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Using Packaging To Differentiate Your Brand From Competitors

Posted by Julie Rotuno on 20th Oct 2023

Using Packaging To Differentiate Your Brand From Competitors

Competition exists in nearly every industry. The importance of high-quality product packaging is more relevant than ever. So here are tips for using packaging to differentiate your brand from competitors and why effective packaging is essential.

Reasons Why Successful Packaging Is Important

It’s no secret that many businesses rely on beautiful, eye-catching custom product packaging to gain the attention of their target audience. So here are the reasons why successful product packaging is crucial for your business and brand identity.

Helps Reinforce Your Brand

One of the most important aspects of custom product packaging is ensuring it constantly reinforces your brand. The more you expose your target audience to your brand logo, company slogan, and color theme, the more they’ll recognize your brand. It takes a handful of impressions for customers to recognize and remember your business.

However, it’s crucial to remember that it takes a few seconds for customers to form an impression of your brand. So brand consistency is key across physical and digital assets. Furthermore, product packaging will often be the first impression customers have of your brand. It’s important to have a unique packaging design with eye-catching details, such as hand-illustrated designs and attractive fonts. You should also incorporate sustainable, reusable packaging for eco-friendly purposes. Custom product packaging can determine whether the customer visits or moves on to the next business—all within a few seconds.

Reflects Product Quality

Effective product packaging directly reflects the quality of the product within it. More specifically, packaging can aid customers in associating a positive experience with your product. For instance, if you operate a fashion boutique, choosing high-quality, luxury packaging lets the customer know your merchandise represents class, sophistication, and quality.

Many customers see your product packaging as a reflection of company quality, identity, and success. When you opt for flimsy, cheap packaging, they won’t see you as a leader or innovator in your industry. When your packaging doesn’t align with your product creativity, it creates friction and confusion, leading customers to move on to a competitor. So telling your brand’s story through high-quality product packaging helps tremendously.

Protects and Preserves Products

Product packaging shouldn’t just look good for passersby and social media posts; it should also preserve and protect the product you sell. While vintage-style packaging with minimal product waste is ideal, quality, protective product packaging is a top priority, especially in a world of easily accessible online customer reviews. The last thing you want is a negative review about how your product arrived destroyed or damaged at their doorstep.

No matter how visually stunning your product packaging is, visual aesthetics alone won’t protect your products from bumps, abrasions, contamination, and more. That’s why it needs high-quality materials. Quality packaging should balance function and form while showing off your product simultaneously. Combining quality with aesthetics preserves product integrity and shows off its beauty.

Creates a Connection With Your Audience

The first interaction shoppers often have with shops, boutiques, cafes, and more is the product packaging in the storefront. Furthermore, many impulse buyers immediately purchase a product if the packaging design stands out to them. So learning to connect with your audience through packaging design is important. You don’t want to neglect color psychology, as it can create an emotional response in your target audience.

For instance, blues and greens remind customers of a calming, outdoorsy, eco-friendly mood, while red and yellow create a warm, energetic feeling of excitement. Using colors can help customers understand the theme of your products. Additionally, fonts and images in your packaging can help customers relate to and understand your brand through visual stimulation.

Tips for Creating Stand-Out Packaging

Custom product packaging can make or break your business’ success. So here are tips for using packaging design to differentiate your brand from competitors. It’s the bridge between your business and the customer, determining whether they visit your shop or go about their day.

Use Eco-Friendly Materials

With the rising public demand for eco-friendliness, reduced carbon footprints, and increased sustainable materials, many businesses have switched from single-use plastic and Styrofoam to more eco-friendly packaging. It’s a helpful way to reduce your business’s carbon footprint and improve your brand image. When clients notice that you use sustainable packaging and resources in your establishment, it shows them that you care about the environment and your responsibility.

Furthermore, sustainable packaging can have multiple purposes. It’s incredibly versatile, often used in many major industries for traditional packaging. Whether your business specializes in high-class jewelry or sells baked goods, eco-friendly packaging can help boost your green thumb and make customers happy. Lastly, sustainable packaging consists of biodegradable materials, only taking a few weeks to break down after use completely. It’s less likely to contribute to landfills and helps reduce carbon emissions. Paper, wood, glass, and metal make for sustainable packaging.

Incorporate Colorful Graphics

Color has a larger impact than many would think. Color can contribute to a person’s mood, no matter where they go. For instance, homeowners often paint their rooms specific colors to create an atmosphere catered to their preferences. It goes the same for custom product packaging. Color can help produce a brand identifier, as customers associate specific color combinations with your brand.

Color tickles the brain in a unique way because it creates visual appeal and mood for a customer. Custom packaging incorporating the right combination of colors can lead customers to stop in their tracks to gaze in awe and intrigue. Lastly, color can determine whether your product goes home with customers or stays behind to collect dust.

Make Custom Packaging Additions

As previously stated, custom product packaging affects customers’ view of a brand greatly, often making the first impression on a storefront or online. Quality packaging should lead to a pleasant, satisfying unboxing experience for new or returning customers. Your product packaging can include simple yet impactful decorative ribbons to feel like a present. Or it might have custom-printed tissue paper that provides additional protection and improves presentation.

Incorporating engaging designs, memorable taglines, “thank-you” messages, and coupons can attract customers and keep them returning. When you dedicate time, effort, and funds to your custom product packaging, customers will take notice. It’ll leave a positive, lasting impression when done right.

Mid-Atlantic Packaging offers high-quality packaging products for many business industries. Whether you’re selling cookies and other baked goods or specializing in fashion trends and innovative design, our packaging can help engage customers see your rand in a positive light. Our custom hang tag labels create the perfect accent for your business. We help create hang tags that meet your brand quality and identity, from boutiques and gift baskets to brick-and-mortar storefronts. For more information about our packaging products, contact us today.

Using Packaging To Differentiate Your Brand From Competitors