Retail is tough. It doesn’t matter if your products are on a supermarket shelf or sold only online, your brand needs to stand out in order for your business to survive. Below are three key lessons to learn from food packaging design that can help you make the right packaging decisions that performs the best for your brand.
1. Clarity and simplicity
Next time you go to a supermarket, pick a random shelf and browse through some products. Glance at each and ask yourself two very simple questions:
What’s this product for?
What’s the brand behind it?
What makes me want this one?
You have about four seconds, the average time a consumer will dedicate to any particular product, to answer these essential questions with nothing more than your product packaging. As your brand sits on a shelf alongside your competitors’ logos, you need your packaging to cut through the clutter, and a busy logo isn’t going to do your business any favors. The best thing you can do is think about what makes your business and your products different and lead with whatever that is. Utilize custom packaging to enhance a simpler design that makes your brand and product packaging stand out the right ways.
2. Honesty
Have you ever bought a package of cookies and been disappointed that the mouth-watering goodie shown on the package turned out to be not so mouth-watering and tasty? By depicting a product on your packaging that’s 10 times better than it actually is, you’re misleading the consumer and ultimately leading to disappointment that will soon lead to poor sales performance and bad brand image. Keep in mind that stretching the truth can backfire. Be straightforward with your customers in order to keep them coming back.
3. Authenticity
Originality and memorability are at the heart of great brands. Looking at packaging designs it’s easy to understand why. With hundreds of products out there, all competing for the consumers’ attention, the only way to set your brand apart is to be different and authentic.
If you’re stuck with a generic-looking design, whether it be your logo or a banner ad, it may be time to think outside the box to be more recognizable. Inspire your graphic designer by collecting images that remind you of the colors, photos, and designs from other industries. You might even want to look at custom packaging materials to come up with ideas on how you can use different shapes and materials to make your products and brand stand out in the right ways.
So contact our team at PreferPack today to start designing and creating the right packaging for your business, brand and products.