Livingston Reporting - page 256

How many products do you estimate are on your local grocery store shelves on any given day?  The ballpark figure from the Food Marketing Institute is that there are about forty thousand different items to choose from.  That is a lot of opposition for your product.  How will you make sure that your product stands out from the competition?

The answer to this billion dollar question – your products package and label design.  Here is a closer look into what makes or breaks your company products packaging and label design.

Simple and Clear:  The next time you are visiting the supermarket take some time to check out a random shelf.  Take a moment to browse through the selection of products.  While you are doing this ask yourself two very simple and clear questions; what is the product used for and what is the brand behind it?

You will simply be amazed at how hard it is to answer these two simple questions.  If your product and label design doesn’t answer these two questions in less than four seconds you can be sure that consumers will move on.  It is a subconscious decision that is made within four seconds.  When you are designing your products label and package it is crucial that you are clear about the product and clear about the brand.

Truthful: Nothing sells your product time and time again more than an honest depiction.   Don’t give your product a “facelift” to a degree that portrays it in a light other than what it is.  Your label should not mislead consumers.

Here is a prime example of what not to do.  Don’t show a soft, gooey chocolate covered cookie on the product label when in reality you are selling a simple, flat, chocolate flavored biscuit.  Instead take time to show the simple, flat, chocolate flavored biscuit in a complimentary, flattering way.  Your label should represent your product at its best allowing your targeted market to get an honest look in to what they are purchasing.

Shelf Impact:   Remember that your product will never be viewed alone or in great deal at the store.  It is important for your product to make a different when sitting on the shelf next to the competition; this is known as your product’s shelf impact.   Your label and product packaging need to be distinctive and appeal to consumers.  Your product’s shelf impact is one of the most important reasons consumers make an initial purchase as well as recalling it at a later date for continued purchases.

Practicality:  Your products container, not just the label, should be sensible as well in size, shape and function.  The container should be practical, simple to use and possible reusable.   Practicality helps combat many package design challenges that exist.   One such example is how difficult ketchup is to get out of the glass bottle.  Ketchup manufacturers decided to win the battle by designing a plastic container where the lid was used as the bottom allowing it to stand upside down.  The struggle with getting the ketchup out of the glass bottle no longer exists.  Practicality sells products.

Using the tips above when designing your package and label will help you to create and manufacture a product that flies off the shelf.

At Anchor Printing, we take pride in offering our clients cut & stack labeling, pressure sensitive labels, roll-fed labeling, shrink sleeves as well as flexible packaging options. Contact us today at http://anchorprinting.com for all of your product label design, printing and packaging needs.

Labels are not simply thrown together, slapped with a product name, put on a shelf and popular with consumers.  Graphic designers work together with marketing teams to create labels that sell products.  It is important that both the designer and marketing team consider how the colors used within the label work alone and together.  To better understand color psychology and how it can be used to influence buying decisions let’s look deeper into the influence color has on our human emotions.

Your company’s label is arguably the most important marketing tool used to encourage consumers to purchase your product over the competition.  The colors you choose to represent your product and incorporate within your label will help to make or break your sales.

Colors used on their own evoke different emotions than when used together.  It is important to have a solid understanding of this concept when designing any label.  Consider how you want consumers to feel before, during and after they purchase and use your product.  Analyze what colors or combination of colors work to evoke these emotions and incorporate them within your label design as well as promotional marketing materials.

Colors and Emotions That They Evoke

Black: Black is a color that can be interpreted to mean several things.  It is a different than many colors in that it evokes two very different meanings.   Black is a color that people associate with virility, firmness, strength and permanency.  It can also trigger emotions such as despair, hopelessness and sorrow.  Be careful when using black in labeling noting that it can evoke different feelings for consumers.  Black is often used to highlight text making it pop and stand out from the design surrounding it.

Blue:  Creativity, pleasure and well being come from the color blue.  Consumers relate blue to ideals such as freedom and happiness.  The color is great for label designs looking to create a feeling of free will.  Consumers will subconsciously choose your product over the competition because they feel free in making the decision.

Green: If you are looking to bring a sense of peace, happiness and relaxation to consumers then green is your color of choice.  The color green should be used when looking to calm and reassure clients.  This color will make them unequivocally purchase your product; consumers will not question the integrity of your product when you use green as a main color within your label.

White:  White is used to create a feeling of lightness.  It is a color that offers security, tranquility and relaxation.  White is used to accomplish a feeling of complacency as well.  Marketers should use white in label design to make consumers feel good about choosing their product.  White makes us feel clean, new and renewed.

Brown:  Brown is great for stability.  If you want to have a label that gives off a feeling of being natural, down to earth and organic brown is a great color to chose.  Using the color brown in product labeling gives the sense of trustworthiness.

Orange: If you are looking to make consumers hungry use the color orange when designing your product label.  Orange offers a sense of clarity, strength and vigor.

Purple: Purple is a color that shows prestige.  When used in a label it evokes sensitivity and security.  The color purple sends signals of compassion.  Purple used in labeling makes your product something that is needed and motivates consumers to purchase.

Red:  Label designs using red will literally cause consumers heart rates to pick up.  It is a color that offers a sense of warmth, love and sexuality.  It entices consumers; although the color red can give off a sense of mystery and danger it intrigues customers into making a purchase; perhaps as more of an impulse than a regular purchase.

Color is a powerful element when used in design and labeling.  Make sure that your product label emits the emotions you are looking to provoke an immediate purchase.

At Anchor Printing, we take pride in offering our clients cut & stack labeling, pressure sensitive labels, roll-fed labeling, shrink sleeves as well as flexible packaging options. Contact us today at http://anchorprinting.com for all of your product label design, printing and packaging needs.