2. The Power of Packaging

Hi, and welcome to Product Packaging and Profit, where we help product-based businesses turn packaging design into a competitive edge to attract customers, grow sales, and boost profits.

I'm Kelley Kempel, After 20 years of designing packaging for national retailers, I founded Hidden Path Creative, a graphic design studio that supports entrepreneurs with branding and packaging to get their products seen and sold. I'm sharing the secrets that launched big brands so your products can stand out.  Let's get started.

This episode of Product Packaging and Profit is sponsored by the Packaging Printer List.

If there is one question I've heard from almost every product entrepreneur I've talked to, it is, where can I get my packaging printed?

No, really, If we were on Family Feud, this would be the answer at the top of the board. The Packaging Printer list is a curated directory of over 45 packaging printers and suppliers across various product categories, packaging types, and locations.

I've handpicked all of the entries so you can be sure you're starting with a vetted shortlist. To grab your copy of the packaging printer list, head over to www.hiddenpathcreative.com/packagingprinterlist.

Welcome back, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me again. Today, I want to chat a bit about the power of packaging.

So here at Product Packaging and Profit, we are going to be talking about that intersection between product, packaging, and profit.

How have, how these three pieces of your business intersected, and really how packaging and branding can help support your product, tell your story, and lead to a more profitable business?

But when it comes to packaging, I think that you know, a lot of times I meet with clients or I speak with other business owners, and the question, there are questions around, when should I start my packaging?

What can packaging do for me? And really, a lot of times packaging gets thought of as kind of the end of a process.

You've gone through all of the steps to create your product, to meet with suppliers and manufacturers, or to either figure out your handmade process to get your product made and then right before you want to launch your product, the question is, Okay, wait, I need packaging.

Wait, how am I gonna package this and get, it and get it out? That's not everybody, but I do find that a lot of times the packaging is kind of that, that last checkbox on the list before your product's going out the door.

And the packaging, really, can be more of a strategic element in your product. It can be more of a part of your product, something that's a bit more integrated with your product.

And we'll talk a little bit about it, there are some categories of products where the packaging is very integral to the product, where the packaging very much becomes a representation of the product, if not the product itself.

So thinking about your packaging earlier on in the process,  you don't need to think about it as early as when you're just coming up with the idea for the product, but I would say that you wanna think about your packaging before you start your full production run on your product.

And there are a few reasons for that, but ultimately, you can leverage your packaging better, and you can integrate it more with your product if you start your packaging early.

But why do you wanna think about your, your packaging like that? That's the first question. Why? Because what can it do for you

So that's what I really wanna break down in this episode. and there are three key things that you're packaging can do for you to help build your brand and support your product.

So the first and foremost, and maybe even the most obvious is connecting with customers. So you're making your product, you're selling your product, and you want your packaging to tell your story and resonate with those people that you want to buy your product.

Now you have so many tools when you have packaging to connect with those customers and attract those customers, but ultimately, when you have an idea of who is gonna buy your product and you outline an ideal customer profile, or maybe two ideal customer profiles, I wouldn't go more than two because you know, one of the things that's really important is having clarity around who you are speaking to, so you can speak really singularly to create that connection.

So I say speak, and I'm using a lot of words, but your packaging is very visual, right? So let's say I'm gonna, I'm gonna start with a skincare product because skincare and beauty is definitely a category where the packaging becomes synonymous with the product.

And part of that has to do with the fact that that product doesn't really exist outside of that packaging. That packaging makes that product tangible and gives it an identity. Yes, if you're using a moisturizer, a cream, a serum, yes, that, that exists outside of that packaging, but think about how people use it.

You know you buy, you buy a new moisturizer, it's sitting on your counter in the packaging, you, you dispense it from the packaging to apply it to your body or to your face. But that product always exists in that packaging. So that packaging becomes synonymous with the product. 

So you want to make sure that that packaging is something that the customer is attracted to, that they feel like it represents them or represents something that they want to be, and that it like fits in with their life because it's gonna sit on their counter, it's gonna sit in their bathroom.

You definitely want to have that connection. So, you know, when you come up with these ideal customer profiles, you're not, you're going to look at, okay, who is this person around?

How old are they? Where do they live? What is their family like? What are they interested in? But that's gonna allow you to go a little bit deeper.

What are their hobbies? What's there, what's their aesthetic like? Are they somebody that's drawn to more of like the farmhouse decor? Are they drawn to something that's a little more con, a little more modern, contemporary? And then you can draw in some influences from the other things that they're seeing to infuse into the packaging.

And it might be a color palette, or it might be a design element. You're not gonna go all the way into their interior design, but you can pull cues from those elements to connect with your ideal customer.

So knowing the things that they're looking at in their everyday life, knowing, you know, the podcasts that they're listening to and how they are speaking to their friends so that the copy that you're using in your packaging feels like something your customer would say, or is a statement that your customer responds to.

So, you know, you've got, you've got all these things. So you've got your design elements to use to connect with customers. You've got your color palette, you've got your copy, and your messaging. 

