The development of quality packaging is a series of studies, tests, and dozens of design attempts to make the packaging as attractive as possible. We have collected several rules that help to better present packaging to the consumer and increase sales.
The exploration phase must not be missed
We talked to dozens of designers who have worked for various agencies. It’s an interesting fact that only 1 agency in 10 does research before development.
More often, after receiving the brief, work on the design and concepts begins immediately. And the research phase falls on the personal shoulders of the designer, who needs to quickly visually look at competitors and find inspiration to create a design for a client. We think this is fundamentally wrong work.
Pre-development research should include a series of blocks. The first block is the analysis of competitors. Here it is important to find out what competitors use in packaging design, what they bring to the fore, what colors and fonts they use, if there are graphics and illustrations, and how they work with the back of the packaging. All this data will allow an understanding of how to make products better taking into account the competitive shelf. Moreover, such research helps not only designers but also marketers who will work on product promotion afterward.
After research, it is important to systematize all the information and draw conclusions so that nothing is lost. Otherwise, there will be no effect from the work, and without conclusions that will be clear both in the agency and on the client’s side, it will be difficult to work further.
Personal interviews with the target audience
It is important to add to the research a series of personal interviews with the target audience.
This allows for understanding the motivation during the purchase, to understand how and why people choose this or that product. It is needed to collect feedback on what is important to people in the product, and then draw a parallel with how this is emphasized in the packaging design.
It is possible to catch one or more insights in personal communication, which can then be invested in communication in the product itself or already in an advertising campaign.
In addition to personal interviews, it is possible to make a general discussion with a moderator. For example, different target groups will gather at the same table, and they will be able to exchange views in live communication with each other as to why they buy this or that product.
In this format, it is possible to understand what exactly has the maximum value when choosing a product for different target groups. For example, for someone there will be a price, — quality, someone will just like the brand and design, and someone will talk about the composition.
Focus group
It is optimal to conduct a focus group after the concepts are ready. This will allow understand how all your conclusions and ideas worked in the design, and what kind of response you get from consumers. A focus group is expensive, so not many agencies do it. Of course, it is always possible to put a product on the shelf and then redesign it, but in this case, even a few focus groups will be better than getting less profit from sales.
We recommend conducting a focus group, as, based on practice, this can save tens, sometimes hundreds of thousands of dollars after launching the project.
Marketing hooks on packaging
After the results of the research, interviews, and focus groups, a list of questions is formed which the packaging must answer. It is the answers to these questions that must be visually put on the packaging and so make marketing hooks. So we visually close the needs and show our competitive advantages already on the shelf.
Full-coverage advertising campaign
If a product entered the market without an advertising campaign, its launch will not bring the desired effect. In a full-coverage advertising campaign, it is important to convey your benefits, which you learned about during the research and were able to implement them in the packaging. In an advertising campaign, it is important to highlight all the insights found by the audience.
As you can see, we didn’t talk about design, but each of these 5 conditions directly affects the design, since any information can radically change the packaging.