Brand Packaging: Why It Matters and How to Nail it (With Examples!)
By Elly Strang• 5 min read, Aug 6, 2024
When it comes to starting a business, brand packaging can often be an afterthought.
However, neglecting brand packaging bypasses a golden opportunity to influence brand perception! eCommerce businesses don’t have as many customer touchpoints as brick-and-mortar businesses. So, it’s important to tap into the available ones!
We’ll cover the benefits of brand packaging, along with some examples of the best brand packaging out there. Let’s dive in!
What is brand packaging?
Brand packaging is the physical wrapping or container that holds your product and represents your brand identity.
Here are four reasons branded packaging can make all the difference to your brand.
Why brand packaging matters
Let’s examine why brand packaging can improve your business and amplify your customer’s experience.
1. Branded packaging is a point of difference in a competitive market
Logo make with the looka logo maker
With the US eCommerce market expected to reach 1.9 trillion by 2029, a unique packaging experience helps differentiate your product in the increasingly populated online space.
Companies that use standard stock shipping boxes or parcels instead of custom boxes run the risk of looking bland and being easily forgotten by their customers.
Unique packaging helps you wow customers and stand out. Humans are visual creatures and appearances help us form first impressions. As a brand, winning over your customers starts with a strong visual identity.
2. Brand packaging reinforces your brand identity
Source: Forner Studio on Behance
Delivery packaging is a crucial part of brand consistency. Think of it as an extension of your brand from its digital channels, right through to the tangible retail packaging the customer sees when they receive the product.
It’s a part of your brand’s story. Think about the mission, values, and personality behind your brand marketing and how you can bring that into your packaging. Adding your logo and brand colors is a good start, but there are tons of other elements to include!
- Tissue paper
- Postcards
- Printed art
- Business cards
- Stickers
- Branded ribbon
- Custom logo stamp
- A handwritten thank-you note
These are just some ideas for how to further your brand’s story in your packaging.
3. Brand packaging helps your online marketing strategy
Stay Hungry on Behance
Remember the childhood thrill of opening gifts on your birthday? The grown-up version of this is the unboxing experience.
Customers document unboxing experiences when opening beautifully packaged products. Some for the aesthetic, and others for ASMR. Use custom packaging to appeal to the senses and evoke people to document their experience, and tell others about it!
As Packlane’s CEO Miriam Brafman puts it “For an unboxing experience to be successful from a business standpoint, it should delight the customer so much that it elevates the perceived value of the product inside and the brand behind it.”
4. Unique packaging creates a special customer experience
People have high standards for what constitutes great customer service, so it’s important to make sure your brand is perceived as adding value in every interaction you have with them.
Branded packaging is a great tool for this. It adds layers to a customer’s unwrapping experience, creating a feeling of excitement and anticipation. It also makes them feel like they’ve received more than the sum of what they ordered.
Packlane’s CEO, Miriam Brafman, states “The unboxing experience has to tell your brand story. Highlighting the benefits of the product inside the top of the box can make a strong impression.”
10 Branded packaging ideas for small businesses
Let’s dive into 10 examples of brands with branded packaging that matches their values, and brand personality and resonates with their audience.
1. Qantu Chocolate – Silent luxury brand packaging
Source: qantuchocolate.com
Qantu Chocolate’s packaging blends simplicity and sophistication. The packaging’s clean lines and understated elegance highlight their emphasis on quality and craftsmanship.
The brand’s muted colors and clean packaging make the logo design appear prestigious and minimalistic. The packaging looks handcrafted, like the chocolate, and adds to the artisanal experience.
2. Starface – Neon packaging
Source: fashionista.com
Starface has a bold and bubbly Y2K-inspired logo and fluorescent brand colors. The bold neon colors in their brand packaging make pimple patches (and the cute refillable case they come in) feel like a fashion statement. The custom-printed boxes match that energy. It’s unapologetic and fun!
