When should you update your packaging? As printers and print packaging consultants, we get asked this question a lot. As a working business whose goal is to sell products that customers will love, you most definitely should recognize and appreciate the significance of great packaging design. Your product's appearance determines whether it sells or sits […]
When should you update your packaging? As printers and print packaging consultants, we get asked this question a lot.
As a working business whose goal is to sell products that customers will love, you most definitely should recognize and appreciate the significance of great packaging design.
Your product's appearance determines whether it sells or sits on the shelf, collecting dust.
How your packaging looks communicates your brand's purpose, ethics, attributes, and personality to the world. Poor packaging design can affect even the finest product, while average products benefit from great design.
Your product will never achieve its full potential if the packaging is unclear, outdated, or drab. How it looks is as crucial as the timing of the changes done. But when should you update your packaging?
While you can't follow a hard and fast rule for when to update your retail packaging, there are certainly a few warning signals you can look out for. While most of these signs depend on what the consumers want, a few will be about you.
- Pouch Me Print Branding Consultants
If you disregard any of these, you risk losing sales and harming your brand. Packaging significantly influences customer behavior in the aisle, and you want it to be favorable.
If you want your products to be noticeable among the crowd, you will need the appropriate packaging. This could be the right time to rework and update your current design.
Use this post to see if it's time to switch things up. Also, learn not just when should you update your packaging but also how and why.
Should you do a total revamp or a simple tweak to your packaging design? Even some of the most cleverly designed packaging will get outdated over time. So, when should you update your packaging?
Your product's package design will constantly evolve with the times, just as style and fashion do. The look and feel of a brand's packaging that appealed to customers and retailers in the early 2000s may no longer convey the brand's message to today's consumers.
If you haven't reevaluated the appeal and practicality of your packaging design in more than five years, you are likely missing out on a chance to tap into latent brand equity, which would likely lead to increased sales and a more significant market share.
When should you update your packaging and how do you know if it's the right time to start this big branding project?
A packaging redesign, whether it's a minor tweak or a complete makeover, is most effective when it's supported by the creation of a well-thought-out, precisely calibrated brand strategy.
A strategic framework will address key customer identifiers of brand equity while identifying necessary changes to your brand's primary elements. The aim is to preserve your hard-won brand awareness while also sharpening and refining all of its features for greater efficacy.
Let's learn about the strategic and creative methods you may use to rethink, reformulate, reposition, and relaunch your brand. When should you update your packaging? Let's begin with the most apparent reason.
What is the most telling when should you update your packaging: Significant changes to your product, such as additional ingredients, indicate that a redesign is required.
If you want your customers to be aware of product advancements, include a message on your package.
If there have been major alterations, the old message and packaging might cause confusion. If you've reformulated a product, make a design update that reflects the change.
When should you update your packaging? If you are launching your new product to the market, you will need to notify your customers. You can do this by upgrading your product packaging.
Demonstrate your efforts in developing new product lines. You may make references to your new products on old products. You may, for instance, include wording that says, "Experience our newest flavor."
You could also want to change your color scheme to distinguish the product lines while keeping the overall layout the same.
Whens should you update your packaging? Maybe new regulatory standards have been published that have caused your previous retail packaging to shift the goalposts.
Maybe consumer research has indicated a shift in their preferences for certain colors, messaging, package styles, or materials. Perhaps vendors have sought adjustments as a result of the poor success of specific product categories in their aisles.
Things change for a variety of reasons, and you may feel compelled to move on.
Every bit of competitive advantage is valuable. Keep an eye out for any indications that you overpaid for an outmoded or inadequate packaging design.
Technologies and packaging materials are always evolving to provide fresher, cheaper, and better choices. When should you update your packaging? Staying updated with new tech will protect (and maybe even increase) your margins.
Today's packages are composed of lighter materials and cost less to make and transport than preceding packaging options. You should update your packaging to help optimize your working budget.
In the commercial packaging sector, a six-year design cycle can be considered generous. You risk alienating loyal consumers if you alter your packaging every year or two.
This laser focuses on our question, "When should you update your packaging?" However, if you wait more than six years, you risk lagging behind the times and seeming out of date. At the very least, you may end up losing your spark as competitors experiment with new current branding and packaging approaches.
Over the course of a decade, your brand and even your industry will have transformed, and previous packaging selections will no longer be relevant. However, no package modifications should be planned only for the purpose of doing so.
Consider and analyze the market's evolution to make sure you're ready to change your strategic positioning for relevancy and current design sensibility.
Now that we know when should you update your packaging, what's next?
When altering your packaging design, it's critical to be careful and thorough; otherwise, you risk losing some buyers. Many businesses have learned this the hard way.
A popular, infamous example is Tropicana, a company that suffered a 20% drop in sales after a packaging redesign in 2009. This redesign failure demonstrates the impact packaging can have on sales. We can see the important questions are now, "When should you update your packaging?" and "Why should you update your packaging?"
On the other hand, successful design modifications can enormously enhance a product's appeal. Follow these guidelines to guarantee that your makeover has a good impact on your sales.
Identify your goals before moving on to the next stage. Do you need an entire makeover or a minor upgrade?
