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The Packaging Effectiveness Playbook

The 9 keys to designing packaging that wins at shelf and drives shopper growth.

The 9 chapters from the Playbook:

Packaging Effectiveness Playbook - Familiarity
Characters

Shoppers spend little time deliberating at shelf and almost instantly identify the brand they’re going to buy. Therefore, the quicker you’re seen and recognized, the more likely you’ll be bought.

Packaging Effectiveness Playbook - Originality
Emotion

When everyone’s zigging, zag. This can attract shoppers’ attention and aid shelf stand out. A novel design or unique format/structure can elevate you above the competitive clutter.

Packaging Effectiveness Playbook - Sustainability
STORYTELLING

Sustainability is fast becoming ‘table stakes’, so it’s crucial that brands get it right. Carefully manage the associated drawbacks and ensure eco-initiatives don’t detract from the most important drivers of purchase.

Packaging Effectiveness Playbook - Emotion
Peak-end-rule

Emotion is a proxy for the fast and instinctive ‘System 1’ way shoppers make decisions. The more you make people feel, the more likely you’ll be seen and bought. Prioritize evocative imagery over written claims.

Packaging Effectiveness Playbook - Consistency
Music/Voiceover

Packaging is more effective when it synergizes with the brand’s wider communications. Deploying recognizable elements creates a multiplier effect, leading to fast and instinctive buying decisions.

Packaging Effectiveness Playbook - Color
Single Minded

Color is the first thing shoppers notice at shelf, so a unique hue can draw eyeballs and set you apart. With the potential of also becoming a distinctive property over time, it enables busy shoppers to easily find you.

Packaging Effectiveness Playbook - Congruency
Brand Assets

Packaging’s visual and structural elements must be cohesive with one another and ‘speak the same language’. This helps strengthen the associations and ideas that are ultimately seeded in shoppers’ minds.

Packaging Effectiveness Playbook - Uniformity
Consistency

By adopting as many consistent visual elements as possible across a product line/range, it enables: 1. Easy brand identification (by creating a visual block at shelf); and 2. Easy variant navigation.

Packaging Effectiveness Playbook - Clarity
Brand Hero

Most decision making relies on simple heuristics and mental shortcuts, with packaging processed largely unconsciously. Eliminate clutter and prioritize the single most important/relevant claim to the target audience.