Package design is as important as the product itself. The container and contents have a synergistic relationship in which both sides complement and influence one another.
In a personal experience I could see the power of influence of the container. Tridimage happens that we had to create the structural design of a container of ketchup to Mexico. Heinz was container in the refrigerator of the study, as shown to analyze competition.
104964-Container-versus-content-Who-winDuring one of the lunches we mentioned how much more appetizing was the Heinz ketchup compared to what we consumed regularly. We all laughed when one of the designers had said Heinz bottle filled with the same sauce that we consumed every day.
The values of the Heinz brand is built over the years through constant consistency between the brand message and identity of packaging. That causes one to assign these values to the product that is within the container.
The structural and graphic design of each package encapsulates a lot of information that changes our assessment of the product, together with the values of the brand.
We could say that the packaging conveys the brand DNA and represents the identity of a three-dimensional manner. The close relationship with the contents of the container can alter the perception of the latter.
To evaluate the communication power of the pack, the British independent magazine Which ?, conducted a test of chocolate chip cookies to evaluate them according to their taste and texture, in two groups of people. One group saw the package design and the other not. The results showed that those who had seen the packaging design the perceived significantly more palatable than the other cookies.
Now I would like to explore the result of the relationship between design attractive or unattractive packaging, and good or bad product.
It may sound simplistic to say just “attractive”, but I mean that the packaging is appropriate to their category fulfills its primary function to preserve, protect and contain, and also relevant to the consumer.
It is certainly the best possible relationship. Packaging that conveys the qualities of its content and a product that meets the expectations generated by the design of packaging on consumers. First you buy because it draws its design and, when consumed, finally found what he was expecting.
Tip: keep evolving and adding value to the packaging trends to reaffirm its position, the loyalty of his followers and stay current on the market.
If the package does not arouse interest will be very difficult to attract consumers. If in any case the product sells well, the threat is that soon becomes a competitor with a similar deal in quality, but with a more attractive packaging design that will remove market share.
Tip: make an adjustment in structural design and / or to create a 3D graphic identity of attractive packaging, to communicate and represent product quality containing, and also is aligned with the interests of the public to whom it is addressed. This allows you to retain his followers and also increase the purchase intent potential consumers.
It is said that the first product is sold by the design and the second product quality. It may be that the product is not liked by consumers but it may also be that the design is not appropriate if it creates false expectations.
Tip: assess whether the conflict is that the design communicates the type, grade and quality suitable for the product. Example: the package is associated to the universe of cookies when in fact it is crackers. It is necessary to adjust design to properly position it to the type and quality of the product. But if the problem is that the product is not valued, it is advisable to change the formulation, and communicate through a partial or total change of packaging design.
This would be the worst case scenario is raised and practically unfeasible economically since their tragic fate is to be discontinued.
Tip: it is advisable to take what they have learned to improve the product or directly make a new one and renew 3D packaging identity. It is even feasible to assess a change in naming because the last thing we want is to have the negative associations of previous experience in the new release.
As we saw the relationship between the container and the product is a tough fight, but exciting. No one winner from container and content but that success depends to a large extent on the good relationship between both parties.