Catch The Eyeballs With Attractive Packing

Someone has rightly coined out that marketing is not about battle of two similar products but it is a battle of consumer perceptions. Product packaging is definitely the best and last chance for the marketer to make an impression and more importantly a sale. Statistics suggest that 50% of the purchases depend upon emotions, more so when a client is confused between two similar products. Companies that have mastered the art of aesthetics are also at the top of competition and this will include brand names like Apple, Nike, Cassina, Nokia, etc. in many cases, design and product packaging is what defines a brand and gives them the competitive edge.

Thinking as a consumer/customer, what really happens when we enter a store and are confronted by several brands of same product in the aisle? It is human to associate, remember and compare when it comes to making a choice. The human brain classifies everything, not just with the quality (which is fairly same with most top brands) but also the presentation. In the marketing jargon, “Top of Mind” is an extremely crucial point of sale. The customer can make several such associations – association with the advertisement that seemed unique or an association of the product quality with the elegance or packaging. Even shopping bags with the name of the store on it has an effect on the buying compared to bringing home a plain white plastic carry bag.

Research has proved that products that influence all our senses have a strong impact on our buying behavior. Package design, thus is an essential part of the marketing strategy, making the product unique, special and powerful. As such packaging acts as:

• The physical representation of the brand’s personality
• Helps draw attention is a crowded space
• Influences perceived value and positions the product in higher category
• Differentiates a brand from competitors
• Brand identity as in color and graphics
• Reflects creativity, modernism and other special qualities
• Protection for the product
• Presents a story

With some product packaging, customers have been presented a whole new dimension. Brands like Apple have used product design and product packaging as a cornerstone in the industry. While design in the modern world is synonymous to style, packaging can be said to be a personal stamp of the brand rather than just a label. It certainly has been able to provide an added value that customers automatically cherish and remember the next time they are in the buying queue.

Take for example the YKM Shopping Bag. The strings of the bag represent a fitness regimen in action and after you have a look at it; it will definitely stick to your sub-conscious for a long time. More unique examples will be the spaghetti brand called NYC and the highly functional packaging of the Thrift toothpaste tube.

Considering the importance of packaging, it is not surprising that brands are investing heavily on motivational research, psychological manipulation, color testing and similar functions to test the customer’s perception/reacting to the changed design. Packaging further presents great opportunities for information transmission and convenience. In some cases, packaging has been the sole reason that people go for a product (to be kept as a souvenir). At the core it is all about making the customer recall the brand based on the attention seeking capability of a packaging.

Let’s be a newbie: A Guide For New Business Setup

Tens of thousands of investors decide to become entrepreneurs every year. Though the idea of setting up one’s own business seems to be romantic, not many are able to reap success. There could be several reasons why people setup their own business, it could be to become one’s own boss, it could be a great idea that has the potential to make a difference in the market and more often it is to make lots of money. While motivation and commitment are vital to be able to risk a substantial amount of investment, proper planning is what takes the idea forward and makes a brand out of it. For a newbie looking to make a difference, here’s a roadmap to success.

Selecting a business: Every business should start with a thoroughly planned idea. A newbie must be realistic in what type of product or service he/she is going to work upon. Generally, a new business idea revolves around the passion of the individual. However, startups must also look into other supportive factors like local support, investment potential, market competition and expected demand.

Deciding upon the investment: The second most crucial part of starting a new business is being able to entertain enough investment. It doesn’t matter if you are investing from previously acquired assets or approaching the bank for loans, the sum should be enough to take the business through the tough starting days. Research hard and you may also try to seek partners who would be interested in investing. Further, new businesses would also need a good lawyer and accountants, who would be able to handle issue relating to tax, finances and business laws.

The initial stagnation: You cannot expect to earn huge right from the beginning. Regardless of the product/service you are providing, it takes time for a business to gain prominence and to win a demanding position in the market. The first few years will be at “zero” profit, but that also doesn’t mean that you aren’t doing well. Be persistent, try to improve upon quality and the results will soon begin to show up.

Expenses as an investment: Take account of every expense right from the letterhead design to the office rent. Everything that is spent should come back as earnings and possibly profits. There shouldn’t be anything that hasn’t been accounted for.

