The Front Panel

By JoAnn Hines

When was the last time a product's packaging called to you from the shelf, "Buy me! Buy me!" so that you actually picked it up and really looked at? Or are you like most consumers who buy the same reliable "stand-by" products on every trip to the store?

With the proliferation of products on the shelves, we are often simply too overwhelmed with the number of product offerings to make a change. The decision-making process is simply too complex to assess new products on the shelf or to determine if the new product can replace what we currently use.

I have to keep the old packaging for my husband when he goes to the store or invariably he comes back with a different, new, or improved version of what he was sent to get. Who can get mad when he's helping out? Sometimes that doesn't even work. (Did you know that because 10% of men are color blind, the subtle gradation of colors, purple, magenta, and heliotrope used by the Friskies cat food label to differentiate the various foods inside may mean nothing to the average male?)

Fresh colors may attract the consumer's eye in the aisle, but concise communication of benefits, line "100% Complete & Balanced Nutrition" and "The Taste Cats Love!" will more likely lead to repeat sales.

As a seasoned veteran who speaks and writes about packaging on a daily basis, I sometimes get snookered by the latest product on the shelf. Don't you just love it when the brand you have been buying for years suddenly not only looks different but has a completely new color scheme along with a confusing array of new and improved versions? Don't they know I'm overworked, time-crunched, and over the edge about making an informed shopping decision?

Add to this the fact that various practitioners are telling me how to eat healthy, look younger, consume smaller potions with less fat and less carbs, plus get all the essential vitamin and minerals I need. They implore me to try the new and improved version while supporting my favorite charity and saving the planet too. So what am I to do when poised to make that purchasing decision to ensure I'm getting the product I am looking for? Or, how can we as package designers help people like us identify and buy their favorite products?

The answer: Simplify the information. Make it easy to find out all the features and benefits of the product. Don't confuse the customer with superfluous information. Yes, it's used by such and such, but who cares? I don't. Use the personal mantra WIIFM (what's in it for me) when creating copy for packages or ads. If a consumer buys your product, what will they get in return? Forget the hype and the over-the-top, trite marketing gimmicks. Plain and simple — how will it make our lives better?

Give me good value at a fair price, even a premium price; it's worth it to make it simple for me to reach a decision instead of me staring at the label trying to decide the best value. Tell me all the important information, too. Is it ready to go or do I need to read a set of complex instruction before using the product? Is it enough to feed an army (to use my mother's expression) or enough for the two of us without leftovers? After it is open, what can I do with it besides give it to the cat?

I've seen wonderful new product introductions fail simply because the packaging doesn't get the job done. This is the problem of overreaching designers trying to solve too many problems with one product or package. Yes, I'm a packaging expert — but even I don't want to engage my brain in complex decision making when shopping for necessities. Just get me in and out the door with a minimum of stress and satisfy my needs with the products purchased.

Customers aren't all "experts" when it comes to packaging, so think about that the next time you develop your packaging concept. Make it work from the customer's needs and perspective — not the designer's.

JoAnn Hines, The Packaging Diva, is the founder of Women in Packaging, Inc., an international, non-profit, professional packaging organization. Hines specializes in teaching people how to package products consumers will buy, and can be reached at packagingdiva@aol.com.