How Packaging Impacts Brand Identity and Agency

While it may not be apparent to everyone, your food or beverage product packaging design matters a lot more than one might think. Key stakeholders realize this, and consumers do, as well. So whether you’re emerging as a new start-up business in the food and drink industry or you plan to rebrand your current brand strategy, you should understand how to appeal to customers and stand out from established brands.

What Is Brand Identity?

Brand identity is a set of elements that represent a company or organization’s overall image and perception. It is developed through the use of visual elements such as logos, colors, fonts, messages, and images to create an emotional connection with consumers. Ultimately, creating one helps to differentiate a product from its competitors and build consumer loyalty.

In the case of food and beverages, brand identity is often deep-rooted and taken extremely seriously by most consumers. People hold strongly to their preferred food brands largely because of their familiarity, and even the slightest design element change can bring lots of pushback.

How New Product Packaging Can Impact Your Brand

An important factor in overall brand success, a well-designed product package can attract attention and encourage customers to buy a food or beverage, while a poor design can lead to confusion and drive away potential buyers. At the heart of it are the branding elements that play an important role in how people perceive a product.

For example, bright colors may draw attention to the product and create an emotional response from consumers. Different shapes can create a distinct look and feel that will stand out from competitors. Plus, fonts should be chosen carefully to ensure that the message is clear and easy to read.

By considering these design elements and more, a food brand can create a timeless product that will increase brand recognition and loyalty. Packaging has the potential to have a major impact on how customers perceive a brand and its products, so it is important to create something that is both eye-catching and informative.

So, What Do Customers Like?

Different things appeal to different consumers. However, thanks to many trends and studies, business owners can easily observe the types of food packaging design elements customers go for and what they don’t like. Some of the more positively received ideas include:

Clear, Concise Labeling – Customers appreciate clearly labeled packages that provide quick and easy information about what is inside.
Eye-Catching Visuals – Many consumers are drawn to colorful and visually appealing packaging designs.
Innovation – Innovative and creative package designs that stand out from the rest of the products on the shelf are always a plus.

On the other hand, many customers aren’t so keen on the following design tactics:

Too much text or information that feels cluttered and overwhelming
Poorly designed graphics or artwork that doesn’t stand out or reflect the product well
Unclear labeling that makes it difficult to quickly understand what is in the package or what it’s used for
Poor color selection, making the package look dull and unappealing

Want to learn more about prioritizing food package design as a start-up business? Read our guide on helpful strategies.

Developing New Product Packaging for Your Start-Up Business

Every Design Tip You Need to Package New Products

Avoid turning off your potential consumers and take these five tips for designing your new food product packaging:

1. Understand Your Target Audience

Before you revamp your package design, take a good look at who your target audience is and understand their needs and preferences. This should help you make better decisions regarding what it should look like. Take into account factors like age, gender, lifestyle, and interests when designing to best appeal to your customer base.

2. Define Your Brand Identity

With food and beverage packaging, your identity is the first thing that should grab a customer off the shelf. This means creating a unified color scheme, logo placement, font type, and other visual aspects of your packaging. Your target audience should be able to look at your packaging and immediately know who made it and what it’s for.

3. Emphasize the Visual Appeal

Rely heavily on your design elements, such as logo, font, color, photography, shape, and more, to effectively communicate your message. Visuals add an element of fun, allowing the consumer to feel a sense of nostalgia. For example, if you’re selling a box of breakfast cereal, use bright colors and fun patterns to make the package stand out on the store shelves.

4. Stay Mindful of Trends

Staying up-to-date with packaging trends is important, as they can help create an attractive and effective package. Consider incorporating current marketing trends in terms of design and observe how other food brands have fared in terms of longevity.

5. Make Your Product Your Own

When designing a package for a new food or beverage product, it is important to ensure that the design reflects your brand’s unique identity. Always use your product to help establish an even stronger presence in the marketplace.

Take Control of Your Brand Identity With DePersico Creative

Need a brand analysis to help you get on the right track? We can help. At DePersico Creative, we’re experts in implementing creative strategies to help food and beverage companies transform their brands. From providing marketing materials to product positioning and logo and package design, we specialize in complete visual storytelling that keeps products flying off the shelves.

Start by checking out the new products we’ve launched and contact us today.