Break-even reach: Among the first questions that a new business would be interested in is the level of sales that will bring the company profits. This is what we refer to as the break-even point. While it is hard to predict the exact point, it will depend on a variety of factors including the company’s product line, the market size, the pricing of products/services, average units sold, marketing and promotion.

Role of marketing and packaging: Marketing is the key to introduce a new product/service into the market. A unique and creative promotional campaign will bring the brand into the limelight. As such, there would be dozens of competitors fighting for the same market segment. The same can be said about packaging wherein the same type of product is offered in an interesting package.

While this list of tips is not exhaustive, it does apply to the general idea of starting a business, regardless of the industry. As such, this article should be able to help people looking to introduce a new brand into the market.

Eco Friendly Cornstarch Bags

Plastic had been a great invention but its widespread use has been putting our environment at great threat. Plastic bags are non-degradable and pollute the land, water and air while affecting animals and humans directly or indirectly. However, plastics have been cheap, strong and are used for all forms of packaging. Considering the pros and cons, scientist had come up with a better alternative, cornstarch bags. Made form degradable raw materials, corn starch bags provide the same degree of effectiveness as its plastic alternatives and additionally don’t damage the environment in any way.

What is a cornstarch bag?

Cornstarch bags are made from resins drawn from corn starch. The raw material also gives the product a longer shelf life (more than six months) and can be used as long as one plans on. Upon discard, the cornstarch bags get decomposed into smaller particles and are consumed by bacteria. As such, they can be safely dumped into your backyard without risk of adding toxicity to the soil. 75 percent of the composting is completed within a couple of months after dumping the bags. It takes four months for the entire bag to decompose and thus is a huge advantage to packing industries and individual buyers.

Cornstarch bags also seem to be at an advantageous position that other alternatives like paper or cloth bags, which cannot hold wet contents and again add to deforestation. The cornstarch bags resemble the look and texture of plastic bags and are available in three varieties – bigger bin bags, medium sized shopping bags and smaller carry bags. The only thing is that consumers will have to pay a slightly higher price for cornstarch bags than plastic alternatives.

How is it made?

Corn is a versatile crop and provides the sturdy resins for the manufacture of cornstarch bag. The raw material is as resilient as polymer, from which plastics are manufactured. The biodegradable raw material for cornstarch bag is derived by extrusion and use of pressure and steam. The raw materials are thoroughly “cooked” before melting and drying into required form under atmospheric temperatures. The pressure release allows the material to expand and provide the “foam” making it suitable to be molded into bags of a variety of sizes.

Where can it be used?

Cornstarch bags have the capacity to complete replace plastic bags in all forms, they are highly resilient and can be used to carry all kinds of content – wet dry, climate sensitive and even keep the content more hygienic and thus used in the food industry. Cornstarch bags are being widely used in European nations and are being introduced into countries like India, Japan and Australia. While these bags get a bit pricier, it certainly is a great alternative to the harmful and toxic plastic.

How these bags are environment friendly?

The advantage with cornstarch bags is it being highly eco friendly. As long as this bag is in use, it works similar to a plastic bag, being resilient, sturdy and highly supportive. On dumping the bag, it can be affected by environment elements and decomposing bacteria and subsequently get mixed with the soil to become an equal part of it. Cornstarch bags can be disposed off without risk of polluting the environment and ruining the water level, as has been the case with plastic alternative.

Why Packaging Plays An Important Role

Packaging plays a very important role in the marketing mix, right from promotion campaigns to pricing criterion and defining the brand. Packaging has been found to have a multisensory appeal, confirming evidences and presenting positive arguments in favor of the product. While the primary role of packaging is to preventing the product from getting damaged in any ways, it also acts as a tool of attraction, promotion, facilitate the purchase decision and helping in product/brand differentiation.

Different kinds of packaging

The type of packaging varies with the type of product. Broadly, they can be divided into two main categories: transport packaging and consumer packaging. Transport packaging is more connected to proper handling, transport and storage of the product. On the other hand consumer packaging is a tool for end user handling. This will involve holding the required volume of the product for the ultimate use of a single customer.

