Marketing campaigns are nothing without careful, strategic branding. In the world of ecommerce, this includes creating an unboxing experience that brings the brand to life from the moment it arrives on the doorstep.

The effect of Packaging on Brand Perception

Brand perception is highly psychological. Multiple research studies have shown that factors such as colours, materials, and design can all combine to influence how consumers think and feel about a product. This is due to the vital role of visual metaphors in branding. The classic example is Apple’s revolutionary take on packaging, with its clean, tactile, and high-quality boxes that instantly convey the core ethos of the organisation.

When it comes to making an impact, the unboxing experience is arguably the most crucial customer touch point. This is more important than ever around special occasions such as Halloween and Christmas, where customer expectations rise, and your packaging quality should rise along with those expectations. Get it wrong, and the consumer is left with mixed messages about the brand. Get it right, and your brand perception is enhanced.

Standing out from the Crowd

To be successful, brands need a unique identity. With worldwide ecommerce sales predicted to reach $2.5 trillion (US) by the close of 2021, this can be a challenge, with success largely depending upon “practitioner execution”. In other words, marketers must work hard to make their brand stand out from the competition. Product differentiation therefore requires meticulous attention to detail so that no potential touch point is ignored, enabling the full brand story to be embraced, conveyed, and strengthened. Packaging, and its colour, texture, shape, and design, are part of how that unique story is built and told.     

Aim for the Experience

The argument for investing in unique packaging is clear, but knowing how to take that information and turn it into tangible returns is another matter altogether. Therefore, when using bespoke packaging to create visibility and enhance the brand message, it is helpful to conceptualise the strategy as being about building an experience. For instance, a bricks-and-mortar boutique may draw upon instantly recognisable tropes to convey a message of luxury, quality, and reassuring expertise, and the same conditions can be offered with the right unboxing experience.

As we come up to Christmas, more brands could start to incorporate traditional “Christmas colours” into their products and packaging, as well as modifications to additional packaging such as ribbons, and the quality of the packaging itself. Christmas is a time of year that many people embrace and buy into, all for the experience and that same old magical time of year. Keep these people in mind when planning for the Christmas period.

Ensuring an Authentic Unboxing Experience

To ensure that the unboxing experience genuinely reflects the values and ethos of the brand, every detail needs to be considered. This is where it’s helpful to have branding experts on hand to offer advice, especially when it comes to selecting the most cost-effective materials to get the message across. For instance, colour is arguably one of the most important branding messages, and this tends to require an expert touch. Factors to consider include how the choice of material influences how the colour looks, as well as tweaking ratios to avoid overpowering the message.

What next?

Our ecommerce branding experts can help ensure that your packaging is more than just a box and becomes a powerful vehicle for conveying your brand messages. For more information about how Kudos Giftwrap can help, please give us a call.