How Creative Packaging Can Boost Your Brand

There are times in life when you receive an unexpected gift that really stands out, either for the packaging or the contents. As creative types, we love to be creative with our gifts and present them in creative ways. We want to be different and unique when it comes to our gifts. So, what about creative packaging? Well, creative packaging is very important when it comes to marketing your brand. It will help you to expand your business, gain recognition in the creative world, and give you that creative edge when competitors are trying to imitate your product.

Through packaging, an entrepreneur can boost their brand in various ways, such as; 

Unique stuffing and fillings 

There are creative ways to check the stuffing and fillings of your products. One key point is to be creative with it. We all know that packing peanuts are used to prevent the breakage of fragile items, however, you can use this as a creative packaging idea using something like masking tape or different color paper or plastic bags (for different contents). Taking care of the product is the first priority because the product can be worth the filling but it reaches the destination damaged. Next, consider the presentation by determining what works best for your product. 

Attractive Packaging Item

Another creative packaging item that you can use is the sticker label. The creative part of this packaging item is having your own customized sticker label with your company logo, contact details, and other important information like expiry dates (in the case of food products). This will help to differentiate your product from your competitors in the creative world and is so cost-effective way to market your creative products. The creative possibilities are endless when it comes to sticker labels; you can even use them as creative promotional ideas for concerts, parties, etc. Some creative individuals have found themselves in trouble with this packaging idea by making custom stickers that went viral on the internet and became a meme!

 

Exceptional Product to go Alongside Creative Package 

If you are creative with your branding, branding cannot be separated from creative packaging because the goal of any brand is to get recognized and remembered by consumers so that they can go back to buying your products. Consumers will interpret information on creative packages rather than creative products.

Creative product or creative package can be in the form of creative design, creative colors, creative shapes, creative materials, creative size, etc. Using creative packaging is an effective way to market your brand without having to spend too much. The goal of every entrepreneur should always be to make their business profitable and cost-effective. In creative packaging, creative shapes and creative sizes are a creative way to stand out from the competition. Think about it: how many times have you purchased something that was priced at a lower value but came in a creative size or shape? Some creative entrepreneurs will use creative shapes as an opportunity to market their brand by introducing a creative product.

Artistic Packaging Wrapping Technique

Another creative idea is the creative wrapping technique. This creative packaging item will help you to differentiate your product from your competitors in the creative world. If you are creative, then this creative packaging item will give your product that creative edge it needs to stand out among other products out there in the market. Here are creative ways to create packaging: There is no limit on the creativity of your product and this will be reflected in your packaging. You can also use creative material like sandpaper, creative colors, creative tags to create a creative package.

How Food is Protected Thanks to Today’s Innovative Packaging Processes

Today’s food industry relies upon modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) to keep food fresh and palatable. The process isn’t difficult to understand: gases are added to packages that slow spoilage and protect foods from elements that can spoil or taint it.

7 factors that MAP can prevent in the packaging of food 

• Light exposure can deteriorate food, but when gases are added, exposure to light is reduced or diminished.
• Infestations of parasites and rodents can be mediated by select gases that create a food barrier, eliminating smells that attract both to food.
• Microorganisms like bacteria, mold and yeast grow fast, contributing to food spoilage. The MAP process stops this growth by eliminating oxygen needed by these microorganisms to thrive.
• Physical damage to packages can ruin contents, but the addition of select gasses can act as a cushion that safeguards especially fragile products like potato chips and crackers. 
• When foodstuffs are exposed to oxygen, fats can turn foods rancid or make them prematurely stale. Oxygen can also impact food color.
• High temperatures promote food spoilage, which is why gases in concert with multi-ply packaging are becoming the hallmark for temperature control that maintains the integrity of packaged food. 
• Time is a big factor when it comes to food spoilage. The use of modified atmosphere packaging gases extends freshness and allows producers to use fewer artificial additives, a fact consumers appreciate. 