You've gotta put features, because here's the thing, a lot of times we make these great products and, I can't tell you how many times I've met with product developers or clients, and I hear that this product can do these 10 different things.

And that's wonderful. I love that a product is so versatile and so multifaceted, but it's hard to create a message that gives prominence to all the 10 things that your product can do.

However, if I pick one main thing your product can do and then support it with three features that ladder up to that same result, then I've got a really strong and powerful message. So if you know your customer and you know what they care about, let's go back to the skincare example.

Let's say that you know, that your customer is dealing with, let's say sensitive skin, so you know that sensitive skin is really important to them. Then we're gonna pull out the kind of like the, you know, three things that are really important to somebody with sensitive skin that we're, if we're talking about a moisturizer, we definitely wanna make sure they know that it moisturizes. Still, we also want them to know that it is for their sensitive skin and that it's either not going to aggravate their skin or it's gonna make their skin better in some way.

So I'm gonna pick those things that really support that story versus if I have the same product and there's a few other things that we didn't highlight immediately on the packaging, you know, so we might pick out a few different things if a customer has, if the primary customer has a different concern.

And so just definitely keep that in mind. Definitely, you know, think about who you're talking to because that connection point that really makes what your product does and how it works super clear to the person that is going to buy it is going to make all the difference.

All right, so that was the first, point on the power of packaging, connecting with the customer. The second thing that you're packaging can do for your product is it can make your product stand out from the competition, and not just stand out from the competition, but compete with the competition.

So again, this might seem obvious, but, the product landscape is a little crowded in some areas, right? Again, I was just talking about skincare, that skincare, the skincare market, there are lots of new entries into that market every day.

And so when you put something new out into an existing category like that, you want a way for your product to set apart from everybody else that's in the category.

And at the same time, you want your product to feel legitimate. You want your product to feel like it has the credentials, the quality, and the effectiveness to be on the shelf or be on the screen next to brands that have already been out on the market for a while.

So this, again, is where packaging can help. The packaging does make a product feel real, it does make a product feel legitimate.

So a lot of times be better designed, or the more cues from a category that a product picks up into its packaging, the more that product feels like it's been out for longer than it has already been, or that it feels effective.

So a way to kind of talk about this,  I'll continue to use my skincare example. When we look at the kind of like those mid, those mid-price skincare items, I'm talking about your serums, your moisturizers.

If you look at like, say your lower-cost drugstore brands, you've gone into a Walgreens, a lot of those products, they're just in what we call their primary packaging.

So they are just in a package that contains the formula of the cream, the serum, and that's it.  once you start to move up in price point, you go to Sephora, you start shopping those kinds of next step-up price points on Amazon, and those products are coming in a box.

So that primary package, that primary tube, that, bottle, it's gonna come in an outer paper package. That outer paper package immediately signifies to the customer that that product is clean, new, and a little better because it's pr because the brand has taken the step to protect the product in a paper package.

And that's not something that if you asked a customer, they would immediately be able to tell you. It's a psychological trick.

So when you, anytime you're entering a new product category or you've got a new product and you're, you're about to launch, you wanna take a look at what is going on in that category.

And if there are certain, if there, if you see something that is happening across the board. So mid-tier beauty, the products are coming in a paper box or you know, in the particular category that I'm looking at, everybody is using a similar color palette or everybody is using,  a logo and then a larger product message or icons for their features.

You wanna look at those things and take note of them. That's what I do as a, packaging designer, when I'm doing marketing on it for a client, I'm gonna look and see, okay, what are some of the common things that are happening in this category?

Because those common things are things that now customers are conditioned to expect when shopping for this category of product. And so customers, when they, when they see those things, it is familiar because they've been conditioned to see them.

So let's say I'm looking at a product category and everybody's using icons for their features on the front of the package, and I'm working on a package for a client, I'm gonna suggest to that client that we include icons for their features because it will be familiar to the client or to the customer, to the shopper, but at the same time, I'm gonna do it differently so that it really relates to the brand that I'm working on.

And so that part can stand out, but at the same time, it's gonna feel like a legitimate product to the shopper.

They're gonna see this new product, we're gonna designed it to stand out, but then there's gonna be some elements that feel familiar so that they immediately have a sense of trust for this new product that is on the shelf or on the screen.

So that is number two on the power of packaging. Packaging can help your product stand out while helping it to feel like the credible product that it is.

Okay, number three, on the power of packaging, packaging can elevate the price of a product. <affirmative> Did, did you just do a double-take there?

Because this is one of those things that I find super interesting.  you have so many options when you are designing packaging from not just the, not just visual design, not just messaging, not just colors, not just what graphics to choose.

But as a designer, one of the reasons why packaging is so exciting is because you get to choose materials and finishes.

Okay, wait, what do I mean by materials and finishes?, so you've got paperboard packaging. A lot of us are familiar with paperboard packaging, but you've got all sorts of different papers. You can choose colored papers, you can choose recycled papers, you can choose metallic papers, and that's where things get fun. 

