PACKAGING DESIGN & SOLUTIONS: INNOVATION
of pounds in consumer research for R&D to ensure it is right for market. Yet,when packaging research is conducted, it is often in isolation and at a superficial level: locating liking and propensity to buy. Research tends to be used to validate the pack at the end of the innovation process. There is no place for
innovation in this kind of lazy research and the data generated tends to lead to overly safe decisions that won’t rock the boat. Either that, or we often see a dramatic ‘creative’ route taken (in the absence of any better idea) for there has been no measure of fit to the product or brand. Once a product idea has been screened and approved, packaging should immediately become a top-priority item in the research and development agenda.
2. PUT CONSUMERS AT THE HEART OF THE PROCESS There’s a tendency to think that ‘designers hold the sway and consumer get in theway,’ but the world ismoving on and consumers are gettingmore savvy.We need processes that bring the consumer into the design arena; they shouldn’t create the packaging and the branding (that’s the agency/client job) but they can help shape, mould and enhance it,moving research beyond evaluation towards co-creation. Here, qualitative research is used in a completely differentway - to provide support to designers and brand owners; asking consumers to add value not stifle creativity.
3. DO PACK RESEARCH, NOT JUST PACK TESTING Pack testing, by its nature, refers to the act of validating a packaging design change. It is a single, standalone end process which cannot guarantee a successful launch. Useful, yet limited, for all it can do is validate whether a decisionmade earlier in the processwas right orwrong. If it’s right, then great! If it’s wrong, then disaster – and it’s probably too late to go back to the drawing board by this late stage. Packaging research however
is more than validation. It’s a means to an end. It refers to the in-depth analysis of the consumer-pack interface starting early in the development process. It begins with exploration and creation, moves
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to development and ends with validation. It’s the embodiment of the scientific approach and includes the systematic study of the ‘cause and effect’ relationships between the physical object that is packaging and the visceral, subconscious response of the consumer. It helps to get it right the first time and to make sure there will be no nasty surprises at launch.
4. EMPLOY A HOLISTIC APPROACH Packaging is not about artistic expression. There are quite a few parameters, as outlined below, that need to be brought together in the design and development process in a smart and cost- effectivemanner in order to guarantee a truly innovative and successful packaging solution. • Structural design: Building structural equity offers a true opportunity to differentiate on- shelf and beyond. Ergonomics, form,materials, dispensing and feel are critical factors to brand and product success. Structural elements not only add functionality but they also have meaning, emotionality and sensorial qualities deeply embedded into them. A bag of crisps for example does not merely provide roomfor graphical executions but its substrate has visual, tactile and auditory propertieswhich subconsciously affect consumers’ perception and drive choice and purchase. • Label and graphics design: Label and graphics are important
elements too, especially in creating shelf-impact and in communicating product information. They are ameans of ‘dressing up’ structural packaging and boosting structural equity. Or even masking structural imperfections. • Engineering: Engineering the ultimate experience is feasible and a key differentiation indicator. Optimising packaging performance at a physical, cognitive and sensorial level offers amassive opportunity to captivate consumers and to secure repeat purchases. The sound of a can, the surface texture of a plastic bag, the odour emittedwhen opening a bottle, are qualities that subconsciously affect theway consumers perceive and feel about packaging. These qualities can bemanipulated to trigger a targeted consumer response and purchase behaviour. • Technology: Augmented reality, printed electronics, lightweighting, nanocoatings and biopolymers are only a few examples of howtechnology can be embedded into packaging development to help enhance the consumption experience, uplift a brand’s status and deliver environmental and consumer benefits. Testing thosewith consumers is vital before any investment decision ismade.
5.MEASUREMORE THAN SIMPLY ‘LIKING’ Measuring customer ‘liking’ is just not enough. Considering
the complex duties of a pack that we have already outlined, it does not provide us with sufficient information either. The subconscious, emotional impact that a pack has on consumer reactions is extremely important, as is its delivery against core design and brand aims. It’s often hard to articulate why we like a pack and why we choose to buy it. Understanding the psychology of choice and the relationship between the drivers of behaviour and liking is vital. Brands must access the brains of category users and unlock the associations attached with each stage of packaging interaction. There are various advanced,
proven research techniques – such as sensory and affective sciences coupled with consumer psychology and behaviour methods – that are used to extract consumers’ personal beliefs, their emotional, functional and hedonic values and the vocabulary they use. Most importantly, they can translate these findings into meaningful actions for the packaging innovation process. In tough economic times with
ever-increasing competition, innovation relies on faster time- to-market and accurate decision-making. Successful companies will be the ones that understand that packaging is a platform for innovation and differentiation and that innovation and deep consumer
research go hand in hand.
Stergios believes that ‘liking’ is not a strong enough reaction to be recorded with regards to a pack’s
design. He believes you should find out exactly what works and what doesn’t fromyour trial subjects
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