The Christmas season is an important one for everyone who manufactures and/or packages goods to be sold. This is the major buying time of the year, so everyone from manufacturers to wholesalers to retailers is doing all they can to make their products stand out from the crowd. Many companies change from their regular packaging to holiday-themed packaging to make their products more eye-catching and appealing to their customers. Doing so boosts sales for both wholesalers and retailers and makes shopping more cheery and pleasant for the customers. There are several things you should consider, however, in designing your holiday packaging.
Choose Your Product
If you are a large manufacturer with many products, you may want to choose only one or just a few products to promote with Christmas-themed packaging. Obvious gift products include clothing items, perfumes or men’s scents, candies and other goodies, games and toys, and small kitchen appliances. But there are many other products as well that can be promoted during the holidays. Handyman tools, home improvement items, many food items, electronics, jewelry, and even pet supplies can all see increased sales during the holiday season when packaged correctly.
Identify Your Target Market
When you’ve identified the product you are going to feature over the holidays, then decide if your target market is just people in general, children, women, men, seniors, teens, or any other category you can think of. The location of your product can feature in here, too. For instance, if your product is going to the Southwest, you may want to design the graphics to fit in with that look. If the product is one with general appeal, you can use a traditional Christmas or holiday design.
Make The Packaging Appropriate For The Product
This is a crucial part of your credibility. If your product is an expensive ladies’ perfume, an elegantly styled gold, silver, royal blue or purple, or rich red packaging will showcase your product as classy. You might choose a flocked paper or a foil look. Adding a small, securely attached bow to a really special product would make it even more appealing. However, if you are featuring a child’s toy, say a box of crayons, child-like drawings or Santa and his reindeer done in vivid colors would be appropriate.
Themed Designs
Taking into consideration your target market, location, and product, there is a wide range of holiday themes from which to choose to make your packaging more festive. Choose from Santa, his sleigh, reindeer, and elves; the Nativity scene; angels; snowmen; old-fashioned winter scenes similar to a Currier and Ives painting; Southwestern, New England, or palm trees and beaches with a Christmas twist, or woodland animals. All of these ideas can get your creative juices flowing.
Durability
If your product will be shipped (which most are), you will also want to make sure that the holiday packaging you choose will be sturdy enough to survive the trip, not only from your warehouse to the retailer, but then again, possibly, making another trip from the buyer to the recipient. Sturdy can be decorative, too, so don’t sacrifice durability for pretty or cute.
