The United States is home to an enormous manufacturing industry that produces an endless variety of goods, from fresh produce to hardware to books and kids’ toys and computer parts. It’s not enough to merely produce these goods, however; advertising and marketing are essential to making sales, and any good business will dedicate time and money to developing new marketing methods and implementing them. In fact, companies around the world spend a great deal of time, money, and effort on exactly that, and these advertising methods range from signs in a city to newspaper ads and even bus ads. And of course, inside a store, product packaging makes all the difference, from chocolate candy bag design to packaging for tea, clear pouch bags for produce and organic paper bags. How can packaging like chocolate candy bags and others make a difference? Studies have been dedicated to determining the power of packaging and advertising, whether for a humble chocolate candy bag or expensive computer parts, and the results speak for themselves.
Advertising On a Large Scale
Packaging such as attractive dog food bags or chocolate candy bags can entice a customer to buy those products, but advertising and marketing should be done to get the customer into a store first. This is where signs and online marketing get to work. People always have a reason to go outside in their home city or town, and in this public sphere, signs and billboards everywhere can share messages that promote a brand or a store. Despite the rise of the Internet, physical signs still have a lot of relevant power, and many one-location shops actually rely on signs much more than any television or online ad. Signs only work on the people who are close enough to see them, but in many cases, this is sufficient. Studies suggest that close to 85% of a company’s customers live within a five-mile radius of that company, so signs can expose consumers to that brand about 50-60 times per month, if not more. A one-location coffee or sandwich shop, meanwhile, doesn’t need a nation-wide television ad; instead, it will use signs over its door or on the sidewalk to attract customers and alert them to new menu items or deals. Posters, billboards, electronic ad signs, and scrolling marquees have similar power.
Fine Packaging
Once a customer has been brought into a store due to outdoor signs and online ads, the battle for a consumer’s attention shifts to packaging and in-store mini signs and shelf price tags. A lot of market research has done into this too, and packaging has proven to be highly effective in drawing consumers’ attention and convincing them that this product is the right buy.
For one thing, studies show that most customers enter a store without even fully knowing which brand or type of item to buy, so shelf tags and packaging compete to help that consumer finish that decision in their favor. For example, a West Rock Consumer Insights Study in 2016 showed that around 66% of consumers have tried a new product because its packaging caught their attention, and this is a great way for brands to bring in new (and hopefully repeat) customers. What is more, attractive and high-quality packaging can make a good impression on the consumer and give them a lot of confidence in the brand name. Around 52% of all online shoppers have reported that they would return to a business and make another purchase due to the premium packaging of an item that they already bought. In another vein, many consumers have said that they would (and often already have) share a product on social media if they liked the packaging enough. This can serve as amateur but free advertising for that brand, and patterns of sharing packaging on social media can help market researchers discover more trends and preferences among their customers.
Packaging, such as chocolate candy bags and other food packaging, make use of high-quality photos of the food inside (often as serving suggestions). Other items such as board games, dog and cat food, computer parts, and small electrical appliances may also have photos of the items on the front, and product information on the back.