Branding and Packaging – Thorough Overview
Branding and packaging are inseparable matters if you want your brand to be authentic and harmonious, so that’s why every single detail of engagement of a customer with your offerings should be memorable – from buying them to unpacking and using.
In this material our reviewer collected all the essential information about branding packaging you need to know – why it’s important, the key elements and their meaning, the ways of effectively using designs and also some good examples that might spark your inspiration.
The Importance of branding and packaging
“People do weigh the contest of a book only by its cover, while brands are assessed by their packaging”. Unfortunately, the author of this line is unknown, yet it’s quite an apt word to describe the influence of branded elements on a business. Packaging without branding or opposite – forming identities but overlooking proper packing of products will definitely give the effect but it won’t be as beneficial as the combination of them.
Let’s plumb the depth of the issues that brand design experts close with their comprehensive designs:
Influence on the first impression
Your customers will perceive and remember your brand in another light if the most significant parts of the interaction with your offerings are meaningful. It’s enough only to see how excited we are when we get the boxes of Apple devices and not only because the goods inside mean a lot for us but because the packaging itself is a part of the experience.
Every small detail makes a difference and adds contribution to the tally of the overall impression that is vital if you want to turn new customers into your loyal audience.
Increase of awareness and recognition
A proper branding and packaging design in their unity are able to secure sustainable growth of your products and business recognition. You don’t necessarily need to come up with numerous ways of interacting with your audience, it’s better to pay attention to a few of them, but make them more qualitative, taking care of the most important sides people really engage with – such as packaging.
Reaching uniqueness
The true miracle of what packaging and branding companies can do is to form assets that will revolve around your business values and offerings, and don’t repeat the competitors. Profis of branding package possess in-depth knowledge of tools and methods of forming attractive designs as well as messages that won’t leave people indifferent.
Through the packaging and revamp you can convey your values that play a significant role in the decision-making process nowadays.
Forming strong ties
When a brand has a strong presentation, building trust, loyalty and other emotional attachments become easier. The connections come from an engaging story, special messaging, material that protects a good from damage with a layer of foam; they can be transparent as well and some people like it. All the mentioned tiny details affect the overall impression and facilitate forming bonds.
Exceeding expectations
Having done your business and packaging branded both, you unify the efforts and make sure that nothing feels odd. Additionally, packaging itself is a sphere where creativity can sprout and bring even more than customers expect. For example, Nestle and other producers of baby food make the caps for their products in a form that they can block sockets.
They also serve as demonstrations of some businesses’ attitude to global problems like pollution, global warming and saving resources, giving instructions on how to recycle the packaging or just making it biodegradable. From material to design, everything can be purposeful.
Key elements of branding packaging
Packaging includes tangible and intangible components that should be in sync.
Firstly, it’s about branding and packaging designing Logo. Some brands put their firm logo exclusively, like Samsung – their products usually share one design no matter the device – a phone, a TV, and etc. Others, like Mondelez International, have separate logos for their products – Milka, Oreo, they also attach the parent logo on the packaging, yet not in the front. On the other hand, Coca-Cola and Nestle don’t always mark that they own certain brands at all.
Secondly, it’s Colour Palette and Typography. Some reviews say that a lot of customers are able to recognise brands by their main colours, so choosing the right palette is as invaluable as taking care of the other elements.
Fourthly, it’s Naming. No branding packaging can’t go without a good naming. Even some companies, famous worldwide, sometimes overlook naming of their products, making them unreadable. The names can describe something like with the case of The Body Shop or can be after the founder – like Ford or Hoover. Sometimes they are just made up words that hadn’t existed before – the most famous example is, obviously, Google.
Thirdly, it’s Design. Comprehension of your audience and brand purposes is very important when it comes to design development. Are your customers people who prefer simplicity over something grandiose? Or do they like bright colours? Are they going to use your products for work or for leisure? All of these things should be taken into consideration while designing packaging.
Fifthly, it’s Messaging. Talking about food, it can be some advice about portions and adding some lines about its quality. Returning to Milka, on its packaging you can find the line “sustainably sourced cocoa”. A branding and packaging agency can come up with an original line that will grab customers’ attention or call-to-action for every kind of goods – devices, utensils or textile.
Lastly, it’s Shape and Material. Depending on the type of a good, its fragility and price, innovative specialists help with choosing the form of packaging, material used for as well as shape. It can be plastic, seaweed, paper, glass or wood and fabric, or combination of them.
How to effectively use branding and packaging design?
The blend of defined identities and embodying them in packaging design will address a great deal of concerns a business faces, such as differentiation from the competitors, struggles with identification customers’ preferences that last long and regular appearing new names in the market. Through comprehensive research, audit and positioning you can get crucial information that can be implemented into design.
Take a look at the methods that can be used to enhance the effectiveness of your packaging when your business is branded:
- Make sure that your design matches your brand identity — brand is about the manner in which you communicate with your target audience, the personality your business possesses – it can be something funny, flirty, rebellious or playful.
