SENSORY PACKAGING: THE CREATIVE PACKAGING OF THE FUTURE

We certainly have a special attachment to traditional packaging because of its usefulness and universality, but we can’t help but be fascinated by new trends in creative packaging. One of these is sensory packaging. Mainly, it promises to win us over through our senses when we receive an order, which is usually sent by e-commerce.

So what are brands thinking in terms of packaging innovation? We are entering a new era: the creative packaging of the future, and we don’t want to miss it.

So what is sensory packaging?

Sensory packaging is a type of packaging that is thought to create a differentiated buying experience, especially for customers at the moment they receive the package and do the unboxing.

Traditional commerce, in physical shops, has always taken care of this aspect. In short, it makes the customer feel comfortable in the shop. The lighting, the decoration and aesthetics, the distribution of products, the ambient music, the smell when entering the shop, among others.

The sensory packaging is born from the desire of e-commerce to reproduce the experience of a purchase in the physical shop, but offering the possibility of opening a package at any location. Undeniably, packaging and packaging seek to stimulate the customer’s senses and create emotions.

Surely the first thing a customer sees when receiving a package is the outer packaging. As a result, the first sense to receive information is sight: a quick identification of colours, messages and logos. The rest of the sensory information is jumbled up. Brands increasingly seek to convey harmony. Touch is involved when opening the packaging: a tissue paper filling will not transmit the same as a kraft paper filling, for example. To stimulate the sense of smell, many brands already incorporate the characteristic smell of the physical shop into the packaging.

Sound is worked in through the different packaging materials. After all, there are already many e-commerce players who even think about the taste by accompanying the order with some nice detail. For example: sweets.

Achieving a multi-sensory experience thanks to packaging is possible

In fact the study by ProCarton and Gruppe Nymphenburg, Verpacken Sie Limbisch (“Packaging according to the limbic approach – part of the brain involved in emotions -) studied the multisensory shopping experience applied to brands.

Some of the recommendations of this study for seducing customers with packaging are:

– Adapt the packaging to the target audience: research the person who is going to open that packaging, taking into consideration demographic values such as age or gender, for example;

– Communicate clearly: we have to decide what emotion we want to arouse in the customer, who will open the packaging, and what message we want;

– Minimalist and focused packaging: too many details may confuse the customer and reduce the impact of the message when unboxing the package. Simplicity must always be present;

– Express emotions through the packaging material: for example, as we treat the card, it can express different motivations: naturalness, but also vintage effect, functionality, austerity, poetry, precision, among others;

– Send signals to the senses: multisensory communication stimulates, the opening of the rest of our senses, enriching customer satisfaction;

– Support the brand image through packaging: brand values must always be taken into account when designing creative packaging. It is therefore a question of complementing the customer experience in relation to the brand.

Conclusion

Do you want to surprise and dazzle your customers with packaging? At RAJA we are packaging experts! If you need advice, contact our experts on 707 788 008 or via email: contacto@rajapack.pt. They will be happy to help you choose which solutions best suit your business.