COP 3 - You only have 3 - 5 seconds

During my research about the packaging design and its effect on consumer purchasing choices, I've found an article which explains how packaging design can grab consumers attention in 3 -5 seconds only.  Link: You only have 3-5 seconds

The article talks about consumers which make hundreds of split-second decisions whilst walking through the shopping aisles. When they land on the shelf and packaging design doesn't grab their attention straight away they keep on walking, the product will probably never get another opportunity to convert them into a customer. The problem is then further compounded by the fact that if they didn't buy the product the first time to try it, they won't be back to buy it again and again and again. In this case, a company loses the lifetime values sales of that product. If a customer typically buys a product once a month, they not only have the company lost the initial sale, company have also lost all the additional top-up sales too. All because the packaging design failed to convince them to buy now! 

The 3 - 5 seconds WOW moment isn't enough! 

Whilst the LOUD SCREAMING pack may get the consumer's attention, and bring them to the shelf to look at the product, it won't necessarily close the sale. Packaging design must grab consumer attention - but that's only the first step. 

Example: 

Recently a manufacturer of natural nut bars and muesli bars changed their packaging. Whist their new pack screamed …”Hey look here! Look at me!”, when the consumer got close to the product on shelf and saw how “unnatural” the pack looked, they automatically assumed that the product wasn’t natural” either. It didn’t take long for the company to have to start discounting to move the product off the shelf. It has been nearly 3 months since the new product packaging was launched and the product is still being discounted. The sad thing about this story is that the company would have invested heavily in the new design, translating it across all touch-points, only to find that the design, whist attention grabbing, fails miserably on shelf.

BOLD packaging design 

Packaging design requires Boldness as opposed to loudness. Boldness happens when a packaging is designed in conjunction with authentic insights. An example of an 'Authentic Insight' may be to capitalize on a trend of a particular category. 

Example:

Here is a current trend for “artisan” food. “Bold” amplifies the “artisan” trend to create cut through on shelf. “Bold” is a single-minded proposition focus. Bold states something specific, it demonstrates something about the product & what it contains, or a new trend in the market. Then what being “bold” does is harmonizes this with the expectations and personal dispositions of the targeted consumer the package design is created for. To capture a consumer in 3-5 seconds, your package design needs to Boldly stand out against its competition by exhibiting distinction making it pop in it’s category. Boldness disrupts without alienating the consumer. This is not done by shouting the loudest. Rather, Boldness targets the expectations of the targeted consumer by appealing to that consumer’s core values and amplifying them.