A lot of times clients will come to me and they'll have seen metallic papers or foils.  it's particularly prevalent in product categories where there are a lot of, different price points and a lot of times when the product itself isn't visible or the benefit isn't visible, so beauty's a key category where you see that.

But another one is golf balls. So when I worked at Dick's Sporting Goods, I did a lot of golf ball packaging, and it was so fun because you got to include foil materials, raised printing, indented printing, all sorts of different textures. And those are kind of the visual bells and whistles. These different materials, these different textures, these different finishing techniques, these are the bells and whistles that make a product feel luxurious and expensive.

So if you're looking at a product category like beauty or golf balls where you can't see the product, and even if you could see the product, you can't visibly tell the difference between the product.

You know, an opening price point, golf ball, and a Titlist golf ball that a box of 12 costs $50 when you put them side by side on your hand, they look about the same.

They've got a different logo on them, but they've got the same amount of dimples. And yes, there's something inside of them that might be different, but you can't really tell that. So the packaging tells that story. And so by adding in the more expensive paper, and the more expensive foil, finishing those cues tell customers that your product is worth a higher price.

They see the detail that has been put into that packaging. And so again, it's a psychological queue. Somebody's not necessarily gonna look at your product and say, Well, it's worth an extra $10 because there's a foil stamp on the front, but they might still pay an extra $10 and not realize that it's because you've positioned your product to be more luxurious, to be better, to be elevated than the product next to it because you are showing that through the packaging.

Beauty is definitely one of those, those places where it's,  another big, elevation through packaging. So again, we go back to this drug store versus altar Sephora example. And you know, when you go into Walgreens to shop for us a face moisturizer, you're not gonna see a whole lot of specialty paper.

You're not gonna see a whole lot of these foils and shine bells and whistles on the tubes or on the paper packaging. You might see a little bit of it. And typically you would see that at the products that are, and a little higher on that, that price range.

But when you walk into an Ulta, Sephora, you can definitely see that. And now these things change with the trends, right?

The materials show that elevated price points are gonna change with trends. So there, there is some, there are some products right now more in the beauty space where there's more, there's a little more color in those elevated price points, but they're also using like a very luxurious matte soft touch finish.

And you may not know what it's called, but as soon as I'm just, it's that it almost, it looks like a beautiful soft velvet. Like you wanna reach out and touch it just to see how soft it feels. And I mean, yeah, once you've touched it and you go, Okay, this, this feels great, I wonder how the product is.

So it's drawing you in. And then, because it is special and because the finish and the quality of the packaging is something that you haven't seen before, it can signify to you that that product is worth you pulling out your debit card for. So packaging definitely has the ability to queue two customers that your product is worth every penny that you're asking for.

And, you know, it's so interesting to see that. And you know, on the flip side of that, that's why stores are a great example of this. You know, go into a, go into a store and maybe look at a product that hasn't, that hasn't sold through as well.

Take a look at of some of the boxes. If the boxes are looking a little dinged up, customers tend to pick up the products off the shelf that have the nicer, cleaner, newer-looking packaging because again, it's a psychological psychologically signals to the customer that that product is new, it's clean and it hasn't been used.

And we, we, we all, when we're shopping, we all want to feel like we are the first person purchasing the item. We don't wanna feel like we are purchasing, something that somebody returned or something that was used, or something that fell off the truck.

So having packaging that always looks clean where you've invested in a material that's gonna resist denting and nicks and maybe has a special finish, whether it's your foil or a nice spot gloss or that beautiful soft touch look and feel, those things will all, support your customers spending more on your products.

All right, so let's, so let's recap. There are three really powerful things that packaging can do for your product and for your brand.

Number one, packaging can connect with your customers. It can help create that personal relationship, that personal connection to your brand, to your product. That is the thing that will get the customer to purchase and get them to come back.

Number two, product packaging will position your product as a credible item and set it apart from existing competition. Infusing cues that are familiar to shoppers of the same category so that they feel familiar with your product will make your product feel credible while doing it in your own way is what will set you apart from the competition.

And number three, packaging can help elevate your price. Spending a little extra where it matters in the material, in the finishes, or in the design can help signify to customers that your product is worth more and that they should pull out their debit card and buy.

This is why I am so passionate about packaging design because I know that packaging can design, can do all three of these things for your products and so much more. And at the same time, customers will never tell you these things because they don't always even know. Shopping is such an emotional thing.

And, you know, we all, we all make a lot of these decisions subconsciously and in the moment. So we don't always necessarily re-remember or think that the packaging was that big of an influence when really it has the ability to really, really do all these things can, it can really, it can really get your product sold.

All right, so that is a wrap on the power of packaging. Thank you for listening to Product Packaging and Profit, a podcast for product entrepreneurs looking to level up with packaging.

We hope you'll join us next time to hear more about how packaging can help propel profitable product businesses. If you enjoyed the show, please rate and review us wherever you're listening. And be sure to come back in two weeks for our next episode. 

Until then, this is Kelley Kempel of Hidden Path Creative. And don't forget what's on the outside matters too.