IBC Shell

The Marriage Of Primary & Secondary Packaging

All of us come packaged in one of a few different colors. Our clothing is of similar materials, and we have recognizably similar shapes and body parts. We communicate in a familiar, recognizable manner. Given our similarities notice how unique each of us is based upon what we ‘Bring Forward’ – our distinctiveness. And so it is with your brand’s packaging.

How important is the marriage of your primary and secondary package in communicating your brand’s presence and influencing your product’s success? I believe that together they are tier definers and category grabbers that make or break your brand’s success.

Your marketing team has endowed your product with a distinct personality; a name, physical statement, voice, tone, and a core value – All the ingredients! The task of packaging is to take that bundle of energy, translate and inject it into the environment we call packaging.

The entire Path to Purchase strategy; advertising, PR, events, and social media are the foundations for your package as spokesperson to convince the consumer to ‘Take Me Home.’ The marriage of primary and secondary packaging must anchor that vision at retail; integrating everything that preceded it. Both primary and secondary package must illuminate your company’s depth of conviction regarding the unique value it places on your product. Both must work in lock step with the energy your team has created.

Your margin of influence in the market awaits that outcome.

The primary package is the embodiment of your brand and the face of your product. It’s always in flow clearly conveying your image, and it’s ‘dressed to sell.’

Your Secondary package provides the opportunity to amplify the unique character that is behind your label. The secondary package envelops your primary, staking out your piece of real estate amidst the shelf environment. It partners with your primary package to arouse a compelling argument for your brand – and it must engage instantly, provoking attention and upstaging your competition who are vying for your shoppers’ transition and loyalty   – all within a 4-8 second synapse.

Our sensory filters are glutted with information – less gets through. There is an indistinguishable # of SKUs within, above, and below your tier. Shoppers consciously and subconsciously attempt to decipher from an array of branded options and private labeling. Therefore your Package must have phenomenal impact; triggering brand recognition and instant engagement or you’re runner-up!

So how do you successfully execute the partnership of primary and secondary package?

How do you close the deal?

What’s available to you to make the magic?

We do it emotively, connecting the pieces with all the senses playing in harmony:  imagery, shape, structure, color, typography, photography, texture, and a compelling, persuasive story. We lead with the strength of the mark. We incorporate texture and embossing to tactilely stimulate.  And we use the power of narrative to amplify your brand’s innovation and uniqueness.

The keepsake or repurposed package may also play a part in the equation, clearly enhancing your offering, and extending your brand’s visibility, the mark, the conversation and the lifestyle into the home.

With the growth of on-line purchasing, transparency and the scrutiny of social media, the impact of your package on the overall consumer experience is preeminent in supporting the claims and the promise of the brand. All of which seeds loyalty, and  the retention of that loyalty by the customers that will become your brand ambassadors.

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