Gases that keep foods safe and fresh

While some gases are not used for the purpose of packaging foods because they’re too expensive or not stable, these 5 help foods remain at peak taste and freshness:

• Carbon dioxide (Co2) slows down oxidation. It’s frequently paired with nitrogen to slow the growth of bacteria, microorganisms, and yeast. Co2 is used to preserve soft drinks, sparkling waters, and beers as well as hard cheeses and yogurts. 
• Helium (He) is essential to the complicated process of detecting gas leaks in food packages, thus it’s regularly used during the MAP process. 
• Carbon monoxide (CO): This colorless, odorless, tasteless gas preserves and stabilizes the natural flavor and color of meat. Further, CO slows down spoilage and tenderizes meats, serving a unique purpose at meat processing plants requiring extra measures to keep foods safe. 
• Nitrogen (N2): Nitrogen, another tasteless and odorless element, is regularly paired with other gases to make sure packages don’t collapse around contents, especially foods that include high moisture and fat content. Used to give potato chips, nuts, cocoa, coffee, and powdered milk “breathing room,” N2 also acts as a filler in beverages that range from wine and beer to soft drinks.
• Nitrous oxide: Nitrous oxide is vital to the production of propellants that dispense aerosol cream products. While still in very early stages, nitrous oxide is currently being used in the tilapia fillet packaging process to keep fish stable until it’s ready for preparation. 

As you can surmise, the introduction of vital gases to the food packaging process is not just helpful but essential. Next time you browse shelves and freezer cases at your favorite supermarket, keep in mind the important role the modified atmosphere packaging process plays in your life. 

Types Of Contract Packaging Services

No wonder you may have to consider whether you should choose a contract packaging company for your packaging operations. With the availability of so many options, it is easy to get caught in confusion.

You can utilize all or some services provided by a contract packaging firm. Moreover, you should know that not all contract packaging companies offer the same services.

Your best bet is to have a solid understanding of different contract packaging services. That will make it easy for you to choose a contract packaging company offering the services you need.

Every contract packaging company offers a host of services. While you may notice cross-over on many contract packaging companies’ services, each of those vendors will offer some services that others don’t.

Now, we will discuss some types of contract packaging companies.

Contract Packaging Services: Primary Packaging

Primary packaging is the first layer of packaging that comes in contact with the product. The purpose of this packaging is to contain, protect, and preserve the product. That way, the product remains protected against contamination.

A noticeable example of primary packaging is blister packaging that contains over-the-counter pharmaceutical products. Aside from protecting the product, these materials also inform consumers about any contamination.

Contract Packaging Services: Third-Party Logistics

Third-party logistics or 3PL refers to the outsourcing of logistics. It can be the outsourcing of several operations, including cold storage, inventory control, and fulfillment. This option is usually more viable for e-commerce businesses.

Hiring 3PL companies can help businesses simplify and streamline their businesses. Automation or outsourced labor is an essential aspect of this process. Companies can get a significant burden off their shoulders by letting 3PL companies manage warehousing, storage management, and transportation.

3PL companies help their clients by simplifying their supply chain management. That also improves speed to the market and reduces costs.

Contract Packaging Services: Cold-Storage

Cold storage refers to refrigerated storage and transportation to keep the products in a cool environment. Products that have to be kept cool include frozen pizzas, soft drinks, ice cream, and some pharmaceutical products.

Contract Packaging Services: Kitting

The process of unitizing several SKUs into a single package to form a new SKU is known as kitting. These contract packaging services are quite popular among e-commerce businesses and retail establishments. These businesses often need a collection of several products prepackaged to create one easy-to-manage SKU.

Contract Packaging Services: Point-Of-Purchase Display

Point-of-purchase displays refer to physical or digital branded displays at locations where consumers are likely to decide on buying or not buying products. These displays contribute to influencing the in-store shopping experience of consumers.

An essential factor playing a role in creating such an effect is eye-catching branded content. This content may appear on stacked products, cardboard shelving, banners, or other digital or physical elements that attract consumer’s attention.

Is contract packaging appropriate for you?

While contract packaging can benefit every type of business that has to package and ship products, it is still necessary to evaluate whether you need this service. You have to weigh a lot of factors to decide on this. Those may include costs, accessibility, and the size of your business.

How to get Plastic Packaging In a circular Economy

This is something that customers want more than anything, since it offers safety, and a good use of materials. We want the barriers that reduce the gas permeation, and the moisture for sensitive products, and we also want UV inhibitors and colors so that it protects against any loss of flavor, or nutrients as well. We also may want the package to be a bit bright as well. Then, we want the recycling efforts that are able to be achieved as well, and this is something that is a bit of a challenge for some companies. 

But what happens once we get all of this back? The existing attack is usually recycling mechanically, where it separates materials based on metal, glass, paper, and plastics, and it’s very easy to set it up and reclaim the materials. The mechanical recycling though only goes so far with plastics, since they can’t deviate those feedstocks from the polymer that’s there, and the materials that we add to improve the performance of the packaging can impact the processing and appearance of those polymers. Then, it takes us to the next level when it comes to circularity. 

