8. The ABCs of Effective Packaging Design

Effective packaging design works hard to sell your product so you can spend your time in other parts of your business. In this episode, we’re breaking down a simple framework for making design decisions for product packaging. We’ll cover:

• What are the ABCs of packaging design?

• How to make design decisions from your customer’s perspective

• Why someone needs to be able to identify your product from 15 feet away

• What customers are REALLY buying when they purchase a product

• That thing about packaging design that is hard to put your finger on

• Kelley reveals the product she just bought because the brand used the ABCs of Packaging Design

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.

Episode Transcript

 Welcome back. This is our first episode back after the holidays. I hope everyone had a great, happy, healthy holiday season. Hope you got to spend some time with friends and family and even get a little downtime in.

I definitely tried to, but I'm so excited to be back. I've got, a really great topic for you today. I wanna talk to you about some principles that I use when I am designing packaging for my clients and for the brands that I work on.

These principles really work as sort of a framework that we can use to make decisions about design choices within your packaging, which is really awesome because sometimes it can be really easy to get caught up in our own personal preferences about what we like and what we don't like when we're designing packaging.

It's so important for your packaging to be working hard for your business. One of my goals, anytime I am working on packaging with a client is to make sure that that packaging is effective. And to me, effective means it is functional. It is selling the product for them to increase sales. You want to get your products into the hands of customers, and your packaging is one tool to do that.

if your packaging is beautiful, but it's not doing its job, or it's not legible, then it's not being effective and it's not working hard for your business. And I always want the packaging to be working hard for your business so that you don't have to spend as much time talking about your product, explaining your product, or selling your product because your packaging is helping to sell your product for you.

I've got three principles for you today. I like to call them the ABCs of packaging design, and that's because they are A, B, and C. They are all about inviting shoppers in to engage with your package, and with your product, and then giving customers what they need to choose your product.

ABCs of packaging design are focused on your customer first so that they can be used as a filter to make all of those design decisions. It means that you're no longer just having to listen to your gut and it really can make sure that your decisions are really focused on that end result of getting sales.

Because when you're designing packaging, just like when you're designing anything else, the sky's the limit and you have all the choices because there's not a right or wrong answer. This is not formulaic. This is not one plus one equals two. This is an expression of your brand, an expression of your product, and that means that there are a bunch of different ways to do it.

Isn't it great that we have a tool that can help us filter those choices and decisions down a little bit? And yes, there are some things that you definitely have to include in your packaging that isn't as much choice, right? You need to meet the regulations. You have to include some specific communication about what the product is, what its weight or quantity is, where the product's manufactured, and who is selling it.

Yeah, you have to do that. But how you communicate those things and the rest of your messaging around your product, you have so much freedom in that. And that can be a little overwhelming. It can lead to that analysis paralysis where you want to see all of the options available. It can lead to rethinking things.

If you're a perfectionist like me, it can cause you to kind of stop before you start. having a framework that helps you make decisions, makes the process a bit easier. And the ABCs of Packaging is just one framework that can work in conjunction with your goals and your branding to create a design that is just as effective as it is beautiful.

So let's break it down,

A is for Attracting Attention

A is for attracting attention, In store, you have less than eight seconds to attract the shopper's attention and tell the product story. And in all honesty, I think that number gets shorter every year. It might even be closer to between two and five seconds now. In the age of the internet, our attention span has been dwindling and shortened.

What you put on the front of the package has to grab somebody's eye quickly. And the other thing is you want to make sure that from 15 feet away, a customer can tell what your product is.

Now you might say, Hey, I'm only selling online. Fun fact. The same rule applies because whether your product is on a shelf and somebody, it's catching somebody's eye from 15 feet away to draw them in, or it's on screen and it's showing up as your main image on Amazon, where it's gonna be a teeny tiny little postage stamp.

Your design needs to work on that smaller scale at a small scale our eye needs to be able to see that package and understand what it is before we see the detail in the design, before we see the detail in the messaging. how can you show shoppers what your product is quickly? Well, there are a couple of ways we can do this.

First, choose a packaging format commonly associated with the type of product you sell for consumables for skincare, beauty, lotions, and foods, this is one of the best tools that you have. choose a type of package that is commonly associated with that type of product. And when we see it, because we're so used to seeing it, your customers will immediately know what that product is.

let's say you're selling a lotion. A body lotion, you put that in a bottle with a pump top, and immediately without even reading the label, customers will know that is a lotion or a body care item versus you put something in a standup tube, a smaller standup tube, and customers will see that and immediately know that it is a skincare item.

The next thing you can do is choose a packaging container that protects the product and creates a presence. when we put products in boxes, which we have to do for some things. I've designed cookware in the past that needs to go in a box.

