No matter how strongly we want the world to stick by the quote, “never judge the book by its cover”, people do it every day. Yes, it’s true, especially regarding the food they eat. Humans are 90% visual creatures, so it is a fundamental behaviour to get attracted to visuals that appeal to the eyes. You ought to hit all the right points when designing your product packaging. You may be surprised that thousands of food products land on the market yearly, but about 90% fail to survive. Even new ventures backed by big organisations or well-known brands miss hitting the mark.
Ever thought about what happened with these products?
The product itself plays a significant role, or it might be the launch time that decides a product’s fate. But mostly, a poor and ineffective packaging design also is the reason for failure as it can negatively impact the customer’s behaviour. You know, Just the sight of a particular product can stimulate the appetite in people if packaging design is made in that way.
Your new product launch’s packaging, marketing, and advertising are all crucial components that benefit from intelligent design. Your food brand can educate and tempt customers while capturing their minds and emotions with the proper packaging design. You and your design team must pay close attention to every small detail, starting with the initial product concept and ending with the verbal and visual messaging.
FMGC is a fast-moving industry, and turnover quickly. The competition here never rests. Everyone is constantly trying to knock out their competitors by improving their product, rolling out creative campaigns that create a song brand image and whatnot! According to a recent survey, 7 in 10 consumers agree that food packaging design influenced their buying decision. That brings us to the main question, can food packaging design make packed food more desirable? To know the answer to this question, you will have to learn about the importance of food packaging design. Throughout the blog, we will discuss the importance of a thoughtful food packaging design for the FMGC industry.
Why is food packaging design important?
Food packaging is often considered the ultimate great wall of defence composed to protect the food content. That is why we only sometimes see brands taking time to think and strategise a good packaging design because it is just a protective layer that will eventually go down the drain. Initially, it was used to preserve the product’s contents, but that’s not the case anymore. It also plays other vital roles in marketing, but silently and subtly. Product packaging design is equally important as the different elements of the production because it’s the crux of marketing and your means to communicate with the audience trolleying through the stores. You can call it your ‘silent salesman.
A well-planned, original, and appealing packaging design encourages people to make snap decisions, avoids reflective thought, and gives the buyer a sense of reward. Well, that’s a powerful impact, isn’t it?
Food packaging design determines more things for your brand than you would expect. How the food is packaged will pick how proficiently it can be shipped, how efficiently the seller will shelve it, and ultimately how they appeal to the target audience that shop from those sellers.
Packaging can seal the deal.
The consumer has picked your product, and the last thing that will grab their attention before making the final purchase is the copy on your packaging. So, it is on you to determine if this text will educate the buyer about the product or will fascinate you with a simple yet strong claim. Then create a message and decide if it can accomplish it. You can discuss your goals with the designer to determine if the design can communicate your message from the store shelf. If you are still waiting to see this happening, it’s time to redesign your food packaging design.
Reinforces your brand
Making sure you’re consistently reinforcing your brand is one of the most crucial aspects of food packaging design, whether it’s for your website, your business cards, and of course, your product packaging. Your consumers will be able to remember your brand more quickly the more frequently they interact with your logo, corporate colours, and even your firm’s motto. Customers need an average of 5-7 “impressions” of your brand before they know and remember it. However, a customer’s perception of a brand is formed in under a second. Therefore, maintaining brand consistency across physical and digital assets is crucial for building brand recognition, and packaging design helps you do that.
Reflect quality
Your product’s packaging directly reflects what’s inside of it. Packaging can aid buyers in forming associations about the type of “experience” that those who purchase your items will have. Customers have seen virtually every kind of packaging, but companies still go above and beyond to make their packaging something special and unique to the market. Creativity is undoubtedly critical and can even make or break industrial success. As Andrew Barraclough, Vice President of Design at GlaxoSmithKline, explains, “Creativity is the lifeblood of brands… With so many messages being bombarded at consumers, powerful creative work is the only way to cut through, personalise, and delight.”
Influence of Food packaging design on consumer behaviour
The quality of the product is directly correlated with the packaging. Additionally, it influences how a product is seen on the shelf. Because of this, marketers must incorporate all possible buying effects into the whole package. A potential customer’s attention is drawn to particular items on the shelf depending on aesthetic factors, including colour, typeface, brightness, and other visuals. Products that are packaged attractively are examined further, and the competition has already been reduced. In the consumer’s mind, perpetual processes and calculations of economic value coexist in parallel. Together, these factors impact how the final choice is made.
Can packaging design make food more desirable?
Whether it’s a mocktail that arrives warm or hot soup that comes cold, or an unattractive, messy food product packaging design, all three have the same effect on the consumer’s mind — it makes the meal less appealing. The only difference between fresh and packed food is that packed food comes with a preview. Another vital role that food packaging design plays is that it gives a glimpse of what’s inside. It is entirely up to you what picture your customers will draw about your product. Your food packaging is loaded with good food; you’ve won half battle right there. The remaining battle is about convincing consumers that something delicious is waiting for them inside. Who can do that? Of course, your packaging design. An attractive packaging has the power to make the onlooker fall in love with it, just at first glance.
Takeaway
After understanding the importance of food packaging design, we hope you can decide whether it can make the food look more desirable. Even if you want to test the impact of packaging design on consumers, get in touch with our team to redesign your packaging and see the difference immediately.