If we want that, we need to have chemical and advanced recycling that makes it economical and one that works. The recycling of this allows for the feedstocks of this to deviate from this and any other undesirables, creating high-quality resins too. There are three areas of advanced recycling, each offering polymer breakdowns, and a different level of purity that’s needed for the feedstocks too. First you’ve got purification, which is where plastics get dissolved in solvents that are targeted, and this is extracted and the contaminated is then used as additives, barriers, and colorants which can be filtered and removed. 

The result of this is a polymer which can be reused too. Technologies that focus on polystyrene and polypropylene are currently being used, with the feedstock offering more contaminants than what mechanical can handle, but it does target the polymers, and limited contaminants are there too. 

Then you’ve got decomposition, which is where plastics get broken down into monomers, and then immediate and the process lets the contaminants be taken out too. The intermediates and monomers are then used in order to create new polymers. There are different technologies that exist which focus on PET, and the feedstock from there can have a lot more contaminants than the mechanical recycling and purification. Finally, we have conversion, which is where plastics get broken down into decomposition, and then there are hydrocarbons which are used to create new monomers, polymers, and intermediates, and the raw materials don’ have to create the same polymers from where they are coming from, and instead they use a polymer feedstock for purification and decomposition. 

The challenge 

There were technologies that have challenges that come with this. A big part of it is that there are fuels and petrochemicals which go to waste that are used in this, and they usually produce a lot in the polymers stage. Scaling this for production is the hardest part. But if you wat plastic back, you need to have the right programs in place, which can be capable of producing thousands of pounds of plastic in about an hour, and it can take a lot of challenges. 

The best way to fix this is to encourage, invest, and support the programs which drive the technologies, and from there, use the materials there to drive the demand, which in turn can help with the plastic demands that are there too. 

Does Good Packaging Impact Sales

There’s a ton to be said about packaging which catches the eye. According to a study recently done through the Paper and Packaging Board, about 72% of the customers that are there did say that the design of a products packaging does influence decisions. The packaging and aesthetics will help you stand out from the crowd. For those in retail, if you’re paying for the shelf space, you want that to come back to you in the form of sales through good packaging. The biggest factors for selling items include the following though: 

• How your price compares to others on the market 

• The range of products 

• The materials for production 

• Research on the marketplace 

You have a lot to think about, but when you get a good feel for the kind of packaging you want to do, it gives a good first impression. It helps with preconceptions, targeting the mass appeal by creating packaging that allow for users to tr out new products. 

Marketing and Packaging 

Packaging is a big tool that lets customers know about the products at hand. Through colors, fonts, and images, you can create eye-catching display products. There are a few things to look at when you’re trying to put together the correct packaging: 

• The logo and brand name, ensuring it’s summed up well 

• Taglines and slogans for buyer incentives 

• Adjectives for benefits of the product 

• Vouchers, samples, and discounts to get customers to come back to get more 

• Contact info so that it’s easy to get ahold of you so they can buy more 

These are all the basics of your packaging, and you may wonder why packaging matters. 

Why packaging is vital for branding 

This is because of one thing which is new and recent: product unboxing. For those who aren’t familiar with it, product unboxing isn’t just practical, but it’s an experience completely. Packaging that’s good lets your product speak to other customers before they even open the entire thing. Unboxing is something that’s its own genre these days, as a lot of creators will rate not just the product, but the packaging. 

You need to make sure that you have this in place, especially for repeated buyers. Themed, seasonal, and other kinds of packaging do encourage more purchases, and you can use this in subscription boxes to provide a new item every single month. The fonts, colors, and the size and the weight of your package, all of this plays a major part in the customer experiences.

Good unboxing experiences offer sales, more customers, and people do want to buy all of this again, and it works to further consolidate the entire customer base that’s there. If you think about stories that you’d like to tell through packaging, without using words, you probably have asked a few questions here and there about it. All of these do work together, building the ideal customer experience through the use of product packaging. 

If you’re really stuck on how to design something, there is always one way to help you stand out. Custom packaging retailers help you design the ideal package so that everything gets noticed. They can offer custom boxes which are printed, to the exact standards that are there. 

A lot of design experts also are there to help create the ideal designs for a product, to represent your brand. You can impress your customers with good packaging that’s personalized, and in turn, that’ll speak volumes about the different aspects of the business which are there. Product packaging is great for brands.

