You only have a few seconds to catch the shopper’s attention, so what are you going to do with your packaging to not only catch their attention, but to get them to want to buy your product?

Jim George from Shelf Impact came up with 5 labeling ideas to solve marketing challenges:

1. Highlighting innovative shape. Kids like products that feature fun colors and design in their packaging. Clear Beverage Corp. did just this with their “Kid Fuel” naturally flavored water. They also designed the shape of the bottle to resemble a sports bottle with curves for a child’s small hands to easily grip. They also made the packaging educational. Each bottle has a quiz question and Professor Smart’s answer is revealed after the beverage is consumed and the bottle is refilled with water.
2. Sizzling as bacon’s main ‘touchpoint’. It is important for the packaging of a premium product to reflect the quality of the product. Tyson changed the packaging of their bacon by adding a label that featured a gold-outlined shield area with red, white, and gold on a blue background, while still leaving room to view the meat. The new design improved how easy it was to find and recognize the brand.
3. Encouraging participation. Campbell’s made 7.5 million special-edition labels to show the quality ingredients that they use. Along with the new label, they started a program where you enter a code online from your can to receive a free pack of tomato seeds for yourself, as well as 100 seeds for urban communities and schools.
4. Pulling double duty. Sometimes marketers have to create a package that both attracts attention, as well as protects against theft and counterfeits. Nutrex Research did this by creating a shrink-sleeve label that is both eye-appealing and protects the product from tampering.
5. Signaling cause marketing. People like companies that help people and allow the customer to help by purchasing the product. Tide showed this with their packaging for the Loads of Hope campaign. They have special yellow caps that read, “You can help”, and it features pictures of Hurricane Katrina victims on the front.

Successful packaging can lead to increased sales, monetary savings and a more positive public image. The following are some examples of packaging successes and their outcomes. Now would be a good time to take notes.

Wal-Mart – a company that is known for attracting negative publicity but has been working toward sustainability – received positive attention recently for choosing Winterborne as their packaging provider. Winterborne was awarded a Converting 2007 Innovator Award for its EnviroShell package. EnviroShell is a 90 percent recyclable and recycled clamshell and the use of this packaging product reflected positively on Wal-Mart in the news media. The take-away? Sustainable packaging has benefits for the environment and for your business image.

Vaseline recently redesigned its brand through a packaging change. Prior to the change, the brand’s identity had been lost as it expanded. Different products in the Vaseline line had different logos and package designs and there was a lack of consistency. Blue Marlin stepped in and created a consistent, attractive, brand-cohesive logo that would stand for all Vaseline products. Blue Marlin made sure that each Vaseline product included classic blue plastic lids and they put a great deal of effort into matching the color of the logo to the blue plastic lids. Vaseline is now the fastest-growing personal care brand for its parent company, Unilever. What’s the take-away here? A strong, consistent brand combined with refreshing packaging can lead to an increase in sales for your business.

Mrs. Fields revamped its retail packaging to reflect a design similar to the redesigned Mrs. Fields stores nationwide and to play on the nostalgia associated with the brand. Tempting shots of cookies adorn the new packaging, which is now more consistent with the Mrs. Fields brand. This new packaging has earned positive reactions from media sources, especially within the packaging industry, appearing in such magazines as Packaging World. The take-away? Refreshing your packaging can strengthen your brand image and generate recognition for your company!

Get to know the message behind your brand and whether your packaging reflects that. Not every product needs repackaging, but, as in these cases, refreshing your packaging may lead to positive consequences for your company and brand.

With the ever increasing popularity of USB flash drives, also known as jump drives or thumb drives, companies are coming up with more and more creative designs for these devices. Here are some that we found at Gadget4all:

Care for a flash memory shot?

This one is a mp3 player, voice recorder, AND a flash memory stick:

Like to eat/cook? There are plenty of creative food designs:

Don’t go without protecting these valuable devices. When you need to package all of your creative USB flash drives, give Sunrise a call. We can help create a custom package to go with your unique devices that can help prevent them from being lost/damaged.

(All pictures from gadget4all.com)

When customers are running through a store, they don’t have time to search through the shelves to find what they want. They want packaging to be distinctive and descriptive. Successful packaging will not only be eye-appealing and attract the customer’s attention, but it will also convey the message you are trying to send and show them what they are getting.

Here are some great descriptive packaging examples that we found:

You only have a few seconds to catch the customer’s attention. What are you going to do with your packaging to stand out on the shelf above your competition?

Christmas is still months away, but Nestle is already thinking about their seasonal packaging and going green for the holidays. In the past, chocolate makers have often been known for wasteful and unnecessary packaging, especially for special seasonal promotions. This is the new target to work on, and Nestle is going at it.

