When a Box is Not “Just a Box”

Sara

November 19, 2014

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As a business owner, you may not find placing money into the logistics budget to be a profitable action outside of something like free shipping on your website. The thought makes sense because, after all, it’s “just a box”, right? Actually…

The box you’re shipping product in has a lot to do with building a strong brand image.

There are a few key aspects about branding that can be associated with custom shipping boxes that work on a psychological level (which builds the perspective of a strong brand):

· Vision – In context the vision of your brand is how you see your business but it can be applied to the logistics as the vision you see for how your users experience the shipping. The shipping, from the moment they put the item in the cart, should be seamless and reassuring; it should make them feel that they made a great choice choosing your business.

· Mission – In branding this is what you want to do or present with your business and in shipping it pairs with how well you want to deliver on the product; it’s never missing a shipment, never having it damaged in transit, and always being tracked so customers receive what they pay for.

· Essence – For your essence you are creating an emotional response and this too can be done through your shipping; speedy delivery, great design, and fun unboxing hooks customers into the experience to which they associate an emotion.

· Personality – Does your shipping represent what type of brand you may be? Fun, light-hearted, serious, professional, authoritative, revolutionary, and others? If the shipping experience can match your brands’ personality then you’ll have completed the circle so when the package arrives they know exactly who it’s from and what to expect.

· Value – Your brand has a perceived value based on the hard work you put into it, its marketing, and the quality of product you deliver to the market; in shipping, if the box has a perceived value then the customer automatically assumes what’s inside is equally valuable.

To help you get started, here are some custom box examples you could use at your business to capture this improvement to your branding:

· One color printing, which has text or images on a generally plain box (great for minimal brands)

· Two color printing, which has similar features but with additional colors (for extra oomph)

· High-end printing, which uses the full spectrum of colors and gives you full creative control on the look and feel of the box

· Dual purpose designs, which can be reused alongside the product

· Themed or shaped designs, which allows you to be clever and turn the box into an (almost) piece of art a customer may want to keep

It’s quite interesting how much a unique design can impact the branding and experience for your customers. When you have great packaging, the product becomes instantly recognizable on the shelf and that can be replicated through everyday shipping from your business.

If you can think outside the box and see that it’s not “just a box” then it really starts to make sense to place a bit more into your logistics budget.

What say you? Is this something you’ll pursue for your business?