Brand Product Pack Diagram-heart

How is your pack decoded at a non-conscious level? How can your pack's structure, substrate and graphic work together more effectively? We think there's a huge and often missed opportunity to deliver more rewarding consumer experiences through packaging.

Pack

Packaging research - beyond testing

Packaging plays a key role in brand engagement but can be neglected relative to its potential. It's often seen as a cost rather than an all-pervading, ever-present opportunity to reinforce brand equities and drive deeper connection with consumers.

It goes without saying that packaging should be optimally functional in every respect, including its visual impact and on-shelf stand out. However, packaging can be used to actively support and build the brand promise, and its usability leveraged to drive differentiation and improve the consumption experience.

The sensory profile of packaging is determined by its structure, substrate and graphic, and together these combine to bolster the conceptual profile of the brand. Brands such as Heinz Ketchup, Kettle Chips, Grolsch, Orangina - and of course Coca Cola, do this brilliantly, using a combination of structural format, visual impact (and consistency), texture and functionality to communicate intended brand values, but also enhance the usage experience – making packaging a key part of the brand building effort and a source of real sustainable advantage.

Our clients benefit from our flexible range of approaches that can be applied to any packaging, bringing holistic consumer input to guide development or give confidence to decisions. We go beyond simple pack testing. Two main cornerstones sit at the heart of our toolkit – EROS for packaging development and Impackt for screening and validation of packaging designs.

Involving consumers early in the design process meant that we could offer clear guidance to our design agency and develop the structure and surface graphics in tandem. There was the utmost level of diligence in every element and it gave us the confidence to invest in the right elements and push back against challenges through the development process.

Marketing Manager

Paddy's Bathroom

EROS (EARLY RULES OF SUCCESS)

Building on the success of our effective tool for creating product briefs, MMR have extended the approach to packaging design and development. EROS establishes the parameters for winning packaging in terms of structure, functionality and graphics. Our qualitative experts bring together your packaging teams and design partners with consumers who have been screened to ensure high levels of articulacy and creative flair. It's an immersive exploration of different packaging options and the emotional and functional conceptualizations they engender. By aligning brand promise with those conceptualizations, we arrive at a more focused design brief. We like to see this as providing fuel for designers, allowing them to get creative without wasting energy or time on elements that won't fit with your brand promise.

IMPACKT

MMR’s comprehensive pack validation approach goes beyond liking to assess emotional meaning together with on-shelf stand-out, message delivery and ability to drive purchase motivation in a competitive environment. With the option to incorporate eye-tracking to enhance understanding of pack navigation and performance at fixture, and to conduct assessment using real packaging mock ups / fixtures, life size posters or online stimulus, the approach can be tailored according to the level of risk / opportunity associated with the packaging decision.

Experience better pack research - contact your local MMR team