Packaging that interprets model goal helps entice and retain clients

Companies invest in sustainable and reusable packages that tell the story of the products

Sustainable packaging, which goes beyond technical information and communicates the purpose of the brand, can be another tool to win over and retain customers.

The strategy helps bring “a human aspect close to the consumer”, says Vitor Fernandes, designer and professor at the Centro Universitário Belas Artes.

According to him, the concern with social and environmental responsibility has changed the consumer’s relationship with packaging. “The public has paid more attention to the amount and type of material they take home,” he says.

At Simple Organic, an organic cosmetics brand, the objective of the packaging is to cause the least possible environmental impact, says Patrícia Lima, 43, CEO and founder of the company.

After the purchase, the customer takes the products home in the Simple Bag, a transparent bag produced by the brand with a starch, glycerin and water compound. The material, similar to that used in medicine capsules, can be dissolved in hot water and discarded.

Those who buy online receive cosmetics protected with corn extrudate, a biodegradable material with a texture similar to Styrofoam, used to protect products from transport impacts.

In November, the company shared its sustainable practices at COP27, the climate conference organized by the UN in Egypt.

Today, Simple has around 80 employees. The products are sold in 28 franchised stores and on the website, with prices between R$40 and R$180.

In the case of Mica Crafted Chocolates, which sells artisanal chocolates, the packaging idea was clear since the company opened in 2018: products for gifts, with fun, colorful and spontaneous boxes, says the company’s owner, Michelle Kallas, 37.

According to the entrepreneur, the reference for Mica’s identity does not come only from other chocolate brands, but also from colors and patterns in fashion and stationery.

“On the market I could always find chocolates in more sober packaging, with gold, brown. Nothing that had my personality”, says she, who considers the packages as extensions of her products.

“People use the rigid boxes later to store jewelry; the cans, to store pencils, ”she says. She says she receives positive feedback on the packages.

The chocolates are sold at Mica’s store, located in Pinheiros, west of São Paulo, and on the internet. Prices vary between R$6 and R$358.

In online purchases, when the customer does not have direct contact with the packaging, entrepreneurs can use it as a way to improve the post-purchase experience, says Fernandes, from Belas Artes.

“In many stores, you receive the package, open the box and find a ‘treat’, a curiosity about the history of the thing or a handwritten message.” Actions of this type, he says, do not cost much and can encourage the sharing of positive opinions.

At Amaka, which sells African fabrics and accessories, the owner of the brand Helen Amaka, 35, realized the need to get closer to the public during the pandemic, due to the end of contact with customers at fairs and events.

The products are delivered wrapped in tissue paper, with a thank you note, in scented boxes. For fabrics that carry the symbology of an African country, it includes a folder explaining the history of the pattern.

With the growth of the store, the entrepreneur says she has invested in making handbags, wallets, earrings and other accessories. About 10% of revenue, which she prefers not to reveal, is spent on design and purchasing materials for the packages.

Amaka’s average monthly sale is 150 meters of fabric and 100 accessories. The price of the products goes from R$ 15, in hair accessories, to R$ 180, in backpacks.

How to choose the best packaging

• Design Consult a professional to have a strategy when choosing colors, typography and packaging format
• Less is more Look for solutions with a minimum of material. In addition to avoiding waste, this reduces the cost of production.
• Bet on the connection Know which message should be passed on. Packaging can convey a sense of security, fun, luxury or simplicity, according to the communication
• Know how much to invest Day-to-day products may have simple packages, but thematic packages can help in the perception of value of special collections
• Source: Vitor Fernandes, professor at Belas Artes, and Artur Takesawa, business consultant at Sebrae

Spending on packaging should not be seen as a burden, but rather as an investment that is capable of increasing the brand’s perception of quality, says Artur Takesawa, Sebrae’s business consultant.

“The packaging needs to attract attention and stir the emotions of those who buy it.” Therefore, entrepreneurs need to know what impact they want to make with their brand and how to communicate with consumers.

For small and medium-sized entrepreneurs who open businesses out of necessity, the concern with the visual identity comes after the expansion of the business. “Often those who undertake do not manage to invest in it right at the beginning”, says Takesawa.

Source: Leaf