Your package design; After -thought? Think Again?

Every day as a consumer we make any number of buying decisions, from the coffee or juice we buy on the way to work, the groceries for dinner, to the lawn fertilizer at the hardware store. In many cases, we make these decisions unconsciously to buy one product over the other. And in reality, we live in a world where many products offered by different brands are very similar. The extreme example of this would be private label products like a body wash product you can buy at the drug store. Do we go with Axe body wash or Shoppers Drug Mart’s private label Life brand body wash? Does it really matter in terms of product performance? Most likely not. Then why pay the $2.00 more for Axe body wash? Why as a consumer do you gravitate towards one product and not the other? One Answer: Package design.

The sleek sexy package of the Axe body wash bottle communicates all of the brand’s key messages. It’s an extension of the product and the brand which in the split second of decision making will make you want to purchase the same product for $2.00 more in a different package.

This is the same reason Fiji, a bottled water product, which first became the chosen brand for celebs and now the common individual around the world is able to exist. Is this water really that much different then Nestle’s Pure Life water product? When you pour both into a glass and compare the two side by side it’s hard to tell the difference. But on the shelf, contained in their respective packaging they are very different. Fiji communicates to the consumer that it’s a superior product with its beautiful graphics, unique bottle shape and appealing feel in the hand. Whereas Nestle’s version looks just like everyone else’s, cheap and common.  Suddenly as a consumer you justify paying $3 more for a bottle of Fiji water.

WHAT’S THE IMPACT?

Simply put, if you package your product in something that stands out more than the competition’s version, you are going to sell more. If your package communicates your product brand well and helps the consumer make the connection between your advertising and the product you are going to sell more. If in that split second you can communicate your brand’s message better than the competition you are going to sell more product!

Package design is not what it use to be, we live in a world where everyone has access to manufacturing, everyone has access to distribution, the difference is there are only a handful of companies that understand the importance of design and they are the ones selling the most product.