Key branding principles behind packaging

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Question - how important is packaging as a brand communications vehicle?

Answer - research shows that customers receive most communications impacts about the brand from:

• the products/services themselves
• their packaging

Key points

Packaging has two major areas of focus:

1. The physical build:
   • the outer/bulk packaging
   • the inner/display packaging

2. The aesthetic design - colour, shape, size, smell, taste, movement, touch, weight, texture, sound

In many fmcg (fast moving consumer goods) markets, the packaging is the product. The brand team works on the image of the packaging and its contents as a unity. In business-to-business markets the packaging is dealt with as an after thought, and not seen as integral to the product positioning.

Outer/bulk packaging

The outer packaging for products is primarily logistical, ensuring that the goods:

• get from A to B without damage
• require the minimum space
• are easily stacked/stored
• are easily handled
• are clearly identified

However, there are at least two reasons why the outer/bulk packaging should be given greater branding scrutiny:

• it often outlives the product itself
• it can be used to merchandise the inner/display packaging, especially in business-to-business environments

How often do we see cartons used to deliver goods other than their original contents? What does the carton say about the brand? Can the outer packaging be designed to have a useful second life, promoting the brand's values? Children famously often prefer the box the present came in to the present itself.

Inner/display packaging

The inner/display packaging is usually designed for:

• dispensing
• display

Even more so than the outer packaging, the display packaging will often last longer than the product/service itself:

• to be used for another purpose
• as a re-ordering reference
• for the instructions

The more additional functions that can be built into the physical packaging, the more the packaging will remain around the customer as a continuing representation of the brand.

Some questions you might like to ask:

• How could the customer be encouraged to re-use the packaging?
• What will the packaging look like in 5 years' time when the customer has re-used it?

Having packaging being re-used is not only advantageous to the environment.

Aesthetic design

The communications aspect of packaging design is critical because:

• the packaging provides the second highest level of communications impact on the brand (after the product itself)
• it is one of the few communications media which can work beyond the audio-visual dimensions in terms of smell, taste, touch, weight, & texture

With each individual receiving reputedly 1,000-3,000 brand impacts a day, most of them audio-visual, there is a major opportunity to differentiate brands through the other senses that human beings are less able to manage on a conscious level. We may be able to recall a brand's slogan, or its logo, but how do we respond to the smells & textures associated with a brand, if we know that we are responding at all?

Supermarkets "package" themselves by wafting the smell of fresh bread or roasting chickens round the store. If food and drink brands could give you a foretaste of what is inside, or what should be associated with what is inside (for instance heather with whisky), that could be powerful. The packaging of children's toys is another good example, with its "Try Me!" buttons; or the "Singing Fish" that not only sings in its packaging, but also allows you to feel it moving, and even turns to look at you.

Measurement

The three elements to research within packaging are:

• physical build - which denotes the quality/trustworthiness of the brand
• aesthetic design - which denotes the core values of the brand
• informational content - which can denote both the trustworthiness and core values of the brand, but which is usually treated functionally

The most common methods of testing packaging are:

• in focus groups, to understand the underlying values the packaging is communicating
• in "hall tests" (which is where people are brought into a room off the street to answer questions) to get general information, plus some quantification of results
• simulated displays (where people are shown electronic/pictorial mock-ups of shelf displays), sometimes combined with eye-tracking to test the "stand-out" of the packaging

The advantage of electronic simulated displays is that they can easily be re-arranged to test different scenarios for pack positions or the number of "facings" accorded the brand, or even different colours or shapes.

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