Your packaging is the core of your business. Everything revolves around your product line, and it’s often the first touch point for consumers. Effective packaging works for you on the shelf—attracting attention and capturing the sale. How do you carry that strategic presence over to your other marketing channels such as website and supporting print collateral?
Maximize each medium’s strengths. Consider how each medium is used and go from there. Print is lasting and tactile, whereas web is fluid and ever-changing. Take into account the mindset of your audience as they experience each medium—are they looking to get an overview? Are they looking to buy? Most pieces will need to serve your audience at multiple stages of the buying process, so be sure your communications accommodate their different interests and work toward inspiring desired actions for each stage.
Be complementary, not repetitive. You want synchronicity among your communication channels, but not in a way that is repetitive. Like individuals in a family, each is unique but all are united. If your packaging, website and print collateral all looked the same, it would look united but it would be like looking at the same thing in different formats—in other words, boring. Expanding your brand’s essence throughout your different channels is an opportunity to enhance and build upon your core branding, strengthening what you already have.
Focus on the experience. For example, if it’s a catalog, consider the experience of starting at the beginning and turning page by page and having a narrative unfold. Or the experience of opening to a certain page and being delighted or surprised by what the reader finds there, even if on a subtle or subconscious level. The experience of a website will be different from the experience of a printed piece—users should be able to get a solid overview and then go into the amount of detail they desire. Whatever the medium, be sure not to overwhelm with too much information.
Infuse your brand story and passion. Get your audience as excited about what you do as you are. Make sure everything you do in terms of your communication stems from the core of your brand and is in alignment with it. Don’t hold back on your enthusiasm for what you do. It’s your brand’s passion for its products and purpose that will leave a lasting impression.
Stand out from the crowd. Just like packaging on a retail shelf, your marketing channels are one among many. Blending in is not the way to go—you want to stand out and be more effective than the rest. Keep in mind that less can be more. In terms of a website for example, it can be refreshing to arrive at a site that is clean, simple and intuitive as opposed to the plethora of confusing and busy sites out there. Or your booth display at a trade show—after awhile many begin to look the same. Make sure yours stands out like your product stands out on the shelf.
