Some packaging designs are created simply to capture people’s attention and say “Look at me!” The product stands out from its competitors with custom packaging.

Custom packaging makes products unique and also helps differentiate products from other similar items. The key to custom packaging is to be visually appealing.

Take Red Bull Cola’s custom packaging for their popular beverage. The package features a wooden case that displays each of the 17 key ingredients that make up the Red Bull Cola taste. The packaging is designed by Design Friendship, a design company located in the United Kingdom. Instead of simply packaging single cans of Red Bull Cola, the packaging design features the product’s quality and value. The custom packaging distinguishes the beverage from other energy drinks. Besides, who doesn’t want to know all of the ingredients in Red Bull Cola?

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.

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?

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.

Ever have problems being the person making the coffee run and trying to remember how each person likes their coffee?  I came across this creative packaging idea that I have not seen anything like before.

Josh Harris came up with the “Coffee Top Caddy”, which was created to help the people going on those large coffee runs for their co-workers.  Many people are very specific on how they like their coffee, so with this invention, you do not have to worry about getting each person’s order right.  These lids are designed to hold creamer and sugar packets right on top.  Each person can then customize their own drink by adding however much cream or sugar that they would like.

Not only does this form of custom packaging make the product more helpful, but it also makes the product much more distinctive.  Customers will recognize and remember that your store has the creative lids that make the office coffee runs so much easier.  Custom packaging lets you bring your own creativity and flair to your product’s packaging by matching the personality of your product or company.  It also allows your product to stand out on the shelf above the competition.