Packaging has gained paramount importance as a major influential factor in purchase decisions made by consumers. The designs of the packages often appeal to the consumer in such a way that despite numerous speculations, the product is purchased mainly due to its presentation and aesthetic appeal. If you still have second thoughts on investing in effective packaging designs, then consider this scenario. Your product is placed amongst others in a super market or grocery store and you have less than 2 seconds to grab the attention of customers who simply browse through the collection unless something interesting meets their eye. If you have a creative and appealing package design for your product, then the chances of gaining consumer interest increases manifold. Packaging has become an amalgamation of art and science as there is a dire need for converting browsing to buying, especially considering the stiff competition packaging design evident in the market.

Analysing the Entire Package

Looks do matter, especially in a situation when you have to grab the customer’s attention in the blink of an eye. Safety, recyclability and basic dimensional considerations are requisite for a good design. But what is the use of focusing on these things when the visual appeal lacks strength? Analyse your product and make sure that the smallest details are evaluated. If you are not able to enhance the current packaging design, then just come up with out-of-the-box solutions. Chances are that such unconventional ideas would generate better results than the competition. After all, the entire agenda behind such creative designs and extensive effort is to ensure “love-at-first-sight”. A good way to go about it is to find out the approach taken by your competitors and then just come up with something new.

You would also have to give your package / brand a name. Why not start with some really catchy and unconventional names that tickles the funny bone of the consumers? Psychologists have claimed that people tend to remember humour and weird names / incidents / occurrences much better than glossy brand names. Keep it simple, keep it relevant and voila – you have a powerful user engagement tool. However, it would be good to choose your words carefully as every tagline or statement goes a long way in connecting with the customers.

Did you know that colours have an effect on your mood? If not, then you can try out an experiment and see how different colours change your mood. This simple concept has a major impact on purchase decision. This is one of the reasons why manufacturers invest in coming up with the best colour combination that not only suits their theme / brand, but also helps in attracting customers.

Success Mantras for Effective Packaging Designs

With the colours, textual content and visual appeal taken care of, it is now time to focus on the finer nuances of packaging. The visual appeal was good enough only to gain the interest of the customer. However, additional efforts have to be applied for ensuring that the product is picked up for reviewing. This segment requires a bit of marketing expertise as the suggested modifications are aimed at ensuring the creation of connection with the customers.

A good way to make your package effective is to provide minimal yet accurate information on the principle display banner. It should be understood that in real world scenarios, people do not have the time to go through lengthy descriptions. Product information should not only be easy to locate and comprehend but it should take the least possible time to convey crucial data about the product.

A good hierarchy for the product information should comprise:

• Name of the Product / Title
• Brief description of the product’s specifications, composite materials and characteristics.
• Mentioning of important facts with the help of callouts. (Only the most important and highly relevant facts need to be mentioned here.)
• Placement of Brand
• A short description of the usage and application of the product.
• Mentioning of size / weight and any other applicable metric.

All of these elements should be simple enough to read and should be relatively simple to understand. If customers find the information too complex or mashed up, then there is a huge probability of moving on. This is a bad situation for the product as this is a vital opportunity that has been lost due to ineffective packaging. Always keep the descriptions to a bare minimum and ensure that only the most relevant information make it to the packaging.

Smart Usage of Secondary Panels

Now that you have made your packaging attractive and have ensured the correct use of branding as well as information conveyance measures, what is the next step to make sure that you convert browsing into effective purchase? Too much information is a deterrence for consumers but only if placed in the main section of the PDP. However, if you provide interesting facts and relevant data on the secondary panel, then it only helps to increase the chances for successful sale.

The amount of information that can be used on the secondary panel depends completely on the size and shape of the package and the available space that may be used. As mentioned in the previous section, the front panel is used by the PDP and there is no benefit in cramming more information into it.

The back panel can be used for providing a romance copy that’s relevant. If less relevancy is indicated, then it would be best to mention the details of the manufacturing company. This would be beneficial in promoting the company and also for creating adequate brand awareness. This is a great section to reinforce the brand message.

The left panel is the section that is most suited for interesting facts associated with the product. This could be about the use of the product or the materials used for making it. There are numerous ways of representing facts here that really helps in grabbing the interest of even the most discretional shopper.

The right panel is the information panel and should contain vital information such as company name, contact address and details of the manufacturing company, composite elements, hazard indications, usage indications and safe usage guidelines. The FDA has decreed that the immediate right panel of the PDP needs to be the information panel. If for some reasons, this panel is unusable and cannot be managed for writing content, then the immediate next panel becomes the information panel (which, in this case is the back side of the package).

Making It Work in Tandem

Now that you have gone through all the details that are key requisites of making an effective packaging design, the only important task that is needed is to understand the overall perspective and implications of the factors that have an impact on the final package design. While it is important that all the factors be considered individually, it is equally important to make it work in tandem so as to ensure high probabilities for converting browsing to successful buying. The best approach would be to understand the product and its associated implications and then coming up with a completely new and creative way of using its package to market the product. This would increase its visibility among consumers and would also garner considerable brand awareness. There is practically no limit to the extent that one may go to come up with an awesome package design that would make it a show stopper. So go on and explore your creative instincts and make your product the most appealing item on the display section.