As consumers we see hundreds, if not thousands of packages every single day.
With so many products in the marketplace today companies are constantly trying to differentiate themselves from their competition counterparts.
New companies are willing to engage in price competition consistently when they first enter an industry in companies order to snare a portion of the market immediately.
Non-price competition is another strategy companies can use, and creating a unique package design has proven dividends in the last decade for a number of reasons.
Below are six of the more unique packages that have been designed over the years.
Lego's Spaceship Backpack
Lego is a popular toy manufacturer that is instantly recognisable all around the world with its small, colourful bricks enjoyed by kids, teenagers and adults alike. Lego has recently launched a new container, the Lego Playship concept.
The Lego backpack fits in 405 pieces of Lego within it and can be utilised as an everyday backpack or a school bag. What's interesting about the backpack is that the Lego logo is small but it can be found on the front of the bag, towards the top centre.
The spaceship design is an eye catcher to start with and they have utilised the familiarity of the Lego pallet to reaffirm what company is producing it.
The Ultra Boyz
The Ultra Boyz released their album, Get Ultra with a twist. With CD sales decreasing significantly they wound back the clock and created an album cover that looks like it was from 20 years ago when CDs were new to the market. The material used was not as nice as the current mainstream is.
They also kept the artwork down to a minimum with the eagle on the front. The eagle has traditionally being associated with punk and they would have been looking to draw upon some nostalgia from true punk fans who are accustomed to the previous CD cover art before photoshop and the like hit the scene.
Fred and Friends Salt and Pepper Shakers
Finding the right salt and pepper shakers can be a rather mundane affair. While there are some quirky designs all over the world they are not that practical when it comes to everyday use.
Salt and Pepper Shakers are also traditionally not wrapped in a package. Fred and Friends decided to break this trend by opting to use packaging, and the packaging design they used was similar to the packaging batteries are normally seen in. The packaging is a simple cardboard back with a plastic casing with the shakers enclosed. As simple as it is, the packaging is very recognisable and seeing the shape and similar typography used on them when searching for salt and pepper shakers is most definitely eye catching.
Scanwood Wooden Utensils
Scanwood is Europe's largest seller of wooden utensils. The company decided they wanted to push the message that all their product materials are made from natural resources. To do this, they improvised and created a message that ties the utensil itself into the packaging.
In order to achieve this, they used the utensils to give the appearance of a tree and the packaging was altered to have soil with roots coming out of the utensils. The change in packaging was a success in conveyed the intended message as the pictures and colours were universal meaning they could be understood in all of their markets.
VeuveClicquot Fridge
Veuve is associated with premium champagne and each year they release a limited-edition gift box with a bottle of Veuve enclosed. In 2010 the company used the design of a retro fridge to create the unique fridge. The classic Veuve orange is the color of the fridge which also features their logo. Digital printing is ideal for product packaging, it's effective and capable of creating a high quality finish. Veuve simply placed a handle on the regular gift box which instantly transformed it into a retro fridge that everyone was drawn to. The inside of the package also has another twist to it with a special polystyrene that is used to keep the bottle cool for two hours, a very unique package indeed.
Bling Bottled Water
Bottled water is a relatively new trend with many variations now hitting the shelves. Some companies such as Kona Nigari water ($402 per 750ml) have taken the trend to the extreme by decorating bottles that are covered in crystals. While the market for these bottles is small, they are uniquely attractive and have the average Joe baffled for reasoning as to why anyone would buy these items.
With more and more products becoming available worldwide, the chance of attracting attention is proving harder to come by. The above companies have proven that creating packaging with unique typography, colour and shapes (or any combination thereof) can get your product some attention which will ultimately lead to a greater number of sales and a higher return on investment.
