Paxina: 002	Packaging
Anton Fabi | Bakers Biscuits | Captain Kream | Flight Connection | I and J Foods | Koln Beer | Satori | Wild Roots
Ultimately the Package is an objet d’art. An object of desire. When you see it you have to have it. If you don’t want to believe me, observe your own buying habits of Branded Products. This is the service you will be contracting me for. The Package is the corporate messenger. And is probably the biggest medium of visual communication. If you don’t believe me, ask some of your friends to recall the TV commercial or magazine ad that compelled them to look for the product. Chances are, that for each one they can recall, there are another 19 that they will not remember. By comparison, package design is at the front-line of the assault upon the senses of the consumer. Buy Now! Only 750 million left! “I lost my virginity, but I still have the box it came in” Fortunately, Package Design has not yet become a cottage industry yet. Everything we design and produce has to be packaged. Which requires further design. Eventually the design IS the package. Ultimately the package is an objet d’art. An object of desire. When you see it you have to have it. After all how many shite products haven’t you bought because of the packaging? How many times have you been introduced to a product, by a friend, that you thought was great – except that you would never have bought it because you didn’t like the box. The Package is the Corporate Messenger. Pack Design Science. 101 Pack design literature has concentrated on the growing importance of design in packaging and the role of packaging as a vehicle for communication and branding. While there is considerable literature on pack design research techniques, these have mainly been applied to individual pack designs. There is little general empirical research. The role of pack design changed with the move to self-service and the pack became an essential part of the selling process. The move to larger supermarkets and increased segmentation of markets has led to the proliferation of products, so that packaging has to work in a more crowded competitive context both in the retail environment and in the kitchen. Impulse buying is also increasing, with an estimated half of all grocery purchases being unplanned. A quantitative survey conducted by the Henley Centre concluded that 73 percent ofpurchase decisions were made at point of sale. The tendency to a weekly shop, and the large number of items purchased at one stop, leads to less time to make the purchase decision, and consequent need for the pack design to work harder. It is suggested that packaging may be the biggest medium of communication Three reasons are given for this: (1) its extensive reach to nearly all purchasers of the category; (2) its presence at the crucial moment when the purchase decision is made; and (3) the high level of involvement for users who will actively scan packaging for information. This involvement of the user makes the packaging an essential element in branding, both in the communication of brand values and as an essential part of the brand. The design of the pack itself also appears to be an incentive to buy. Pack Design and Brand Name A key element of any new product launch is the development of a strong pack design and brand name. • communicate the 'personality' of the product • create interest at point-of-purchase (i.e. in store). • bring the brand name to life Pack Design Art These are all the requests form client and all the attributes the designer or design house attempt to address. • convey both the tangible and intangible attributes of a product. • position it as a unique, exciting • stand out from its competitors • emphasise the qualities and appeal • reinforcing that it was an XXX brand. • achieved impact by using XXX colours • communicated the manufacturer's heritage. • have an immediate point-of-sale impact both on-shelf and in store display units. • developed in order to maximise the various multi-purchase opportunities available. • designed to entice trial and to encourage repeat purchase • aimed to have broad appeal • primarily targeted at XXX year olds • chosen to communicate the XXX All of which is meaningless in the light of the following observation: Recent marketing research into pack design has been inclined to support that which designers have insisted on all along, except they had no results from “empirical research” That the asymmetry of perception requires that to enhance recall, words should be on the right-hand side of the pack, and images should be toward the left. Following the flow of the “reading eye”. Which is why some oriental packaging looks strange to the occidental eye. Marketing revolves around rapid communication: television commercials, free way bill-boards, packs in a supermarket. Even flipping through a magazine. There are scnat seconds in which to grab the consumers attention. “Research in psychology on brain laterality, shows that perception is not symmetrical; for instance, words are recalled better if they are perceived from the right-hand side of the individual, while pictorial or non-verbal cues are more successful if coming from the left-hand side. Under conditions of rapid perception, e.g. scanning packs while walking along the aisle in a supermarket, this differential perception and the positioning of the elements in a pack design may make the difference between identifying and missing the item concerned”. Brand Name Your Baby Like packaging, brand names play a critical role in the success of a product, by helping to create a product's 'personality'. My father once told me that: • Everything is connected to everything else • Everything has to go somewhere • There is no such thing as a Free Lunch This pretty much sums up the concept of packaging, pack design and Design Fees. If you want to know more… please contact us.