7 Essentials Rules For Packaging Design That Will Act As A Great Marketing Tool

When we visit a market or supermarket, we think that a lot of our shopping decisions are based on a logical and practical approach. But that’s not real we humans take maximum decisions based on emotional aspects which process into your subconscious mind. There is a small margin line between successful product and product which fail that is because of packaging design. The packaging is a combination of art and science, but many companies overlook the importance of attractive and functionally convenient packaging design.

MNC’s such as Coca-cola, Mc Donald’s, Cadbury, Apple and many more are the brands who actively work towards improving the packaging design.

To create a distinct packaging design, there are some of the essentials you need to consider and include the following:

#1. Clarity On Brand And Purpose

An average customer spending time on a particular product is 4 sec; hence, it is essential that packaging should convey the brand, its purpose and values within that period of time.

Even the most generic brands make its product, services and purpose clear or else people will ignore your brand. People don’t buy if they are not familiar with the brand name they will always pick branded item over non-branded product. Any product carrying the brand responsibility ensures loyalty, trust and confidence among customers.

Example: A product with just written as “the tomato sauce” will be ignored, but if the same bottle is having Maggi tomato sauce mentioned it would disappear from the shelf.

#2. Stand-Out

Each product is fighting for the attention of shoppers, creating an enormous signal-to-noise problem for your product. Think outside the box, prefer to be an innovator rather than an emulator. Just by covering the maximum self space is not correct way making product shout loud. One has to need complete packaging design framed in such a way that it will draw a shopper’s eye and brand communicate its USP. Packaging need lot of information hence find an attractive way to tell consumers what is your product and how it is different compared to competitors.

#3. Colour

Colours speak a lot about themselves; each industry is having its meaning for colours. It is the critical element in any successful packaging design, and picking the right shades will encourage your packaging to stand out from the competition. There should be colour consistency as this will help to increase brand recall value among customers.

Example: Coca-cola is using red and white from era’s which incorporates its signature brand colours to reinforce brand.

Simple, bold colours or exciting combinations will get your packaging design noticed. Black, golden, silver used for luxury packaging. Retail packaging is focused on vibrant and bright colours. Feminine products with pink, purple and blue colours packaging are seen as they are associated with trust and confidence.

Make sure to produce your niche in colour branding, always go opposite to your competitors and establish your brand identity.

#4. Clarity And Simplicity

Heard of the quote which says “less is more” so make sure packaging designs are not complicated. The primary element which customer craves most is convenience and value. The motive of simplicity in packaging will lead to a fast evaluation of the product. If consumers are investing a lot of time in finding out the necessary information on the packaging, then this is the worst scenario, and such packaging fails in the market. Hence be clear and precise with brand communication and designs.

#5. Typography

Brands evoke emotions, and each brand has its unique personality; therefore, the type of font will be decided based on the kind of character. It can be cheerful, modern, mature, luxury, fun anything which should be brought into life with effective typeface styles.

Typography should be clean, clutter-free and bold while small and congested fonts can leave customers frustrating. The brand is speaking with its customer through the various style of font. Typographic section, treatment and layout of the words and letterforms effect how the type is read. Few brands such as luxury, electronics don’t need fancy colours or graphics they solely depend on fonts and typeface styles.

#6. Honesty And Authenticity

We have experienced many times; what we see is not what we are getting. Such as, if you have seen KFC ad’s the meal combo what they show are more extensive than they appear in reality. Cookie picture dipped in rich chocolate is portrayed when, in reality, it is just chocolate flavour biscuits. By showing a product packaging better than the actual product is misleading. Hence leaving consumer cheated and decreasing sales number. Many a time’s even a good-tasting, and quality products fail due to the wrong display of images on packaging.

Be authentic and exclusive if everyone prefers photography, and then create your distinct image by introducing line art or illustration. If everyone is going contemporary go retro, create your different and unique brand identity in the minds of the customer.

#7. Target Audience

It is a very crucial aspect to identify the target audience, and it will help to define correct brand positioning and marketing strategies. If audience boundary is known, then everything can be strategized accordingly. It takes a lot for designing for the target audience, and it is essential for brands to learn to whom exactly their packaging designs are appealing. If the target audience is women, older people, or for trendsetters, and you should know this. If your packaging design does not align with your target audience, it is probably time for a refresh or rebranding if required.

Research target audience so that packaging design can be customized as per needs and interest.

Example: If you are planning to market a non-GMO food product, then your target audience will be GMO conscious, you should hence mention this prominently on your packaging.

Conclusion

Packaging design must not only contain products safely and adequately, but it should also include required elements like an ingredient, barcode, nutritional information, and other necessary components. At the same time, it should be visually appealing to consumers. The packaging design should act as a crucial element of the marketing strategy. Brands that ensure their packaging fulfils all the essential elements consumers expect from packaging designs gain a competitive advantage if they are sold online or in physical retail stores. The packaging is the last message a consumer observes, and the last chance to convince him to buy the product hence should be done effectively.

About the Author!

Megha Malik started her journey as an entrepreneur a decade back, and co-founded DesignerPeople. Her vision is to transform the way product packaging, designing and positioning is looked at by young brands. As Creative Director at DesignerPeople, Megha’s responsibility is to provide proactive practical and contemporary brand advertising solutions, support a futuristic brand presentations in tune with global trends.