The average supermarket in the U.S. has 40,000 different products, so you need all the help that you can get to have your product stand out. Packaging is the best way to accomplish this — if you know how to use it. Ask yourself about the last time that you actually went to a store and you checked out a product because the packaging got your attention. Most people do not realize it, but everyone does it. In some cases, people will be so attracted to the packaging that they will become loyal customers of the product simply because the packaging was what attracted them to it first. Here are a couple of things that can help you stand out.
Tell the Simple Story
It is not that you should write a whole paragraph on the packaging telling your potential customers who you are and what you do. You should, however, tell as much as you can while at the same time keeping it simple. Pictures are the best way to tell a story on the packaging, and what you should be telling is what the product is, what it does, and why someone should buy it. Think of a small business that is selling homemade pasta; it could have a picture of the cooked pasta dish, the name brand, and what type of pasta it is. It could not get simpler than that, and yet you are using powerful images that a customer will be attracted to without even noticing it.
What You See Is What You Get
Make sure that the story that you are telling with the packaging is also a true story. In the case of the pasta, it would be great if the picture is the actual product and not an artist rendering or some other company’s product. To better understand why honesty is so important, think of the advertisement or pictures that you see at a fast-food chain restaurant; in the ads you see the best-looking burger ever, but when it is served, you are left asking, “Where is the burger in the picture?” Tell potential buyers the truth about your product when you decide to put a picture on the packaging.
Eye Catching
If you will be selling your product in stores, then you need to figure out what the packaging will look like on the shelves or the display that the product will be in. You have to make sure that your product stands out, and you can do that by avoiding the same colors that your competition uses. Have your product be different, and people will be more likely to notice it and want to try it. It is not that difficult to get an idea of what your product will look like on shelves, and in fact there are computer programs that can help you with that. You can also set up a mock display to see how your product will look next to the competition.
