5 Innovative Brand Packaging Solutions

Is your brand keeping up with the latest packaging innovations?

Since the explosion in popularity of eCommerce over the past few years, brands have been forced to start thinking outside the box to stay competitive. From cardboard shortages to the overuse of plastic for everyday food items, businesses across all sectors constantly face an array of challenges to meet the needs of their customers, act sustainably and showcase their products.

With so many obstacles in the way of generating sales, more and more innovative brand packaging solutions have surfaced, inspiring companies and consumers alike to become more creative with their approach to packaging their products. So how can you utilise these innovative design ideas to create your bespoke packaging solutions?

1. Use Colour to Your Advantage

Colour is a primary factor to consider when creating your brand’s packaging. Studies have shown that 75% of consumers make snap decisions based on colour, so it’s incredibly important to make sure your colour palette aligns with the kind of product you’re selling.

Humans have an incredible capacity to associate colours with emotions, subconsciously or consciously making internal links between products and services according to the colour of the branding.

For example, if your brand offers a product that intends to calm and soothe your customers, soft blue and white hues are more likely to give your customers feelings of tranquillity and peace. Red, orange and black tones will evoke different emotions entirely and are commonly associated with passion, energy, excitement and desire. Use your colour palette wisely to create cohesive branding.

2. Consider the Customer’s Experience

Unboxing experiences are incredibly useful. They can help create an unforgettably positive customer experience, but customers have come to expect a satisfying unpacking experience to accompany their much-awaited purchases. Global tech giant Apple became a pioneer of the unboxing experience with their super-slick iPhone packaging, so there’s some stiff competition that set the bar pretty high.

So what does this mean for your brand’s packaging? It means that you need to create a customer journey that allows anyone who’s purchased your product to take pleasure in every moment they spend engaging with your brand. From the moment they lay their eyes on your packaging to using the product itself, it all needs to be a smooth experience.

You can enhance this experience by using cardboard boxes with tear-away strips to make accessing your products easy, while custom rigid boxes boost the aesthetic appeal of your packaging with full-scale internal and external branding.

3. Think beyond the Packaging Itself

Part of generating customer loyalty and advocacy is being able to consider every aspect of the customer journey. This means that having great external packaging can help boost your brand awareness, making it an integral part of your marketing strategy, but going beyond will give your customers something special to share with their friends and family — essentially, this is just a network of other potential customers.

Once your customer has opened your package, it’s what’s inside that’ll score crucial points with your consumer base. A grateful message for their purchase, a fact about your eco-friendly packaging or even something humorous can establish a vital connection between you and your customer, helping to strengthen your relationship with the customer and build brand loyalty. 

A small, inexpensive gift is also a great way of showing your brand’s thoughtfulness, going beyond what’s expected of your product. A complimentary branded nail file included with the sale of an ergonomic keyboard is a good example of how something small but significant can make a lasting impression on your customers.

4. Showcase Your Product with Your Packaging

Creating a small window in your packaging allows your customers to see exactly what they’re purchasing. Not only can this help build trust with your customers, allowing them to see exactly what they’re purchasing, but it can also be used in conjunction with other creative ideas to pique the interest of retail or online shoppers.

If you need to offer your products more protection, you can showcase your products using a transparent acetate window built into your packaging. This helps to keep your merchandise protected from the environment while allowing your customers to see past the external packaging to view your product. Our in-house design team can help you incorporate these kinds of design aspects into your packaging, as well as a whole host of other cool packaging ideas to help you gain traction with your customers.

Similarly, if your products have a second layer of internal packaging, you can simply include a gap in your packaging to make your products visible to your customers. This is especially useful if you have attractive or aesthetically pleasing products, but it works equally well for food packaging, allowing you to show off your tasty treats.

5. Maximise the Efficiency of Your Packaging

Although Apple may have revolutionised the way we think about packaging, they may have taken their minimalist approach a step too far with the divisive AirPods Max case. It caused a stir amongst loyal customers due to its minimal design that offers very little protection for such an expensive product.

How much is too much — or too little — packaging? Businesses that overpackage their products risk losing customers, but it’s equally important to ensure that products have the necessary protection. This is where clever, efficient packaging can win customers, protect the planet by preserving its resources and showcase your innovative brand packaging solutions.

Using natural, eco-friendly materials like cardboard can help reduce excess packaging due to cardboard’s inherent strength and durability, not to mention its biodegradable properties. A custom design can also help you get the right dimensions for your products, optimising the amount of space between your product and the external packaging to minimise the likelihood of damage in transit.

Bespoke Packaging Solutions for Your Business

Whether you’re an eCommerce business or you’re retailing your products in-store, standing out from the crowd with innovative packaging can set you apart from the competition. Using eco-friendly packaging can help your business win more environmentally conscious customers, and custom packaging designs can revolutionise the way you market your products.

With so many options to get creative with your branded packaging, it’s easier than ever to get your packaging do the hard work for you. Effective packaging can help generate sales, save on packaging costs and reduce waste, not to mention how innovative packaging design could start reshaping your business’s marketing strategy. The opportunities are endless, so start thinking about how your brand packaging solutions could start inspiring others today. 

Need inspiration for your next packaging adventure? Why not get in touch with our friendly design team and get a free custom design quote? Let us help you realise your vision for your new, innovative packaging solution.