Can Your Brand Package Communicate in Under 2 Seconds? It Needs To…

In July of 2018, Nielsen reported that at the point-of-purchase, brands have less than 2 seconds to influence purchase decisions. This can be a daunting reality for many marketers when determining the ideal messaging strategy for their brand packaging. Oversaturate your package and risk being overlooked by time starved consumers. Conversely, a lack of messaging can leave consumers under informed and unengaged.

The following are communication methods to help your brand pop off shelf, clearly communicate and drive purchase.

Keep it Simple

Too much information is difficult to process. Ensure all messaging being used on-pack is essential and aligns with the objectives and established positioning for the product. Remember that a package has a finite amount of real estate to communicate. If you try to say too much, you might not be saying anything effectively.

Establish a Hierarchy

Not all messaging is created equal. Elevate the most important communication points and allow support messaging to be secondary. Remember, by emphasizing one communication point you are inherently making others more recessive.

Say it Once

Product benefits help differentiate against competitors. However, duplicating messaging on the PDP is a surefire way to create chaos on-pack. Deliver key benefits once in a meaningful, impactful way. Saying the same point several times less effectively just adds clutter.

Make a List

Group messaging to give consumers an organized, easy to understand system. If the consumer has to work too hard to understand a product, they could move on to a competitor.

Use an Icon

Icons act as a visual bullseye to draw-in consumers and quickly telegraph product information. Don’t overcomplicate icons to tell a story, utilize support copy to do the heavy lifting.

Communicate Visually

Leverage graphics to express the brand story without muddling the package. Color, shape and design are all strong, emotional influencers that can say more about your brand in seconds than a paragraphs of words.

Spread it Out

Utilize the entire labeling area or package. Where the front panel should keep your brand message short and concise, back and side panels can be utilized to further support and add context to your primary point of difference. This will keep your package clean and engaging. Let your entire package sell, not just the PDP.

Before embarking on your packaging journey, remember that effective communication begins with knowing your consumer, the retail environment, the competition, your USP and the category norms. For brand success, every product must have a unique point of view and be able to articulate that view on its packaging (as with all it’s consumer touch points). Although there is no one size fits all solution, using effective communication methods make this point of view easy to understand at a glance and can help guide the creation of a powerful package that inspires purchase.

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