Crazy about Packaging

Advertising Articles September 29, 2005
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!

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Marsha Maung is a freelance work at home graphic designer and copy writer. She focused on below-the-line advertising and marketing. More information can be found at http://www.marshamaung.com and http://www.creativejooz.com