Packaging is the main link for connection and communication among the consumer, product and brand. Through it, the consumer identifies, chooses and uses the product. Based on this experience, he decides whether it pleased or not, and, most important, if he would consume it again.
Packaging design adds value to products by efficiently adjusting them to the needs and expectations of consumers and defining their correct positioning in the market.
The most easily generated values by design are: protection of the product, practicality, convenience, ease of use, comfort and safety. These attributes can be enhanced by the packaging thanks to its high power of communication.
Design adds emotional values to the product, which also end up having practical and very objective impacts such as the perception of functionality, identity, personality and, most especially, brand loyalty.
The market is increasingly more competitive and it is generating an excessive number of similar products, with the same technology, the same price, the same performance and the same characteristics. This avalanche of options ends up confusing the consumer, who has difficulty in perceiving the differences between them and in attributing the proper value. Furthermore, nearly 90% of the companies do not make major investments in mass communication due to the high cost.
In this sense, packaging design and branding strategies became the biggest differentials for a product by creating the visual impact needed for differentiating it at the point of sale. Packaging design does not only attract the consumer, but it also establishes an emotional contact with him.
Winning the battle of innovation and differentiation, design creates a personality capable of winning over the consumer’s loyalty.
Studies conducted by CNI – National Confederation of Industries, indicate that 75% of the companies that recently invested in design have recorded increases in sales, and 41% of these companies have also been able to reduce their costs. The most important is that there was no record of any company that invested in packaging design and which saw a decrease in sales.
It is not new for major corporations and high visibility brands to invest in design and to obtain expressive results in gaining consumer preference.
Recently, small and medium sized companies have also realized they can and should invest in design to be competitive. More than that, they realized design is not a luxury, but rather deals with a highly specialized service, with an excellent cost x benefit ration and which can be easily incorporated into everyday activities.
Whether a big, medium or small company, at the point of sale they all have the same access to the consumer and the one that invests in packaging design has better conditions to stand out and to become a winning brand.
A survey conducted by ABRE’s Strategic Studies Committee revealed that ‘besides practicality, today’s consumer seeks an emotional bond with the package; he expects to be seduced by it at the point of sale’.
The survey also revealed that among similar products, the consumer ends up preferring the more beautiful, attractive and practical package, and he is even willing to try a new brand if its package has these characteristics, since that is directly related to valuing the consumer’s self-esteem.