I just was working with a client that's got a garden item that needs to go in a box because it's got multiple pieces. When you have that box, ensure that you have the biggest side of that box being used as the front display panel. Because then you've got the most amount of room to include visuals. Then you use really strong visuals that show either the product or the benefit. You have choices there, right? More choices and this will depend on your type of product.

And we'll talk more about that in a little bit. And then the third thing that you can do is if your product is something that when somebody looks at it, they immediately understand what it is, like let's say a dinner plate or a bath towel, and it is so durable that it doesn't need to be in a box or in a container.

You can actually put that product on the shelf or in the photo as what's commonly called open stock. Without a package, you'll still have to, you'll still have to put something on it, whether it's a hang tag or a sticker or a belly band to communicate what it is and pricing and UPC and all your regulatory stuff, but you don't have to hide it in a box.

Now, one note of caution. It will be so tempting to try and put everything on the front of the box, but this is counter to what you're trying to do in attracting attention. The simpler the primary display panel, that front of the package, the more your product will stand out in-store and on screen. And the more it stands out, the more it's gonna register as new, and the more it's going to attract attention.

You wanna be really selective and only include what is needed on the front of the package. And I'll leave you with this quote by Coco Chanel. Cause I think that this really sums up the idea of how you want to design a front panel to attract attention. She has famously been quoted as saying "Before, you leave the house, look in the mirror and take one thing off." Before you finalize your packaging, look at the front of it and take one thing off.

Do you miss it? Does your customer miss it? So think about that. That's all about attracting attention.

B is for Brag About The Benefits

Next up, B is for brag about benefits. And features. Now, typically when people talk about benefits and features, they say it the other way around features and benefits, because a feature is a thing and the benefit is what somebody gets. But we're putting this through the lens of the customer, and customers want to know what they're getting. What do they get out of your product? Not just the thing, but what does the thing do for me? Customers buy what your product can do for them, not necessarily the thing itself. So are you leading with the transformation that your product brings to your customers in the store?

It's important that the packaging can sell the product. You've got product images, descriptions, A+ content, and reviews on Amazon, but in-store you just have the packaging. You can't count on a sales associate or a boutique owner to explain your product and sell your product for you. Just because you don't have that support in-store doesn't mean that you have to overload the packaging with all of the content.

It just means you have to be intentional about what you high. Remember what we were just talking about with the attract attention.

Again, I know it's super tempting to load every feature into your product packaging. You've spent all of this time developing the product. You've put all of these extra details into your product, you've spent time thinking about them, and you've paid for them. a lot of times I hear, I wanna get credit for what I paid for in this product.

I want the product to get credit for every piece of material and every development idea. Every ingredient. Guess what? Customers don't. They are not looking at your soap and tallying up all of the ingredients, molds, and time spent to get to the value of the product. They're not looking at that and then going, yes, I think that that soap should cost $7. They might do that if your design is bad or if they're not feeling sure.

Really, if somebody's looking to buy your soap, they want a soap that fills, that need, that function, and maybe even that desire. That need function or desire is the benefit to the shopper. That is why you need to brag about the benefit. The features just support that benefit.

In an upcoming episode, we talked with Laura of dotted design and she broke down some e-commerce ideas. And in particular, she is talking about defining the problem that your product solves for customers. definitely when that episode comes out, tune in because we're gonna have more details about talking about the benefits of products, about transformations.

So I'll just leave you with this question for this, for this particular principle is how can you show rather than tell what your product does for your customer?

Because again, you wanna connect with them very quickly. You wanna show it very quickly. So how can you show, rather than tell what the benefit of your product is to your customer?

All right, so we've attracted their attention, that means we've drawn them in. We've bragged about the benefits, which means we've, laid that foundation of like, this is what your product is and this is what it's gonna do for you.

C is for Connect to Convert

The last piece of this puzzle is C Connect to Convert. And we talked about this upfront, your main goal is to get people to buy your product. In other words, convert. You wanna include elements in your design that resonate with shoppers. Now, what does that mean to resonate with a shopper? You are looking to create recognition, memorability, and an emotional pull so strong shoppers don't want to leave without your product, or if they do leave without your product, you want them to remember it and return for it.

Personally, I like to shop by a principal of do I love it. If I just like it and I don't need it, I'm gonna walk away and see if, you know, an hour from now, a day from now.

I'm like, well, I'm still thinking about that. Oh, I think I would actually love that. And a lot of people do a similar thing. It's like you feel your needs first, and then your wants.

What you're doing with Connect to Convert is you're looking to create a little bit of want in addition to letting customers know that you know, they can trust you and they can build a relationship with you as a brand and as a maker.

