As consumer trends shift over time, there are some consistent factors that only continue to grow more popular among consumers.
One of the latest trend inspired a major groundswell of new packaging strategies meant to better appeal to user demands: transparent packaging. You’ve probably walked through the grocery store and noticed that more and more brands are switching to this crystalline packaging. Perhaps you, like throngs of others, tend to gravitate to this packaging. I know I tend to.
Wall Street Journal reported that many types of food packaging are being cleared up. Progressively, companies are taking the added time and effort to present their consumers with product packaging that will display the nature of the product: high-quality and healthy. After all, we want to be reassured that what we are putting into our bodies will do what it claims it will do, right?
The news source said that this changeover to transparent packaging has even led to some companies changing their recipes with new emphasis on visibility. General Mills, for example worked for more than a year to perfect the packaging for a brand of fruit and nut bars. Clear films were continually tested to find which of the many different plastic products worked best for company needs, including putting each type into a climate-controlled box to better mimic conditions found in the average store.
Once they perfected the recipe and got the products on store shelves, the results were clear: their effort was well worth the time invested. Clear packaging is gaining strength in the market because it gives consumers visibility and assurance to the food they are consuming. Surveys held after the initial change found that shoppers felt the brand looked more appealing, felt less artificial and seemed fresher than other comparable products.
Transparent packaging leads to new competition
The Journal found that in some situations, this packaging style has led to increased competition in several markets, even lawsuits, as companies jostle to gain pole position over time. Two orange juice brands owned by Coca-Cola and PepsiCo, Simply Orange and Tropicana, saw the distance between them contract as the former adopted clear packaging before the latter. Kind Healthy snacks recently sued Clif Bar & Co. for the same issue, as Kind had adopted clear wrappers 10 years ago and Clif only recently followed suit. Oh the irony!
Transparent packaging can backfire
Advertising Week noted that in some situations, clear packaging may fail to make a difference. Hillshire Farms Vice President and General Manager Jeff Caswell was quoted as saying that consumers were not able to recognize the company's packages without the trademark expectations of the company's normal advertising. Sales fell until the company made the decision to change back to its original products, at which point the sales rebounded.
So the final verdict on this packaging craze to hit the market? Transparent packaging truly works for some products! It will boost sales, inspire competition and forge new product recipes. Consumers are gravitating more toward products they can see – and dissect with their ingredient list in hand. It may take several attempts to develop that perfect fit, but the time and effort pays out. On the other hand, some products just plain do not mesh well with the high visibility packaging – such as oats, for example. It takes a keen eye, test marketing, commercialization and then a review of the market performance to make that judgment call.
