 |
Store shelves are crowded with products competing for a consumer’s attention. Typically, a consumer takes less than three seconds to compare products. Good first impressions are more than important — they are vital. The need for effective and persuasive packaging is essential to successful product merchandising.
In many cases, the package has become both the product’s marketing and sales effort—a lone centurion in the retail sales war. Costly TV spots are reserved for only the biggest volume products, so today’s package has to get consumers attention and educate them. You can’t get the message across if your product doesn’t stand out. And with the decline of full service stores and shops, there are less and less sales people to help someone select a product, so the package has to be the salesman too. Packages have to grab your attention, and then sell you. It’s a lot to ask, but there is a particularly effective weapon for the store shelf battle.
Designers will tell you they understand the importance of “eye-catching” color, and color is important. But color alone won’t match the eye-catching optical quality of a holographic effect. Place the two alongside each other and the results are striking. The combination of color and holography gives package designers the ability to add subtle shimmers of light, create bold and vibrant looks, and mingle these elements together on a palette of graphical design options. It is this advantage that readily distinguishes a holographic package from others on the shelf.
Statistics claim that shoppers typically view less than fifty percent of the brands within a category, and that over one-third of products on the shelf are completely ignored by consumers – they simply are not seen and/or considered. These numbers corroborate the principle that the four basic elements of packaging design (color, shape, icons and words) are simply not enough to differentiate products on a store shelf. By adding holography, you can add another dimension, a fifth dimension to your package – colorful light and motion – producing brighter images and graphics that appeal to the consumer’s eye. Of course, there are many other factors that influence a consumer’s buying decision (i.e., brand allegiance, price, etc.), but a product’s packaging is often the first step in gaining a consumer’s consideration.
Holography leverages the design element of color by bringing it to a new level. Accomplished through holographic film’s natural multi-dimensional color spectrum, characteristics give a package visual depth. As effective package design increases a product’s perceived value, it maximizes both visual and emotional appeal, and makes the selection memorable. The holographic effect becomes an effective way to relay those visual messages, while enhancing package aesthetics.
When packaging is often the only advertising many brands receive, a unique packaging approach can be a tremendous advantage in drawing consumer’s attention and/or drive impulse purchases. Holographic films and foils provide the visual elements that allow a package to be seen by shoppers, influencing their conscious and unconscious purchasing decisions.
Brand name manufacturers of products like toothpaste (Colgate, Crest, Aquafresh); cosmetics (Clinique, Girl Cosmetics); snack foods (Nabisco, Keebler, Cadbury’s); detergents (Ariel); spirits (Coors, Stolichnaya, Canadian Club); collectible CD’s and DVD’s (Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Men in Black) are a few who have used holographic packaging and discovered that holographic packaging can not only launch new products, gain market share and maintain market positions, but also establish stronger brand identity.
Considering those precious few seconds of consumers’ decision time, holographic packaging is a key resource to consider when designing your next package. Holographic effects are available in laminating films, hot and cold stamp foils and label materials and can be applied to a wide variety of substrates. For more information on holographic packaging solutions, please contact Kevin Williams, Product Manager – Holographics at CFC International, Inc., Phone: 800-323-3399, e-mail: kwilliams@cfcintl.com. |
