Create It Packaging
Why Good Branding is SOOOOOOO Important!
Firstly, it is very helpful to understand the differences between branding, marketing, and advertising. Whether a product is sold online or in brick and mortar stores, all 3 are important, but branding comes first, and is crucial to success. Branding is how your product is perceived to it’s audience, marketing is how you deliver your message, and advertising is the method, and frequency of how you push that message out.
It can be argued that brand identity and packaging is sometimes more important than the product itself. Let me explain… Your product is great. Of course it is, because you’ve researched it, designed its form and its function, you’ve worked and reworked it to iron out any bugs, you’ve identified your target market, examined your competitors, sought patents, addressed legal hurtles, tested, and tested, and tested some more. In short… by the time your product gets to market, it’s the best it can possibly be.
As any company or individual who brings a product to market can tell you, a lot of time and expense goes into the process. So, your amazing product should practically sell itself, right? Not so fast… consumers don’t know about all of the time and testing, and elbow grease you’ve expended in development. They only see your advertising, and your package on a shelf (or pictured online). Sure they can read all about it, and research reviews, but depending on what you’re offering, it just very well might be that your imagery alone, is all a customer sees.
Especially if your product itself isn’t all that remarkable looking to the average consumer. A hair gel might be the most fantastic formula ever created, but it just looks like goo, on it’s own. What inspires a customer to purchase your brand, and to buy it again? Are they going to recommend it to a friend? What does branding have to do with it?
Branding should address the optimal demographic for maximum sales, and your branding should easily identify the key features of your product, with graphics that stand out against the competition. And remember, not researching your competitor’s products thoroughly can be a huge mistake. Sometimes just finding the proper niche’ is all it takes to set yourself apart in a sea of competition.
Creating the right look, and message, invokes the cerebral imagery that drives sales. For example, an organic, all natural, earth friendly cleanser should have a different look and feel than a strongly scented, industrial, germ killer. Branding can deliver that message loud and clear, but only if it’s done effectively. A classic examples is Harley Davidson… they don’t just sell motorcycles, the sell a riding lifestyle.
In short, carefully branding your message, and your package’s graphic design, could make or break its success.