Is it the anticipation? The excitement? The sense of wonder? Of mystery? Surprise? Whatever it is, the feeling you get when you have something to open – especially if you don’t know exactly what it is or what it looks like – is a truly marvellous one.
We’re all familiar with this feeling, of course, at Christmas, when we set about opening our presents. But have we ever considered how powerful it would be to create a similar feeling under “normal” circumstances, and “everyday” items, perhaps like your company’s products? Which isn’t to say that they’re not exciting in themselves – of course – merely that we can add to that excitement, and enhance your brand, and generally make the whole experience of buying your products a lot more memorable for your clients, if the presentation packaging is of sufficient quality!
So what do we mean by “quality” in this context?
Well, to some degree it’s subjective, naturally – there are no absolutes here. And to a different degree it will depend upon what the product actually is! But it’s true that, to coin a phrase, you only make a first impression once. Similarly, your clients only receive and open a product from you for the first time once. So why not make it ultra high quality, genuinely memorable, in so doing encouraging them to open more products from you in the future?
The question to ask yourself, perhaps, is this. What does high quality presentation packaging say about you? It says that you’re a professional organisation. That you care about the little things, the details. That you’re willing to invest in the customer experience. That you value your customers. And all that means that they’ll value you, that they’ll feel confident that the product and the after sales service will be of equally high quality.
There are other factors too, that go into this quality mix. Think “protection” and “recycling”, for example. You need your products to be protected from damage, especially if they are liable to be posted. And much as we like innovation and excitement, no-one wants masses of seemingly irrelevant packaging material that seems to serve no purpose. Again, if you think about the environment, it shows that you care.
Research carried out by IRI (Information Resources Inc.) revealed the following quote, which neatly summarises our thoughts:
The shopper appreciates and in fact explicitly wants to receive stimulation for the buying decision he is making … often even preferring this to other forms of communication. He is keen to be informed and inspired, tempted and pampered by surprising and persuasive functions, emotions and sensual impressions.
Can I have a check-list of things to consider?
Like we said it’s largely subjective but how about this for starters:
- design
- shape
- colour
- innovation
- novelty
- eye-catching
- functionality
- material
- multi-sensory appeal
- appropriateness for the product
It may not be necessary to have all of these, but simply bearing them all in mind when you design your product packaging will certainly help you to differentiate.
What are my options?
There are various ways in which you can achieve many of the above characteristics. Your product can be packaged with a base and lid – adding a certain special something – or perhaps a hinged lid! You can also add a sleeve, thus creating an additional layer. And there are many other ways you can be creative too! In our next article we’ll cover various options in greater detail.
What next?
It’s simple J Click here to go straight to our presentation packaging information, or here for our home page. Or why not give us a call on 020 8391 3001 and we’ll de delighted to help you in any way we can.