When shoppers have multiple options, if we back up and we talk about things that are needed they buy based on personal preference, and they will choose a brand or product with which they feel the strongest relationship. And relationships are built on a lot of things, right? So your relationship with your customers can be built around common values, style, trust, and reliability.

You want to look at how can you create a connection with your customers. How can you express your brand's personality and values and reliability and trust? How can you express those things through the packaging design? And that connection can really be created through the combination of graphics, messaging, and or positioning.

This is the art of packaging design. this is that kind of alchemy, the thing where it's hard to put your finger on. This is the part where it's definitely not a formula. It's definitely not math. It's not even logical. When we design packaging, when you design packaging for your products, you want there to be kind of a visceral emotional reaction. And when customers have that, it will create that pull and it doesn't take much to do it. And for each brand, for each product, it's gonna be something different.

Really knowing who you are as a brand, what you stand for, what you wanna do for your customers, what your values are. Having a sense of all of those things is super important because we'll infuse that into the design to connect to convert.

One of the questions I love to ask my clients when we are starting a packaging design project is, how do you want someone to feel when they see your product and your package? And I always get such interesting answers to this, but ultimately the idea of feeling can be a great guide in terms of connecting with your ideal customers and shoppers.

All right, if you follow me on Instagram, you know that I do a Friday Instagram live series called Fab or Fail. They are packaging review of items that I found in the market, where I do a quick review of the packaging, how it looks in person on screen, and give it a fab or fail rating. Last week I talked about the Flamingo Shave Kit and how the positioning of that product that was expressed through its packaging influenced me to buy it. and when I broke that down in the review, I outlined these principles. I talked about how they attracted my attention with large, intentional graphics and photos. They bragged about the benefits, which in the case of this particular shave kit was around value. And they connected with me by showing me that they saw me as a person and not a piggy bank.

They positioned their pricing to be the same as their sibling brand, Harry's shave kit of the same piece count. Which is not the norm for that category of product. The norm for the category of shaving products for women is that most shaving products for women have a pink tax and are priced higher than men's products.

Their graphics pulled me in. Their benefit of value laid the foundation. And then when I realized that their positioning was equal to the men's. We talked about earlier, positioning can be expressed in a bunch of different ways, but in this case, they had a position that was expressed through their price point, which was at Costco. It's presented right up against the display between the value of the same piece count and the same price point as the men's.

I felt really great about purchasing this product. I didn't feel like I was purchasing it just because I needed it. I didn't feel like I was purchasing it and kind of like reluctantly handing over my dollars. I felt good.

I felt so good that I shared it in this Instagram live last week. Think about that the next time you are out shopping and you're making the decision to buy a particular product, look at how that package attracted your attention, bragged about the benefits, and then how did it connect with you to convert to get you to buy if you have a minute, go back, watch that fiber fail video. I think that was a really good breakdown and example of these principles.

And as I mentioned at the top of the episode, the ABCs of packaging design is a really simple framework to ensure that your packaging design is driving maximum results for your business.

This is a framework that when used as a filter for your design decisions, you can feel really confident that you're going to see the results of sales. Now, if that is something that you're interested in diving deeper in.

And as I mentioned at the top of the episode, the ABCs of packaging design is a really simple framework to ensure that your packaging design is driving maximum results for your business.

This is a framework that when used as a filter for your design decisions, you can feel really confident that you're going to see the results of sales. Now, if that is something that you're interested in diving deeper into. If you are interested in taking a look at your own packaging and seeing how it's working up against this framework. To get a sense of how it's attracting attention, how it's bragging about benefits, and how it's connecting to convert. I am hosting my very first packaging review party. It's Tuesday, January 24th. It is going to be live via Zoom at 1:00 PM Central Time.

We are capping it to eight participants. So it's gonna be a really, intimate group-style workshop, and it's gonna be so fun. if you come, you are going to get to connect with the other product-based business owners.

There you are gonna get 10 minutes of live hot seat-style packaging feedback from me. It'll be similar to the Fab or Fail reviews that I do, except you're not gonna get a Fab or Fail rating. Don't worry about that. You're gonna get to connect and you will also get my packaging audit framework.

Again, we're capping at eight seats. It is $49. It will be a 90-minute zoom call, and you will get lots of great feedback. And then we'll also send you the replay so you don't have to worry about taking notes.

if you're interested in joining the party, head on over to hiddenpathcreative.com/packaging-review-party. I would love to see you there.

Thank you so much 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 on Apple Podcasts.

Every review and rating helps us get seen by other great business owners like yourself. And if there are any particular tips that really resonated with you from this episode, please share it with a friend. Again, we just wanna share this with as many product-based business owners as possible to ensure that you're able to sell more products and grow your business.

Be sure to join us next time. Until then, this is Kelly Kempel of Hidden Path Creative. And don't forget what's on the outside matters.