Packaging plays an important role in business success. As I wrote in other blogs, retail package design must attract the target audience. Personal preferences need to be put aside. The goal is to create a branded product package design that communicates what is inside and connects emotionally with the buyer.
What are the key motivators of the target audience?
To be successful, product packaging has to be designed to motivate the target consumer. Identifying the primary and secondary audience is only the first step.
Remember in previous article, people respond to color first then shapes, images and words, in that order. Those who claim copy is king aren’t acknowledging the hierarchy of their own viewing and processing habits.
Insuring a successful product packaging begins with a design that stops them in the aisle. After visual impact that stops them the images and copy need to convey a story that resonates and convinces the consumer that the product will answer a specific need. The 3-5-7 rule of emails is adaptable to package design.
Research and Testing
Market research has to be conducted prior to beginning the design process. Skipping this step risks failure. It doesn’t require a market research firm, but they can provide deeper analytics and have access to industry reports. This all assumes you have proven consumer interest in your product prior to working on retail package design.
Market research can provide the motivational triggers to include on packaging and confirm or negate motivators of your target audience. Competitive research is crucial to developing a marketing strategy and the design process.
Many companies don’t consider market research or consumer testing. Certain types of research can be too expensive for some. It can also be a costly mistake if you don’t test. Testing will provide opinions from your target audience about your package concept. If affordable, A B package testing is advisable before committing to a large print run. If Tropicanna had conducted concept testing they may not have made the costly mistake of implementing the disastrous redesign.
Simple testing of your concept in store is very economical. Visual impact can’t be denied when placed beside the competitor’s product.
It doesn’t matter what you like. Bottom-line, use all the tools and opportunity at your disposal to qualify the package concept will work to attract and convert sales in-store.
