24 October 2022
How personal is personalized packaging? Have you ever received a gift that had a message on it from someone you loved which really resonated with you? Have you ever got an email from a company doing a sales pitch, but because they used your name it felt more like they were talking to you as a human rather than a number on their list so you replied? Welcome to the power of personalization…here’s how to make the most of it within your brand.
Personalized products have become increasingly popular, personalized and niche; with 43% of consumers now expecting products to meet their personalized needs and 71% feeling frustrated when a shopping experience is unable to. But as a form of advertising, it’s come a long way since the single self-promoting papyrus script of a weaver dated around 3000 BC, or the political graffiti in Pompeii, or the first printed ad in the English language by Willaim Caxton in 1476/1477 selling books. But before we rush through and get to why Coca Cola’s personalized cans and Cadbury’s personalized boxes are so successful, we need to take a quick look at how important the advertising boom was to modern packaging and branding.
BRAND LOYALTY
As mentioned in the article Essential: The Importance Of Packaging, thanks to the industrial revolution, brands rather than individual sellers started being important; therefore consumers began having brand loyalty. This meant that even if another business sold exactly the same product they would only buy from the company they trusted. In 1793 the first loyalty program was invented using copper tokens, frequent customers would get a coin each time they made a purchase and at some point they could get a ‘free’ purchase by handing back a certain amount of coins. This generated repeat visits but it also made the customer feel valued (for more information on how important a loyalty program is check out the article Loyalty Cards: More Than A Card).
PERSONALIZATION
The personalization of packaging mainly came in the 2010’s, to give you an idea in 2017 the personalized packaging market was valued at $980 billion – expected to grow at a CAGR of 3%. Due to the nature of manufacturing, it’s not been as feasible to have packaging that’s 100% personalized until recent years…that flexibility is bringing with it a huge range of opportunity for brands who wish to implement this into their packaging. But what’s the effect?
84% of consumers say that brands who treat them like people are more likely to get their business and 63% of consumers are more likely to stop buying from a brand who doesn’t offer a personalized experience. As packaging, products and markets move further into Social Commerce and The Metaverse, personalization will become not only normal but expected when it comes to packaging and the entire shopping experience.
Would you like to offer personalized packaging solutions to your customers? Get in touch with the BPAK team and start your packaging journey.
