Brand Packaging | Strategic Design 101
Brand packaging isn’t something that you should just decide on a whim. Instead, it needs to be strategic in every sense of the word. This is easier said than done, especially if you’re a new small business owner who doesn’t have a clue about brand packaging design.
Luckily, you’ve come to the right place! BoxGenie has done this for almost 50 years, so let us help fill in some of your knowledge gaps so that, together, we can design effective packaging for your brand that your customers will love.
1. Think About The Product Itself
The first thing that you need to think about is the product that you’re selling. Obviously, the product itself will have a huge impact on what type of packaging is ideal.
Some questions that you need to be able to answer about your product for packaging design considerations include: How big is the product? How much does it weigh? What is it made out of? Are there special shipping considerations that need to be taken into account (e.g., fragility, temperature, etc.) From there, you can start narrowing down some of the options based on the answers to those questions.
2. Think About Your Customer
After you’ve thought about your product, now you need to think about your customer. Many businesses make the mistake of only considering the product and shipping circumstances when it comes to packaging design. In reality, though, your customer is an extremely important part of the equation here.
In order to do this, you will need to build a customer persona based on who your ideal customer is, how old they are, what gender they are, how much they’re willing to spend, are they environmentally aware and how they want to dispose of the packaging. Overall, you want the packaging to appeal to the customer as much as the product itself does!
3. Think About Your Sales Channels
Once you’ve considered what your ideal customer would like to see, you need to think about your various sales channels. This is because certain types of packaging are ideal for certain sales channels—this is especially true if you’re going to be selling online. This totally changes the entire equation! Generally speaking, you need to think about what your product will look like on the shelf—both on its own and next to competitors. Will it stand out? Can it easily be placed at eye-level?
Even if you’re only going to be eCommerce, that doesn’t mean that you can completely neglect packaging just because your customer won’t physically see it before buying. In fact, it’s quite the opposite! You should include aesthetically appealing photos of the packaging on your website in order to best appeal to potential customers and show them that, like the packaging, the product is also of high quality.
4. Think About Your Budget
Now that you’ve considered all these factors...it’s time to talk about the big one—budget. In an ideal world, budget wouldn’t matter, and you could just pick the fanciest and most appealing packaging there is. Unfortunately, we live in the real world where packaging costs money and can easily eat into your profits if you aren’t careful.
When it comes to packaging design, you can break down your budget into two categories: one-time costs and per-item costs. You also need to consider product volumes as well since some options are cheaper with higher volumes. While it may be tempting to go with the cheapest option to save money, this isn’t always the best idea. Instead, you could end up losing business along the way from customers that were turned off by your packaging, and as a result, your entire brand.
5. Select Your Packaging
From here, we can get to the fun part—actually selecting your packaging! See how many different considerations there are to even get to this point? Although it may seem like a lot, that’s definitely the right way to go about this process to ensure that it’s strategic and effective.
When it comes to packaging, there are so many alternatives to plastic that it can easily get a bit overwhelming. Some choices (or at least eliminations) may be obvious, while others may not be. In any case, here are some of the various types of packaging out there that you may want to consider: simple box, custom box, bag, bottle, tube, packet, cup, tube, and more! This is one area that you will obviously need to go back to your product and budget to find the right fit.
In addition to the packaging itself, you also need to think about inner packaging components like dividers, wrapping, insulation, etc. After all, you want to ensure that your product arrives in one piece!
6. Incorporate Your Brand
Once you have your packaging all figured out, you can start thinking about what it will actually look like. A good place to start here is to incorporate your existing brand design, including the fonts, colors, and patterns that are already a part of your business.
On the other hand, if you’re working from scratch, you once again need to consider your customer in terms of what will appeal to them and your competition in terms of what will help you stand out against all the different options out there.
7. Create Your Design
After thinking about existing brand designs, you can really get to work on your actual design. Before you get all artsy, though, you need to think more practical for a minute. Your packaging shouldn’t just be eye-catching, but it should also be informative and tell your customer everything they need to know about your brand and the product before they buy it. Plus, there may actually be some requirements on what information you have to put on your packaging.
Once you have all the basics figured out, like product name, brand name, logo, and required components, you can think about how you want to show off your product and wow your customers from the get-go. Consider using high-quality images of the product itself so that the customer has a solid idea of what the product is before they make the purchase.
8. Test It Out And Gather Feedback
Even though it may be tempting to just get the ball rolling and start shipping after you have finished your initial design, this may not be the best idea. Instead, you should always test out your packaging before you finalize it and roll it out. After all, what may be clear to you as someone who knows the product and your brand inside and out may not be so clear to a potential customer who is coming in blind.
Gather feedback from others by asking the following questions: What does this product do? Who is buying this product? What does the packaging tell you about the product? If these answers are all clear, then you’re good to go.
9. Finalize Design And Get Packing
Finally, you can nail down your design and get printing! Be sure to get all the information you need for printing, including packaging dielines and the right color codes, so that your packaging turns out as promised. With BoxGenie, users can download dielines by going to our product page, selecting a size for your box, and using our designer feature. After all this work, you’re well on your way to shipping out your great new products and introducing them to your target customers to hopefully earn a lot of money and success along the way.
If You Get Stuck Along The Way…
This may sound like a lot of work for someone who probably doesn’t know a whole lot about packaging design. And while it’s true that there’s a lot of room for error along the way, it doesn’t mean that you have to stay stuck on one step!
One way to totally streamline the design process and end up with amazing results is to consult with packaging experts like BoxGenie. BoxGenie has been in this realm for almost 50 years, so they really know their stuff! They will be there to guide you through the process, listen to your ideas, goals, and potential problems—all while offering you real solutions. At the end of the day, they will work with you to create a packaging design that both you and your customers will love.
Final Thoughts On Strategic Brand Packaging Design
If you follow these steps, achieving an effective and strategic packaging design for your brand is well within reach. That being said, it never hurts to ask for help from the pros at BoxGenie if you have any questions about packaging types, printing types, inner components, and so much more.
As it turns out, packaging can be a very complex area of business, but with the right advice and guidance, you can tackle this area and start focusing on other areas of your business that require your attention.
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