According to Food Production Daily, Nestle will be making all of its Christmas selection custom boxes fully recyclable. One change they made was removing the plastic inserts that held the chocolate bars in place and replacing them with a card presentation tray. This way, the chocolate can still be nicely displayed in the custom box and be easily recycled when you are finished with it. This is one step for Nestle to be more environmentally-friendly in their packaging to reduce waste and address the concerns of their environmentally-conscious customers.

Sometimes a significant anniversary of other event of milestone for a company is a great reason to issue its product in special edition packaging.

One news organization for the travel industry recently profiled new packaging by distillery Glenfiddich who issued commemorative packaging for their whiskey.  This company decided to add the allure of exclusivity by only offering the Whiskey in this special edition box at airport duty-free shops.

For more information visit dfinionline.com

So the next significant event that happens in your company might just be an opportunity for you to package your product in special limited edition packaging as a value-added way for consumers to celebrate with you.

One of the main reasons for custom packaging is for the product to stand out on the shelf in comparison to the competitor.  This helps the brand identity and increases the perceived value of the product.

Another great reason for custom packaging is to make your products distinctive, so the customer can easily tell the difference between products.  Help remedies offers six different products of medicines/bandages that they can package in very similar, yet distinctive cases.  Instead of using complicated names of medicine that customers may not understand, Help Remedies keeps it simple by naming each product by how you feel.  Their product line includes: “Help.  I have a headache.”, “Help. I have an aching body.”,”Help. I can’t sleep.”  Each product also has their own assigned color that is used in the packaging, so that customers can get used to grabbing a certain color off of the shelf.

Viktoriya Gadomska designed these custom boxes of vitamins A, B, C, D, E, and F.  With the boxes in the shape of the letter of their respective vitamin supplement, it makes it easy for customers to grab what they want off of the shelf in a hurry.

Looking for a step-by-step guide to help you improve your packaging?  The following will help you to find the weaknesses in your packaging and improve them for more effective packaging and higher product sales.

1. Look at your current packaging.  Don’t try to convince yourself of how it works.  Ask yourself honestly how it can by improved.  Does it accurately reflect the product? Is it best working to your product’s advantage? Does it make sense?  Make sure the changes you make are beneficial to the product and keep your brand consistent.

2. Ask for an outsider’s opinion. Hand your product packaging over to someone who knows nothing about your product or packaging.

3. Look at the competition.  If your product is sold in retail stores, go to the actual store and look at similar products.

Improving your packaging can increase customer loyalty and satisfaction.  It can also boost sales.  Using these tips to brainstorm about your packaging can lead to positive results for your product, brand and company.

We have talked many times about the significance of product packaging and design. Not only does it need to stick out and “pop” on the shelf, but there also needs to be brand recognition for your loyal customers.  If consumers can’t easily find your product on the shelf, they will turn to another product, your competition.

An example of this was the Tropicana repackaging fiasco you may have heard of from earlier this year. Since Tropicana is such a large, well-known company, they depend on brand loyalty.  THey are known for their fresh-squeezed juice, and this was displayed with their traditional packaging with  the straw sticking out of the orange.

In  January, they decided to change their packaging by going with a very simple design.  They removed their trademark orange picture, went with lighter colors, and changed the font of their brand name. Many customers were not able to find the Tropicana juice they wanted in a hurry, or they thought the new design looked cheap and generic.

The numbers proved it.  From Jan.1 to Feb 22, unit sales dropped 20 percent and dollar sales went down 19 percent, or roughly $33 million.  Count that loss with the $35 million that they spent on the ad campaign for the new packaging, and one can see they made a costly mistake. Not only did Tropicana’s sales decrease, but their competitors, such as Minute Maid, Florida’s Natural, and Tree Ripe showed double-digit unit sales increase during that time.  Ultimately, they had no choice but to return to the old packaging.

We can all learn from Tropicana’s mistake.  First of all, packaging matters.  Secondly, as a company with brand loyal customers, you cannot change the design to drastically, because brand recognition is vital.

Shelf Impact magazine recently ran an article on the value of touch in packaging. In the article they say, “Tactile surfaces invite shoppers to pick up a package and inspect it. Once a package is pulled from the shelf, a sale often follows.” You’ve heard us saying the same thing, so it’s nice to have a little back up.

The article focused on three supermarket items like gum, dental floss, and diaper rash cream. Each of these products have packaging that stands out from the crowd both visually and to the touch.

The article made me think about a recent binder that Account Manager, Nick Rude did for LMPWeddings.com. Their turned-edge binders were made using a specialty wrap material called Nuba Silktouch that is soft to the touch.  It has the “pass around” factor that the article mentioned.

The next time you are considering binders, consider also the “touch factor” and how user experience can be enhanced with specialty materials.