Advertising

Advertise Your Business Through Packaging

paper-packagingRemember the 4 Ps of business– product, price, place and promotion? Yes, they're an important part of the marketing mix that we studied in textbooks, but some entrepreneurs have turned their companies into million-dollar businesses by focusing on the 5th P - packaging.

A prime example in the form of Sara Blakely's Spanx, which took a u-turn from the traditional black and white packaging in the women undergarment and hosiery industry by opting for animated, cartoon illustrated comic strips and entertaining names for product packaging.

Fit Buns is another business that used packaging to their advantage. Their high protein bread was sealed inside a creative package that portrays toned abs, and the company went on to sell 2,996 packs in the first month. They also sold 217 memberships and enjoyed a 115 ROI.

These companies used packaging to advertise their business and facilitate the purchase decision of consumers. And there's no reason why you can't do the same for your business, and that too at a fraction of a cost spent on traditional advertising means.

To start off, some of the things you can do are:

1. Underline the target market

The design and label of a product package can be used to advertise the business to a specific target market segment. For example, if you want to target consumers who support eco-friendly practices, then a packaging promoting green features and recycled material itself can easily spark attention of eco-conscious consumers.

St. Stephen, a hair accessories company, utilized the design characteristics of the target market and synced it with the functionality offered by their key products such as elastics and bobby pins for packaging to differentiate itself on the shelves.

2. Create optimal shipping packages

Another way to stand out from the competitors is to create optimal shipping packages: product boxes that cater to the shapes and sizes of the actual products and presents the image of a company in a stunning manner.

A corrugated boxes manufacturer would usually deal with the structural process of designing the shipping package according to the shape and size of the product, but you will want to do add something distinctive when it comes to exterior printing. Some of the options include on-color direct printing and two-color direct printing, while a little expensive one includes 4-color high-end printing.

3. Incorporate augmented reality

Consumers are getting more tech-savvy with each passing day and packaging is the focal mechanism they are using to relate to the product features. In fact, they prefer the interactive experience as it makes them feel closer to the actual product and how it was made, so store product packages can become integrated with ease.

The Greek chocolate company Lacta incorporated augmented reality into their packaging by letting consumers use a Lacta chocolate bar to send out a secret message to their friend(s). The company was able to capture tech-savvy consumers. This also shows the evolution of packaging from serving a mere functionality of being an exterior of the product to playing an intricate role in business advertising and the buying decision process of the consumers.

If you have any questions, please ask below!