Determine if you want to start from scratch or make minor changes to the existing design. Please remember your current customers if you have them. As Tropicana learned the hard way over a decade ago, you'll want to ensure that your new design is instantly identifiable.
If customers who like your brand can't locate it on the shelf, you're likely to lose their business.
Once you have figured out where to start, it is time to determine what requirements your new design must meet. Outline the exact reasons for your desire to redesign.
Are you attempting to bring in a new target customer base or to enhance your relationship with an existing one? Do you want to bring your brand from the past into the current? Do you wish to bring awareness to any adjustments or developments? Your purpose for altering your appearance should be clear; keep it in mind throughout the project.
You'll need to know who your target market is. Consider their age, gender, religion, educational attainment, employment, and socioeconomic position.
Now, put yourself in the shoes of a regular customer. Analyze their attitude, way of life, values, and pursuits. What motivates them? What piques their interest? What are their aspirations, worries, and expectations?
Make a list of possible responses to these questions. Conduct some research. The more you know about your market, the more you'll be able to interact with them.
Make a unique design that appeals to your target audience while also meeting your objectives. Of course, it's far simpler to think about than it is to do.
It will require time, effort, and many trial-and-errors. Strive towards these objectives when you create your new packaging design:
Keep practicality in mind while packaging your goods in a box, bag, or pouch. Consider how your customer will need to access and use your products. Is it one serving or several servings if it's a food product? Is a resealable seal required to keep it from going stale? Is there enough room to reach inside the opening?
Use clear messaging and straightforward language to describe your product. Use phrases like "organic," "fair trade," and "natural" only if they are accurate.
If you currently have a customer base, ensure your logo and color scheme will continue to attract them.
The appropriate imagery may elicit strong feelings. To entice consumers, use illustrations and representations. Enlarged pictures of little food items, for example, might pique a customer's interest.
A simple design will draw attention to your brand, graphics, and important information.
It's critical to be aware of the feelings that your color selections may elicit. When choosing a color scheme, be cautious.
Prototypes will be required for testing once you've decided on one or more possible designs for your product. A tangible prototype enables you to connect more deeply with your design, allowing you to visualize how it will seem and feel to customers.
With focus groups, you'll be able to analyze even the smallest details, feel the texture, and test the packaging.
Before ordering in large quantities, bring your concepts to life with prototypes so you can workshop and improve your ideas before placing them on the market.
Collect useful input on your prototypes. Incorporate feedback from your team members and hold focus groups with your target consumers.
Allow each member of the focus group to touch and feel the prototype, as well as examine it from all angles. This is where you need to address the how of when should you update your packaging.
Pose some of the following questions to your focus group members:
Experimental studies and focus groups such as these will shed light on a variety of issues. When it comes to marketing, you'll have a better understanding of your target consumer's priorities and inclinations. The experiments and feedback will help you reevaluate your design and make any necessary adjustments.
Order more prototypes until you're confident you've met your goals. Making these significant redesign decisions may make or break your rebranding efforts. Don't make rash decisions, be patient.
Understanding what not to do is just as important as knowing what to do when it comes to developing a solid brand strategy and eventual package design solution. Just because we know when should you update your packaging and why doesn't mean we are done. How we do it is vital.
Simplicity is power, and creating a clever design for a new logo or package is no exception. Minimalism in design, style, and font helps customers avoid unnecessary complications and confusion.
A clean, restrained design can be more successful at expressing your brand narrative and qualities to your target audience, just as whispers can be more effective than yelling sometimes.
We hope all the information above has given you actionable insights regarding when should you update your packaging. Businesses have frequently discovered the long-term impact of packaging design.
Effective alterations may strengthen emotional bonds, attract attention in competitive markets, and increase sales. On the other hand, ineffective designs might result in wrong impressions or a lack of acceptance.
Simple refreshes may go a long way when it comes to old or outdated packaging. To attract new customers and maintain the already existing customer base, redesign your product packaging to showcase your improvements and market your products.
During the redesign process, prototypes are a requirement. You may test your design ideas with a life-sized, physical prototype, which is crucial in the process. Prototype-driven testing allows you to get a sense of how consumers are reacting to your concepts.
When should you update your packaging? Our recommendation is to write all salient details after your analysis and look at everything from a bird's eye view.
At Pouch Me, we commit to you in providing superior packaging solutions to help you bring your brand to life. Request a quote for custom packaging that's made especially for you.
Redesigning your product keeps it current while also gaining consumers' trust and developing your brand identity.
As you may be aware, packaging plays a critical part in determining a product's sales volume because it forms the consumer's initial impression of your products.
Packaging, like aesthetic appeal, must provide something different in order to appeal to buyers genuinely. However, uniqueness may take many forms.
Packaging designs must lure buyers in from the shelf, and once they do, your products must keep their attention.
When sustainable materials become accessible, businesses may alter their packaging. Companies spend a lot of money to keep their products current and in alignment with what customers want.
Changes to materials, designs and production methods are routinely made to adapt to competitive trends and customer feedback.
In product packaging, color is quite important.
All colors help companies identify product packaging and make it stand out, whether they're main or complementary hues.
Before making a purchase, buyers pay great attention to the colors of a product's packaging.
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