Your sub-optimized packaging may be hurting your brand. No other element in your marketing toolbox is as important of packaging. As the “face of your brand,” packaging is featured in advertising, consumer promotion, web, and of course, at the point of purchase. You can’t afford packaging that doesn’t work its hardest all the time.
So what’s the problem?
#5 – Designing based on internal opinion.
Problem: A lack of consumer perspective.
Do you really know what impression your brand is making? Packaging decisions are often made based on internal stakeholders’ opinions—without regard for what the target audience truly believes.
Solution: Ground your brand in reality.
Listen to what current and potential users have to say so you know where to optimize. You’ll capture their attention…and dollars.
#4 – Getting “old.”
Problem: Packaging no longer reflects shifted consumer expectations.
Convenience, sustainability and health all have different accents then they did five years ago—heck, even a year ago. Failure to optimize gives upstarts the entry point they need to steal share. From you. Not the brands that keep up.
Solution: Constantly audit your category and competitive set.
Gauge how packaging stacks up against emerging and relevant trends. Are the assumptions you were working from yesterday still relevant? If not, evolve.
#3 – Developing packaging design in a vacuum.
Problem: Shoppers are bombarded with packaging options at shelf.
But this dynamic is strikingly absent throughout the brand packaging development process. Too many bad designs are approved in conference rooms where not one competitive item is present.
Solution: Develop packaging in context with the competition.
Analyze your packaging and the brand story it’s telling in the way a consumer would experience it. Does it differentiate the way you intended when placed next to your #1 competitor? How about that up and comer? Partner with those who embrace environmental development. Technology has made gaining an “in-store perspective” more possible than you probably imagine.
#2 – Confusing the brand story.
Problem: Many brands suffer with packaging that doesn’t reflect intended differentiation, or worse, tells a completely different story—and even worse, wastes A LOT of money.
As a marketer who’s poured blood, sweat and tears into developing a unique positioning for your brand, how do you make sure your packaging is doing what it should?
Solution: Embrace first impressions.
Consumers read into every color, font and icon choice, each conveying a different impression about your brand. Validate your packaging with them so you know that it’s communicating what you want it to.
# 1 – Packaging that doesn’t close the sale.
Problem: You’ve redesigned your package...but nothing happens.
Solution: Understand—and admit!—your packaging has a problem.
When “nothing” happens, it may be the result of solving for a problem that didn’t exist. Uncovering packaging’s strengths and weaknesses is the first step toward design greatness. From there, you have the opportunity to offer a truly compelling reason to purchase—to “stick the landing”—and deliver on the brand promise you worked so hard to create.
Originally published at http://pkgbranding.com/top-5-problems-with-your-packaging/
