Which company used packaging to differentiate the way their product was shipped?

There are many reasons why good product packaging is important for your business. Whether you’re launching a new brand or trying to differentiate your products from the competition, having well-packaged items will ensure that customers are drawn to purchase them over others. Here’s what the importance of good product packaging means for your business.

It Protects Your Product 

A good package makes shipping your products much safer, no matter what type of transport you use. Lots of banding machines industries are working on constantly improving the security of their products. You can provide better protection for your company’s product by working with a trustworthy agency that will take care of the packaging process. 

You will prevent damage that can happen on the way to your customers. In return, you will get satisfied and loyal clients for years to come. When someone is buying a product online, they need to know that it will arrive safely at their doorstep. There are many companies out there who use clear boxes exposing what’s inside of them and these packages might be getting damaged during shipping or when taken off trucks by delivery services. 

Both parties (businesses and consumers) want a packaging type with a high level of protection that securely holds the contents in place until arrival time where receivers open up the package using scissors, for example. 

Packages Are Good For Marketing 

Packages are a perfect place to include marketing material, especially in the case of products that are not their own. Retailers have to pay for shelf space, so they want to put something there that will draw customers towards it and entice them into making a purchase. The importance of good product packaging is creating an eye-catching display around your business’s name or logo with unique elements like colors, fonts, images, etc.

Since boxes get moved around, packages can be used as marketing tools even if you don’t include anything inside but the actual product itself (which should still be packaged nicely). If done well enough, people might remember what was on the outside instead of its contents! So take advantage of this phenomenon by using one place where the marketing material doesn’t cost extra money.

Here’s how you can advertise on your packaging:

• Add your logo and name 
• Create a catchy slogan or tag line to stand out from the crowd 
• Include descriptive words that appeal to your target market’s desires 
• Add a QR code to give customers easy access to your website 
• Give discounts or free samples in return for signing up with an email address
• Give them your contact information and help them remember you in the future

It Can Attract Consumers If Well-made

Consumers are drawn towards packaging that is appealing and attractive. If you want to attract new customers, then it is important to invest in good product packaging.

When looking at a package for the first time, consumers will instantly form an opinion of what they can expect from your product based on its appearance. A well-made package shows attention to detail as well as the effort put into creating something unique which speaks about your business, brand, or industry. This level of appeal makes them more willing to buy the products you are selling because they are confident that there is quality behind them too. You need this kind of confidence if you hope to make lasting connections with potential buyers.

You can even make a package so that it can be used by consumers later on. For example, many food products come with packaging that can be used for storage purposes once the product is finished. This adds value to the package and makes it easier for people to keep your company in mind because of its convenience factor.

Good Packaging Creates Brand Identity 

Brand identity is essential for any business. To create brand identity, you must first develop a good packaging design for your products or services. You want to make sure that the customers are able to easily identify what it is they need by associating it with your logo and/or other branding elements on the package itself. If someone can pick up one of your packages without knowing who makes them, then there’s no way they’re going to remember where their purchase came from once they get home either! 

If you take into consideration all the different ways in which people interact with businesses every day, you find only two types: online or face-to-face interactions. Because these are completely different ways of doing business, the importance of good packaging is not about to go away any time soon.

Well-packed Products Make You Stand Out 

You always want to stand out in the crowd, and it’s no different when you’re trying to make a name for yourself in business. If your product is packaged well, people will notice. And if they take note of how it looks on store shelves or in their hands, that package could be the difference between making a sale and losing one. 

Packaging also has importance when consumers are looking at products online before committing to buying them. It can be what draws them to your website and convinces them to take another look at your companies’ branding choices. The last thing you want is for your customer base not even know who makes up this company because there was nothing exciting about its packaging design!

It Lets Creativity Shine

The box you’re sending your products is a great opportunity to let your creativity shine. The importance of good product packaging is to make a lasting impression with everything from the design, colors that are used, and even the material you choose for a specific box or mailer.

