Packaging Best Practices and Trends: More Than Just What's Inside the Box
Another example of engaging consumers with packaging comes from Moosejaw Mountaineering, a cross-channel retailer of outdoor gear and apparel. Known for its wacky sense of humor/marketing approach, Moosejaw places various stickers on the outside of its packaging to identify the box as a Moosejaw shipment. The stickers have little, if anything, to do with the product inside the box, but work as a branding technique. And the boxes are sustainable: If you take them to any Moosejaw retail store, the company will reuse them.
Hines wrapped up her presentation by advising companies to view packaging as “part of branding and the product itself,” and to follow these three tips:
- be creative with your packaging;
- engage with your packaging; and
- motivate with your packaging.
Retail Packaging Best Practices
Tailford Mitchell's President Mark Mitchell followed with a look at product packaging's role in retail settings. Mitchell highlighted some clients his firm has worked with, and how a change in their packaging — without an increase in costs — has resulted in an increase in sales.
- Shape your boxes. Your products don't always have to be shipped in standard rectangular boxes, Mitchell said. Gift food retailer Hickory Farms offers a gift box in the shape of Mickey Mouse's head, for example.
- Dual purpose for packaging. Incorporate selling and gifting within your packaging, Mitchell said. Spice retailer Penzey's Spices includes a free sample of one of its proprietary spices in its gift boxes. Or it could be any environmental initiatives that a company is engaged in. Heritage Dairy Stores, a convenience store chain in California, offers a chocolate milk box that can turn into a bird feeder.
- Up your messaging. Play up the messaging on your package like a headline, Mitchell advised. Techniques include adding a free value-added offer, calling out natural tie-ins to the product being offered and driving further engagement with social media tools.
Mitchell rattled off some takeaway tips to close his presentation:
Joe Keenan is the executive editor of Total Retail. Joe has more than 10 years experience covering the retail industry, and enjoys profiling innovative companies and people in the space.