Starting My Own ECommerce Business

Let’s face it - this pandemic has hit us super hard. I know that some people have been more affected than others, and that is totally something that one needs to consider when sharing their own pandemic situation. However, I have had my fair share of struggles through this whole thing as well. While I did not end up losing anyone close to me to COVID (thank the Lord) I faced a lot of financial uncertainty and was at risk of completely losing my business, which in turn meant losing my home and my livelihood. Now, I am a simple man who owns a bait and tackle shop in a rural town in Florida. I have seen a lot of dark days in my lifetime, but never has my life been so completely upended like it was in the face of the COVID19 pandemic. Once the government decided that most restaurants, businesses, and other public places needed to be closed down for several months, I was not sure if my business would make it through to the other side. However, thanks to eCommerce and technology, I have been able to thrive in the midst of this crazy time. 

The first hurdle I needed to overcome was my aversion to all things technology. Like I said earlier, I am a simple man who loves to fish and is passionate about bait and tackle. I did not have much need or use in my life for fancy technology or great involvement with computers or the internet. However, I was introduced to the idea of eCommerce by a colleague of mine who was also a small business owner. It seemed like that was my only shot at making it through the pandemic with my business intact, so I just went for it. To my surprise, I found it relatively easy to adjust to the online world. I had help creating my website and various software accounts to manage my orders and inventory, but after that it was all smooth sailing. The nice thing about my customers is that they are very loyal and always come back to shop again; once they heard that I was still kicking online, I had no problem filling orders throughout the week! I even began to see more and more people start to buy my products. I realized that, due to the pandemic, people were on the prowl for new hobbies of all sorts, including fishing. 

It was nice to see the spike in new customers wanting to shop my store and buy my products. Managing my store online was definitely new for me and caused a lot of stress at first, but I knew it was the only way for me to keep my business alive. I had to invest in a lot of different shipping boxes and packaging materials because people only used to buy my products in person.

I even

had orders coming in from different states and eventually different parts of the world, how crazy is that! It took me a hot minute to find the right supplier of shipping boxes because many companies were having supply chain problems and shortages due to the pandemic. Now that things are opening up again and I am back in my store, I can happily say that I kept my business alive through the pandemic with the help of eCommerce.

Why I Left My Job At The Amazon Warehouse

Say what you will about Jeff Bezos. I know there is a lot of controversy going around about him at the moment and many people have found a complete distaste for all things Jeff Bezos and Amazon related. However, the ironic part is that most of these same people still use Amazon to order a multitude of products on a regular basis. I know that we as a country worship convenience and ease of use above all else, and that is demonstrated by the way we shop for things. However, it is true that there is something sinister about Amazon. Personally, I don’t believe that one man should be able to be worth that much money. Jeff Bezos is worth 193.4 billion dollars, the richest man to ever live in the history of the world. That number alone is crazy, but it is also crazy to think that he is on his way to becoming the world’s first trillionaire. Some people think that might be a little far-fetched, but I believe in exponential growth and the greedy heart of Jeff Bezos. I don’t doubt that one day we might see him as a trillionaire amidst a starved and suffering world.

I am writing this article to talk about my job at an Amazon warehouse. Now I am a young guy, and I needed a job in between career changes. I had heard a lot of mixed things about working for Amazon. Mostly, I heard that it is a cold and unfriendly place and all around not a good work environment. The hourly salary was decent compared to other places around my area, though, and the hours I was promised to be able to work were definitely enticing. I decided to try my luck and apply for an Amazon warehouse and distribution center in my city. Despite all the criticism that Amazon constantly faces in the press and on social media about their working conditions and treatment of employees, you cannot refute the simple fact that people are still wanting to work at Amazon because of the competitive pay and apparent benefits for employees. Well, I am here to tell you what it is really like to work in an Amazon warehouse. Hopefully I can enlighten you on some new facts and put some old rumors to bed in the process.

First off, I would like to say that Amazon’s warehouses are massive. Like, it is almost incomprehensible how big some of these things are. Shipping boxes are transported in bins and conveyors as far as the eye can see. If you turned off all the lights in there and put me in a random spot in the warehouse, I probably would have been lost for at least a week and a half.

I worked as a picker during my time there, which involved running around with a handheld GPS looking for certain packages and pulling them off of shelves, where I scanned them and put them into the bin I was toting around. This work wasn’t too bad at first, and honestly felt kind of fun for the time being. Eventually though, I got tired of scanning shipping boxes all day and walking over 15 miles a day with my sore feet. That’s why I quit my job at Amazon. Down with Jeff Bezos, the villain of our generation.