Sometimes, it is also a combination of both transport and consumer packaging, in case you have ordered a camera available in another country, it will be packed for safety during transportation (involving bubble wraps, strong wooden crates, etc) over the normal package that was meant to be sold in the local market. Food products on the other hand need to be packed such that they don’t get damaged from environmental elements. Glass and other fragile products needs a more safe packaging involving bubble wraps, tissue, blister packs, etc.

A package that will be remembered

Face value always has a crucial importance, be it people or products. Packaging makes the first impression upon the customer and if the manufacturer has been able to label it uniquely, the product might even be remembered for the package rather than its actual use. This is also the reason that many customers opt for a specific courier company that has the reputation of a safe and impressive packaging. For products like Cartier, there is enough reason that the user will even store away the deep red wrap carefully. That’s the impression it can make.

Products known for their packaging

Klein Constantia: The small white box comes with a gold crest and a single bee making its way into the box! The box also reveals some diecut bees inside and these are worth saving in the drawer.

Smirnoff Caipiroska: This bottle gives consumers the incredible experience of peeling off a fruit. The incredible diagonal perforation is certainly a reason that this product had gone popular.

Same has been the experience opening NYC Spaghetti, Butter! Better!, Blush Matches, Guggle Bum, Gloji Juice, Heresod T-Shirts and Ford Ranger Extreme Matchbox.

With retail marketing getting more competitive and varied, packaging has the potential to add distinctive value to a brand. Consider the aqua blue package of Tiffany and Co. or the flashy orange in Hermis products, and you will be able to better understand the real consequences of an elaborate packaging. Unlike advertising, packaging passes on the information in a more subtle way. Ordinary products can be turned irresistible with a unique packaging. As such, product packaging impacts the buyer’s decision emotionally, culturally and even ethically. It can make an otherwise boring/common product into something totally different and unique. A substantial part of the demographics buy products influenced by how they look from outside. For others, packaging is as important.

How to start your own online store – some things you need to consider

Planning to start your own online business? Running short on ideas as what could be the most suitable option? Well, starting an online store is a good idea. But it is not as easy as it appears to be. There are innumerable things that need to be handled and considered for setting up an online store. Here are some steps that can act as a guide:

Choosing the right domain name and overall system – To start an online store, the first thing that needs to be done is to get a suitable domain name and a good hosting service. The system should have great support and support of a reliable community. Choosing a hosted platform at affordable rates is recommended. 

Choose the products or services that you intend to sell online carefully – If you are intending to sell the products that you manufacture via the online store, it is a different story. However, if you are looking to sell products of various companies and leading brands, you have to do good amounts of research to choose the products and the services. Now there are innumerable online stores that sell various kinds of products and services and following them will make no impact. It is important to be unique in your business for making that mark. 

Make sure that the online store is duly optimized for best results – It has been mentioned previously as well that there is stiff competition in the online store business as there are umpteen options available to customers now. To come into public view, it is important that your online store is duly optimized so that it ranks high in the search engine results when search with key phrases is done. SEO is very important part of e-Commerce. Make sure that the product descriptions are unique and attractive. The products should also be categorized properly with correct URLs. 

Involving customers to participate in product reviews – Just selling the product via the online store is not your sole motto. As the owner of the online store, it is your duty to find out the reactions of the buyers and customers. Your online store should have the option where customers can come and provide their reviews and feedback regarding a particular product or service that they have bought from the online store. More positive reviews, better is the ranking and reputation of the online store. 

Make sure of having an active presence in social media – Without having an active presence in social media websites, it is difficult to let people know of your store. Try creating a Twitter handle, have a page on Facebook, create a profile on LinkedIn, post pictures and images on Pinterest and so on. More and more people see your online store on the social media platform, higher will be the numbers of visits. 

Do pay full attention to the significance of good packaging - Another very important aspect is packaging of the goods while delivery. It is highly recommended to ensure that the packaging is of highest quality so that the goods do not develop any kinds of damage while transportation or delivery. High quality packaging is an indication of a good and successful online store and of course it helps you build a responsible and reliable brand.

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