Launching a new Product
Make sure your product stands out!
To ensure that your new product stands out against your competitors you need to create contrast within your design and brand innovation. You packaging will play a major part in this role. Your product may be the best product on the market but unless you can rely this to your consumers then your product will remain hidden on the shelf.
Unseen is unsold
Make sure that your product stands out! Studies have shown that a new product has a visibility of less than 40% so launching a new brand is always a challenge.
Common product failures are generally not down to the consumers rejecting the product but down to the product becoming lost in a sea of competing brands. For success you need to make sure that your product stands out from the crowd, giving your consumers the time consideration a new product needs to succeed.
How to maximize shelf visibility?
Less is more
You have approximately 5 seconds to grab the attention of the consumer. To make sure that this time is used wisely your packaging must be prepared. Do not over whelm your consumer with too much information. In this case less is definitely more if you try to over complicate the design and fill your packaging with unnecessary clutter it will have the exact opposite effect, encouraging your market to revert back to tried and tested products that they are already familiar with.
Keep all of the most important information on the front of the packaging. It has been discovered that less than 10% of consumers flip the packaging over to look at the back. Don’t miss out by relying on the back of the packaging as a marketing tool to initially capture your audience.
Colour & contrast
Try to stand out and earn your place on the shelf. Go big, bold and eye grabbing, draw them in with a punchy strapline, bright colour or something that will make them smile!
Create a contrast to competitive brands, by colour, structure & construction.
Colour is the strongest tool in grabbing the attention of the consumer. The best way to summarize is, to break the rules (of the category). Research your competitors brand and look at what you can do that will benefit your packaging and create a strong positive contrast against other competing brands.
Create interest & get involved!
Design packaging that will engage your consumers with your new brand. A good example of this is the new packaging for the ‘Hugh Jackmans, laughing man coffee tea and chocolate brand’. The new packaging for this product is centered around making people happy. The laughing man motto ‘is all be happy’.
To embrace this message the design team focused on creating a unique concept to illustrate their ethos while including the consumers in the process. The new brand encourages interaction with the market by inviting consumers to upload their own laughing face on the website for a chance to be used on future packaging. Not only does this engage the consumer but also drives important traffic to the website which acts as another powerful tool in launching your product.
Attention to detail
The attention to detail is key in creating effective packaging.
Consumers purchase and formulate their opinions of new products by the packaging only, simply because until a product is tried and tested we have nothing else to formulate an opinion on. Make sure that your packaging remains true to the product inside and really gets across your selling points.
Consumers who will be interested in what your product has to offer will only buy if the packaging appeals to their interests and ethos, whilst truly representing the product. Make sure that your product is packaged appropriately. For example if you are promoting a product that is environmentally sensitive you may not want seal the product in a plastic sleeve, use an appropriate material and seal with a sticker instead! Don’t let your product down at the final hurdle by over looking the attention to detail.
Finally create an emotional connection to ensure your consumers return
Make sure your product emotes a sense of happiness, fun or relativity. This way you are proceeding to build a positive perception of your brand in the subconscious of your consumers. If you manage to do this then your product will do the rest!
With over 7 years experience in both print & web roles Rachael is an ideal all rounder. With a background in the highly competitive Estate Agency industry, Rachael’s skills lie in creating fantastic new brands and translating those brands across all your marketing materials whether that be a corporate brochure, website or beautifully packaged new brand.
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