When it comes to letting creative ideas shine through in good product packaging, there’s no better place than on boxes and mailers because they allow businesses to show off their personality without having any limitations. It doesn’t matter what industry you’re trying to market yourself as either since “creative” can apply across all types of business models including marketing agencies, eCommerce stores, and anything else under the sun where products need shipping containers! 

Packaging should not be looked at only as a cardboard box in which your product is transported. It does keep your items safe and keeps customers happy, but it’s also a great marketing tool you should take advantage of. It will attract new consumers, giving you a better-recognized brand identity that will make you stand out from the competitors. It lets your creative team have fun and get more people hooked on what you’re selling!

As we start our exploration of brand and its role in marketing, take a few minutes to watch the following video about Coca-Cola, which is perhaps one of the most iconic brands of all time. As you watch this video, look and listen for the all the different elements that contribute to the thing we call a “brand.”

Click here to read a transcript of the video.

Brands are interesting, powerful concoctions of the marketplace that create tremendous value for organizations and for individuals. Because brands serve several functions, we can define the term “brand” in the following ways:

1. A brand is an identifier: a name, sign, symbol, design, term, or some combination of these things that identifies an offering and helps simplify choice for the consumer.
2. A brand is a promise: the promise of what a company or offering will provide to the people who interact with it.
3. A brand is an asset: a reputation in the marketplace that can drive price premiums and customer preference for goods from a particular provider.
4. A brand is a set of perceptions: the sum total of everything individuals believe, think, see, know, feel, hear, and experience about a product, service, or organization.
5. A brand is “mind share”: the unique position a company or offering holds in the customer’s mind, based on their past experiences and what they expect in the future.

A brand consists of all the features that distinguish the goods and services of one seller from another: name, term, design, style, symbols, customer touch points, etc. Together, all elements of the brand work as a psychological trigger or stimulus that causes an association to all other thoughts one has had about this brand.

Brands are a combination of tangible and intangible elements, such as the following:

• Visual design elements (i.e., logo, color, typography, images, tagline, packaging, etc.)
• Distinctive product features (i.e. quality, design sensibility, personality, etc.)
• Intangible aspects of customers’ experience with a product or company (i.e. reputation, customer experience, etc.)

Branding–the act of creating or building a brand–may take place at multiple levels: company brands, individual product brands, or branded product lines. Any entity that works to build consumer loyalty can also be considered a brand, such as celebrities (Lady Gaga, e.g.), events (Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, e.g.), and places (Las Vegas, e.g.).

History of Branding

The word “brand” is derived from the Old Norse brand meaning “to burn,” which refers to the practice of producers burning their mark (or brand) onto their products. Italians are considered among the first to use brands in the form of watermarks on paper in the 1200s. However, in mass-marketing, this concept originated in the nineteenth century with the introduction of packaged goods.

The Coca-Cola logo is an example of a widely recognized trademark and global brand.

During the Industrial Revolution, the production of many household items, such as soap, was moved from local communities to centralized factories to be mass-produced and sold to the wider markets. When shipping their items, factories branded their logo or insignia on the barrels they used. Eventually these “brands” became trademarks—recognized symbols of a company or product that have been established by use. These new brand marks enabled packaged-goods manufacturers to communicate that their products were distinctive and should be trusted as much as (or more than) local competitors. Campbell Soup, Coca-Cola , Juicy Fruit gum, Aunt Jemima, and Quaker Oats were among the first products to be “branded.”

Brands Create Market Perceptions

A successful brand is much more than just a name or logo. As suggested in one of the definitions above, brand is the sum of perceptions about a company or product in the minds of consumers. Effective brand building can create and sustain a strong, positive, and lasting impression that is difficult to displace. Brands provide external cues to taste, design, performance, quality, value, or other desired attributes if they are developed and managed properly. Brands convey positive or negative messages about a company, product, or service. Brand perceptions are a direct result of past advertising, promotion, product reputation, and customer experience.

A brand can convey multiple levels of meaning, including the following:

As an automobile brand, the Mercedes-Benz logo suggests high prestige.