Starface uses bold wording and color to encapsulate its positive skincare message and engage customers. Aside from that, the packaging design is simple.
3. Girlfriend Collective: Packaging you keep
Source: packagingoftheworld.com
Girlfriend Collective’s packaging emphasizes minimalism and reusability. The modern design has clean lines and neutral tones, reflecting the brand’s mindful choices in product and design. Their packaging and products are also made from 100% recycled materials!
Each package is thoughtfully crafted to be kept and repurposed, reducing plastic waste and promoting a circular economy. Girlfriend Collective proves that sustainable packaging can be both stylish and functional.
4. Nellie’s plastic-free brand packaging
Source: nelliesclean.ca
Nellie’s stands out with its 50s-inspired vintage branding and commitment to eliminating plastic from its packaging. The brand uses retro recyclable tins, recycled paper, and refillable containers!
The clean and simple design of Nellie’s packaging reflects the brand’s focus on natural and safe cleaning solutions. By prioritizing plastic-free options, Nellie’s showcases an innovative blend of environmentalism and brand identity. And people, myself included, love it!
5. Allbirds – sustainable branded boxing
Built on the premise of sustainability, Allbirds carries these values in the way they package their shoes. Its simple, minimalistic, and aligns perfectly to their sincere brand personality.
6. Pottery with a Purpose – quirky brand packaging
Sydney Michuda on Behance
Pottery with a Purpose includes a fun message once you open the DIY kit, and incorporates illustration and color through its package label and guide. It’s simple, cute, and relies mainly on product packaging to get its vibe across.
7. Brightland – unique brand packaging
A far cry from traditional olive oil branding, Brightland reimagined the olive oil experience with bright and fun colors and curved illustrated text. The packaging beautifully displays the bottles and incorporates the brand colors in both the box design and label for a delightful visual experience.
8. Patagonia – efficient brand packaging
Functional and conscious, Patagonia reflects its values through its unique and functional hexagon cardboard brand packaging. With no plastic or unnecessary packaging, it’s a unique and efficient way of delivering products while staying true to its sustainable business brand values.
9. Blueland – colorful brand packaging
Blueland leveraged its colorful products to add a wow factor to its brand packaging. The blue cover and slogan are centrally placed and enforce the mission of refilling, not recycling. It also protects the product and makes a solid first impression.
10. Mejuri – customized packaging
Source: krxssy.com
Jewelry is all about treating yourself or others. What’s better than a handwritten thank you note to solidify the personalized experience? It’s great for instigating user-generated content and making an impression. Mejuri’s presentation is minimal and plastic-free – using only cloth and cardboard to get their product and brand across.
How can you make branded packaging?
Branded packaging is a really important part of telling your brand’s story, just like your logo. It’s a strategy that goes beyond just making your products more aesthetically pleasing: it helps with marketing, brand identity, and enhancing customer experience.
The first step to an amazing brand is a show-stopping logo. Then, you can create custom packaging to match. We’ve included some brand packaging suppliers below to help you find the right fit.
Top packaging suppliers
Looking for a platform to help you create stunning brand packaging? Here are your best options with a full range of printing and package variety.
- Packlane
- Grounded packaging
- Vistaprint
- Packhelp
- Refine Packaging
They all offer custom product packaging boxes, mailers, tissue, and everything in between.
Brand Packaging FAQs
Here are some answers to frequently asked questions about branding your packaging:
What is brand packaging? It’s the physical wrapping or container that holds your product and amplifies your customer’s experience with your brand.
Which brand has the best packaging? Established brands like Hermes, Mejuri, Allbirds, and Patagonia are all great examples.
What is packing and branding? Packing is the physical materials you use to present your product to your customers. Branding the packaging means adding the colors, design elements, and brand assets (like fonts and messaging) to your packaging.
How do I make branded packaging? You can use brand packaging suppliers like Packlane or Vistaprint to make your packaging, or you can order plain boxes and use stickers or handmade elements to make them on-brand.