Action: You need to consider your image elements, so having colours and typography that serve for your brand recognition, it’s a good idea to apply them to your packaging design. The same should be done with missions you set for your company, so people could memorise what you stand for;
- Mention exclusive features of your product in your design – on Dyson Supersonic the producer states that it was “engineered for balance” as well as tells customers that their product has a protector from heat that is extremely important.
Action: So, it’s crucial to inform people about the benefits of using your goods. Having defined unique selling characteristics of your products while positioning your business, you get the instruments to convey the exclusivity of your goods that can be perfectly attached to the packaging;
- Pay attention to what customers say – a responsible branding and packaging design company won’t say that the work is done before evaluating the outcomes. After launching the packaging, experts collect data of how effective and accepted the packaging is.
Action: In some cases, when customers don’t find it very convenient, there can be changes if it’s needed. It’s possible to collect a certain type of data beforehand, so you will know what is more advantageous in your particular situation, with the use of brand consulting;
- Promote your digital platforms through packaging – in the age of domination of digital technologies over traditional ways of doing things, it’s vital to be connected to your audience through different platforms and appear from time to time in their recommendations.
Action: There are multiple options you can choose to make your packaging a tie between your media platforms and customers. Some businesses attach their nicknames, others use QR codes or hashtags. Apart from the means you select, think about the way of calling your customers to action – announcing a special program or offering a game;
- Let your packaging design tell stories – Ben & Jerry’s ice cream tubes are a blend of fun and dedication to the environment – we learn it only from quick glancing at their wrapping. The covering of goods can not only protect them from being spilt or damaged but introduce people to interesting facts, traditions, recommendations or just a cool joke, based on your brand personality.
Action: Employing packaging and branding together, with a few lines or even one word, in combination with suitable illustrations, your wrapper becomes an asset that enhances awareness, recognition and loyalty;
- Ensure practicality of your design – sometimes working on attractiveness of boxes and bottles or implementing eco-friendly packaging, brands go too far that leads to inconvenience. Perfumes that can’t be sprayed, tetra packs without caps so you need to cut it to reach the product or a giant box for a small good that’s only a waste – there are some examples that really existed and none of them were financially successful.
Action: The balance of usability and appearance must be, so your customers won’t need to fight with the packaging in the attempt to get to the good. The professional guidance will facilitate your efforts in finding the perfect fit of gorgeousness and functionality.
Branding and packaging examples
To sum up all the statements above, let’s look closer at some well-known examples:
Tiffany & Co
Every nuance of Tiffany packaging is stylish and has deep meaning. This jewellery crafter’s blue boxes are desirable and recognisable, so people want to get them in addition to rings and necklaces. The colour of the packaging is called Blue Tiffany, assigned to the brand completely. Charles Lewis Tiffany, the founder of the company, created the idea of such boxes in the 19th century and over the years, it’s still relevant and popular.
Being true to themselves, the producer is continuing the traditions, yet doesn’t reject the modern trends, oriented on sustainability. Since 2022, crafting their iconic packaging, they use recycled materials.
Pringles
The way Pringles nailed it with their packaging and branding is awesome, since they found how to turn a snack into something luxury and release of the product in 1968 made waves in the industry and secured their titles of innovators. The brand literally revolves around their unique packaging that is required for preservation of their exceptional texture and prevention of cracking chips.
Experimenting with flavours, they add special colours and elements to every kind of them, so customers can choose exactly what they want without spending a long time identifying the tastes. Having certain flavours as constant, they sometimes launch additional ones, stating on the cans that it’s a limited version. Here’s only a few initiatives they embody in their packaging, since Pringles know how to use its potential to the full extent.
Muji
“No-brand” is also a strategy that a Japanese retailer Muji turns to the maximum. Instead of choosing bright colours, painting special elements and coming up with cool messaging, they let products sell themselves with only their qualities, avoiding excessive branding and preferring simplicity over complexness.
Their covering through different lines of products remain the same – whether it’s stationary, goods for the household so even without labels it can be recognisable. Also, Muji pay close attention to the impact of their packaging on the environment, so they select materials that can be reused, taking sustainability and responsibility to a new level.
Method
Method is a producer of cleaning products that has strong determination to reinvent the image of home cleaning goods. They produce items that have eco-friendly composition and wrapping, avoiding using ingredients that harm the environment or people’s health.
Furthermore Method’s packaging branding design is unique as well. They focus on bright colours and minimum texts, using eye-catching typography to state the most important messages. The forms and colours make their goods more appealing so they look more like cosmetics than cleaning products. As a result, the combination of the main idea, commitment to nature and exceptional style make Method noticeable in the industry.
Are you considering advancing your packaging?
Through the examples and explanations of the importance of packaging branding, we showcased the power of distinctive wrapping that is able to change how people perceive your goods. If you treat your assets and do steps to show that they are worth people’s attention, your customers will see it.
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