You’ve perfected the recipe for your new beverage, found amazing distributors, and are ready to bring your product to the market. But wait - are you forgetting something? Beverage packaging has evolved over the years, but its impact remains as relevant as ever.
Research shows that soft drink packaging is a major make-or-break factor in terms of commercial success. It can make the difference between a product being a best-seller or forgotten.
It’s clear that packaging is a major part of your soft drink marketing strategy. So how do you create beverage packaging that will intrigue your customer and inform them about your product, while staying on point with the latest beverage marketing trends?
Here’s how to create and design soft drink packaging that will make your beverage stand out from the crowd.
1. Know your target audience
To create the most effective soft drink packaging possible, you have to understand your target market. It’s critical that you identify who you’re appealing to, and create the packaging that best fits their tastes. Knowing your audience’s preferences is key.
2. Compare yourself to the competition
When it comes to beverage packaging, market research is critical. Check out what your competitors are doing, and how their choices are performing with consumers. You might even consider commissioning a focus group to see how the product performs with your potential customers.
3. Make it Eye Catching
Beverage packaging should spark a customer’s curiosity, inspiring them to stop and engage with the product. Easy to read, eye-catching designs work wonders. Be sure to explore different color combinations for the background and text used on the packaging.
Social media-friendly packaging can help your drink go viral. If you invest in an eye-catching design that’s visually pleasing, your customers will post pictures of your product, generating organic buzz around your soft drink.
4. Highlight the benefits
Clean Label
As customer expectations around transparency rise, the popularity of the clean label in beverage packaging has grown exponentially. Clean labels list the number of ingredients in a drink, along with their countries of origin. They are geared towards empowering consumers who want to make informed choices and who typically prefer natural ingredients to synthetic.
Health benefits
If your drink provides health benefits to consumers - think a boost of Vitamin C or Calcium - this is a huge selling point that should be instantly clear from your packaging. People want to know about all the potential vitamins and/or minerals they can get from your beverage. You must also ensure that your labelling clearly lists all possible allergens present in your drink.
Sustainability
As more and more consumers embrace companies that commit to green practices, sustainability has become one of the hottest beverage trends for manufacturers. There’s far more than glass or plastic nowadays - you can even consider paper and recycled materials for your soft drink packaging.
Limited edition
Create excitement around your beverage by offering a limited edition design. It could be to commemorate a special occasion, or simply to drive a short term boost to your brand. The only drawback is that, by its very nature, this type of design is temporary and must be quickly replaced.
5. The bottle itself
The physical bottle is a crucial aspect of beverage packaging. An unusual tint to the glass or plastic can give your drink an entirely different vibe. Do you want to go for a sunny see through or mysterious opaque container? Don’t overlook the importance of your drink’s bottle.
Height/Shape
Think about your customer’s experience when walking by your beverage in a store or handling your drink. A product should be tall enough that it’s easy to see, and a unique shape can serve as a brilliant innovative beverage marketing technique that can help differentiate your product from others in the consumer’s mind.
Vintage
If you’d like a look that’s distinctive, consider taking a step back in time when it comes to your packaging design. Royal Crown Cola’s distinctive vintage look sets it apart from the other brands on the shelf. For some customers, seeing an old school design brings back feelings of nostalgia which can cause them to connect more deeply with your drink.
Seasonal branding
The sophistication of today’s digitized, variable printing technology enables short, flexible print runs that no longer mean compromising efficiency. Change your designs with the seasons. Riff on major events such as New Year’s or Valentine’s Day. Consider experimenting with personalized packaging.
Be you, be creative, and don’t be afraid to be bold. The more unique and eye-catching your packaging, the more likely it is to stick in your customer’s mind. Strong, distinctive packaging is a surefire way to differentiate your soft drink from the competition.
Get in touch with RC Cola for more packaging advice. With decades of experience in the beverage packaging and marketing industries, we’d love to guide you in your search for the perfect packaging to make your soft drink stand out from the crowd.