1. Attributes: specific product features. The Mercedes-Benz brand, for example, suggests expensive, well-built, well-engineered, durable vehicles.
2. Benefits: attributes translate into functional and emotional benefits. Mercedes automobiles suggest prestige, luxury, wealth, reliability, self-esteem.
3. Values: company values and operational principles. The Mercedes brand evokes company values around excellence, high performance, power.
4. Culture: cultural elements of the company and brand. Mercedes represents German precision, discipline, efficiency, quality.
5. Personality: strong brands often project a distinctive personality. The Mercedes brand personality combines luxury and efficiency, precision and prestige.
6. User: brands may suggest the types of consumers who buy and use the product. Mercedes drivers might be perceived and classified differently than, for example, the drivers of Cadillacs, Corvettes, or BMWs.

Brands Create an Experience

Effective branding encompasses everything that shapes the perception of a company or product in the minds of customers. Names, logos, brand marks, trade characters, and trademarks are commonly associated with brand, but these are just part of the picture. Branding also addresses virtually every aspect of a customer’s experience with a company or product: visual design, quality, distinctiveness, purchasing experience, customer service, and so forth. Branding requires a deep knowledge of customers and how they experience the company or product. Brand-building requires long-term investment in communicating about and delivering the unique value embodied in a company’s “brand,” but this effort can bring long-term rewards.

In consumer and business-to-business markets, branding can influence whether consumers will buy the product and how much they are willing to pay. Branding can also help in new product introduction by creating meaning, market perceptions, and differentiation where nothing existed previously. When companies introduce a new product using an existing brand name (a brand extension or a branded product line), they can build on consumers’ positive perceptions of the established brand to create greater receptivity for the new offering.

Brands Create Value

The Dunkin’ Donuts logo, which includes an image of a DD cup of coffee, makes it easy to spot anywhere. The coffee is known for being a good value at a great price.

Brands create value for consumers and organizations in a variety of ways.

Benefits of Branding for the Consumer

Brands help simplify consumer choices. Brands help create trust, so that a person knows what to expect from a branded company, product, or service. Effective branding enables the consumer to easily identify a desirable company or product because the features and benefits have been communicated effectively. Positive, well-established brand associations increase the likelihood that consumers will select, purchase, and consume the product. Dunkin’ Donuts, for example, has an established logo and imagery familiar to many U.S. consumers. The vivid colors and image of a DD cup are easily recognized and distinguished from competitors, and many associate this brand with tasty donuts, good coffee, and great prices.

Benefits of Branding for Product and Service Providers

The Starbucks brand is associated with premium, high-priced coffee.

For companies and other organizations that produce goods, branding helps create loyalty. It decreases the risk of losing market share to the competition by establishing a competitive advantage customers can count on. Strong brands often command premium pricing from consumers who are willing to pay more for a product they know, trust, and perceive as offering good value. Branding can be a great vehicle for effectively reaching target audiences and positioning a company relative to the competition. Working in conjunction with positioning, brand is the ultimate touchstone to guide choices around messaging, visual design, packaging, marketing, communications, and product strategy.

For example, Starbucks’ loyal fan base values and pays premium prices for its coffee. Starbucks’ choices about beverage products, neighborhood shops, the buying experience, and corporate social responsibility all help build the Starbucks brand and communicate its value to a global customer base.

Benefits of Branding for the Retailer

Retailers such as Target, Safeway, and Wal-Mart create brands of their own to create a loyal base of customers. Branding enables these retailers to differentiate themselves from one another and build customer loyalty around the unique experiences they provide. Retailer brand building may focus around the in-store or online shopping environment, product selection, prices, convenience, personal service, customer promotions, product display, etc.

Retailers also benefit from carrying the branded products customers want. Brand-marketing support from retailers or manufacturers can help attract more customers (ideally ones who normally don’t frequent an establishment). For example, a customer who truly values organic brands might decide to visit a Babies R Us to shop for organic household cleaners that are safe to use around babies. This customer might have learned that a company called BabyGanics, which brands itself as making “safe, effective, natural household solutions,” was only available at this particular retailer.