“Video killed the radio star” claimed a song a few years ago and in the end, video did impose and radio… remained. Did e-commerce kill packaging? That is the question we want to ask. Or, to put it in other words, in a complex digital world where we shop more and more online and where it is all about branding experience, what part should packaging play? A big one, even a huge one, I believe.
The first visual experience a consumer has with a brand is the product’s packaging. I would even say it is often -especially after the digital boom- the only one. How do brands address this fact when it comes to packaging?
So far, the purpose of most brands consisted in standing out on the shelves, either with an attractive visual or with a special material or design. Either way, how can we imagine that same product sold through online channels? Should it be presented with the same design or should we take more into account the platform where it will be displayed?
Consumers are increasingly demanding to endow products with emotional attributes and a specific packaging as a consequence, hence the success of personalized products. Online channels are doing nothing but enhancing this trend. Thus, a lot of new questions emerge. What added value can we provide? What are the consumers/users looking for when they buy online? Will we be able to transfer smart technology to packaging? Which new brand experiences will be created through packaging?
To find answers to these exciting questions, we will have to look “outside the box”.
Silvia Escrivá
Account Director at Logic Design Barcelona
(May 2019). News. IPMARK. Number 859, p. 18
