If you are in a small or midsize business, you may not have thought much about your brand identity, let alone your packaging brand identity. But branding is an important difference-maker for any size business — and it’s something GWC Packaging helps its customers improve on a daily basis.
What Is Branding?
Branding is any type of marking that distinguishes your product and/or company from competitors. Branding includes:
- The name of your company/product/service
- Your logo
- Your tagline
- The fonts and color(s) you use in marketing materials, products, packaging, etc.
- The style of language you use in marketing materials
Good branding is eye-catching, distinctive, consistent and genuine. The last element is very important: If your brand does not reflect your company or product, it will do you more harm than good.
Why Is Branding Important?
Big companies spend millions creating and promoting their brands. There must be a reason. Actually, there are several, and they are sure to apply to your business.
- Branding makes your company/products familiar to people, which establishes credibility. People would rather buy from a known quantity than an unknown quantity.
- Branding creates an emotional connection with buyers and prospects that improve customer retention. Think about brands such as Apple or Whole Foods Market. People remain loyal customers through good times and bad.
- Branding confirms that a small company is sophisticated and well organized, again enhancing credibility and trust.
- Branding helps fight commoditization of your product(s), which in turns helps maintain higher prices for your products or services.
- By virtue of all the above, strong brands add value to your company — an extremely important factor when it comes time to sell a business or product/service line.
How Can We Improve Our Packaging Brand Identity?
Packaging plays a critical role in overall branding, but one that often goes unnoticed or underutilized. Here are some examples of creating a brand identity with packaging.
- Eco-friendly packaging materials. Most companies today want to convey a strong commitment to the environment as being central to their company values. Perhaps the best way of all to communicate this is with the packaging materials you use. Corrugated boxes with high recycled content, paper-based inner packaging materials, packaging designs that reduce packaging materials, and an environmental statement printed on the box (with eco-friendly ink) are some examples of how you can demonstrate your commitment to environmental stewardship.
- Labeling and printing packaging materials. Your shipping box or mailer need not be a generic package. Adding your logo, product name or other branding images can be accomplished with pressure-sensitive labels, inkjet labeling, printed case sealing tape, printed corrugated boxes, printed edge protectors or corner protectors on unitized loads, and in many other ways.
- Brand-consistent packaging. Make sure your packaging designs and materials do not contradict your brand message. For example, if your company/product/service brand is all about convenience, and your packaging is nearly impossible to open, you will destroy your credibility every time a customer receives a shipment. Brands that stress the environment must use environmentally friendly packaging. Brands that stress innovation must use creative packaging designs.
Brand identity is important. Creating a strong packaging brand identity takes strategic thinking and an understanding of the options. GWC Packaging can help you with the big picture and all the details — please contact us now to discuss your branding objectives.