Packaging trends and design innovations to watch over in 2016

The role of product packaging in the success and failure of any product cannot be overemphasized; it can drive consumer action to buy the product or abort the sale. Packaging has the proven ability to support brand values, create a competitive advantage for product designers, and enable brand owners to communicate brand value to the consumers. Brand experts employ the packaging tool to drive customer loyalty and master brand storytelling. Branding professionals and brand strategists intensively engage to develop designs that can connect the brand value with the prospective buyers by offering them fresh, relevant and modern packaging trends—trends which can match evolving consumer needs, tastes and perspectives.

There are a range of trends that will impact the packaging of products in 2016; however, some trends are more important than others and merit attention by brand experts. Uncluttered design, clear and interactive labelling, lightweight features and sustainability are some of the prominent factors that are expected to catch the attention of the consumers. Sometimes these are the only features that take the products off the shelf in supermarkets or online sale. Apart from that, packaging with symmetrical geometrical structures and abstract art designs capture the attention of consumers as they rank high on aesthetics. Companies and brand owners research heavily on developing colors, design, type and functionality of various packaging.

Packaging Trends that would Exert Dominance Through 2016

•Lightweight Packaging & Sustainability: As companies world over increasingly intend to go “green” they use environmentally friendly and bio-degradable packaging; this also helps them to achieve sustainability targets. Meanwhile, it creates less waste, considerably reduces the manufacturing cost and piques the consumer’s ethical concerns on eco-friendly initiatives of the companies marketing these products. Closely related to sustainable packaging is light-weight packaging, and generally, more important the former attribute of packaging. Companies and manufacturers who offer packaging to products make this clear on the packaging itself that cuts across the consumer sensibilities and boost their sustainability initiatives.

•Uncluttered Packaging: consumers prefer clarity and transparency of the products and look for packaging to ascertain this. Companies that design packaging should take every effort to provide clear and concise information about raw materials used, ingredients, functional product attributes, processing plants information along with convenience and safety of the packaging; in near future, clean labeling and clear on-pack brand communication are expected to coalesce to provide an engaging consumer interaction with the brand. Companies sometimes choose transparent packaging for food products to convey that the products are fresh and of enhanced quality. RPET and PLA are some of the materials preferred by companies opting for transparent packaging.

•Mobile-engaged packaging: Social mobility to incite interaction between the consumer interactions is fast gaining traction with consumers across packaging market. As per an estimate, mobile interactions accounted for a whopping 64 cents of every U.S. dollar spent in retail stores in 2015. Printing hashtags and various social handles on packaging boost brand awareness online and QR codes give customers extra information on aspects such as nutrition, additives and preservatives, and even the businesses’ carbon footprint. Recent technological advancements. Continual technological advancement have led brand owners to explore the potential in packaging by using various technologies such as near-field communication (NFC) and Bluetooth low-energy (BLE) to engage consumers.

Over time, newer technologies and design innovations will lead to more interactive packaging. Current and emerging trends are studied extensively by market research analysts to uncover latest trends in packaging. Reports added by Big Market Research offer insights on packaging trends, factors affecting the market dynamics, latest technological innovations and profile of key market players in the packaging industry.