Packaging
makes a world of difference. It could be the same product, but with a
different packaging and consumers go wild! Freelance Graphic Designer
and Writer who normally strategizes such branding and packaging designs
finds herself a victim of her own trade.
“It’s the same old tissue, honey, it doesn’t
make a difference, ok? It’s still going to work the same way”, my
exasperated husband hissed into my ear as I grabbed cartons after
cartons of some ‘designer’ tissue. DESIGNER TISSUE! Hah, can you even
hear me say that? I can’t believe I actually wrote ‘designer tissue’.
So, yes, for a graphic designer and writer who knows all about the kind
of effort one puts into packaging and branding products, I sure fell
for it. All the hoopla. The shenanigans. The ‘suck ‘em in with good
copy and fab color combo’. Hey, I am still a consumer, remember that. I
am entitled to fall for nice packaging, I have a prevailing right to be
human.
But they are so pretty…the packaging. I swear!
They have the ‘nature lover’ packaging, the ‘fruity’ packaging, the
‘woman on the go’ packaging, and then they have the ‘kids’ packaging. I
grabbed 4 of each design packages and made a run for the counter with
them with my screaming kids and exasperated husband running after me in
slow motion. It was definitely a ‘die-hard’ moment. You know, when the
hero is running away from a bunch of wild bad men with machine guns,
and they’re shooting at your feet or something…and there’s an explosion
behind you…and everything happens in ssslllloooowwwww
mmmmooooottttttiiiioooonnnnn.
Well, in this case, I was running for checkout with boxes of tissue
paper with fancy packaging designs on them. If I didn’t like the
packaging designs so much, I would find it comical enough. But I am
dead serious. In fact, I loved the packaging designs so much, after
using up all the tissues in the boxes, I would cut out the designs and
place it into my ‘must keep for reference’ clear folder. I don’t keep a
lot of stuff in there because I am pretty selective about the designs
that I like, but these packaging designs made the cut. They definitely
did.
You see, this is the kind of thing that happens when you put some
effort into making your packaging design. Yeah, we all have this in the
back of our heads…. “Hey, it’s PACKAGING! It’s what’s INSIDE that
count. They’re going to THROW the PACKAGING away. So, why spend so much
money on the packaging?” Maybe you’re also thinking that the money
should go towards developing better quality products…for faster
shipment options…or maybe the money should go towards spending
potential clients to expensive dinners in Italian restaurants. It’s
your call, really.
But this is what I have to tell you, as a graphic designer and
consumer. The more effort you put into designing your packaging, more
customers will stop and take a look at your packaging or what’s inside
the packaging. Now, does it make sense for me to say now that when they
stop and take notice of your packaging, your chance of getting them to
buy your product increases? Exactly.
You see, the role of packaging is to grab the consumer’s attention. And
without an electrifying packaging, consumers are going to walk past the
heaps and heaps of other competitor products…and yours…without even
knowing you’re there! Your product is sitting there on a shelf, for
goodness sake, and the only weapon you have is to have a nice
packaging. Once they stop and take a look, you’ve won the first round.
Think about it!
