companies not to discriminate against people based on certain, protected criteria. These days, it’s probably very unlikely that many companies will do this deliberately; however, it is entirely possible that companies are still discriminating through ignorance.
For example, it has been highlighted that some company websites are very challenging to navigate if a user has certain disabilities such as visual impairments or impaired motor skills. Similar comments can apply to packaging. For example, if you’re going to include important information on your packaging, then you need to make sure that it is presented in a way which is accessible to everyone.
If you’re tempted to think that this isn’t a brand-awareness issue, then we’d recommend you think again. Basically, this is a customer-service issue and if your company develops a reputation for poor customer service then no amount of beautiful packaging will correct it.
The Overall User Experience Has To Be Good
In all likelihood, a person’s first experience of your packaging will be a visual one; hence your packaging should be appealing to the eye. If, however, they continue to investigate your product, their next experience of it will be a tactile one.
Therefore, it’s important to think about how your packaging feels in the hand and, in particular, if there are any strategies you could use to make it easier for the customer to make a purchase. For example, if an item is bulky, could your packaging include some type of handle to make it easier to carry?
Finally, picking up from the first point, it’s also important to look at the experience of getting an item out of the packaging. While customers do understand that packaging has to be secure, they also understand the concept of proportionality. In other words, do what is necessary to keep your product safe and stop there.
Ansini are specialists in vacuum forming and product packaging, with over 25 years' experience in plastic product and aircraft seat manufacturing.
