This means that the more attractive a product’s packaging is the better chance it would have of arresting the attention of potential buyers. Studies have determined that customers only use up 20 seconds or so browsing the retail shelf before making a decision. Aside from attracting attention, the packaging would also change the way customers perceive a certain brand.

When designing the container for a product, a goal should be in place. For example, the brand has to have a particular quality that it would like to project. Is the brand a conventional one? Is it aimed for the edgier youth generation? Is the brand looking to carve a niche in the bleeding edge, the untested waters of product development?

With the core qualities of the brand serving as a guide in designing the packaging, the business would have a better chance of adding value to their products simply through the container. Another thing that should be kept in mind during the design process is that you are not just selling a product. You are also selling your brand.

The right placement of your brand is therefore important when it comes to developing a new container for a product that will be launched. It should not dominate the packaging but it should also not look like adding it was just an afterthought.

With the competition about to be even tougher in the near future, it is important that a business should do everything to add value to their products. In the past, business may have gotten away with using plain looking packaging but in today’s modern marketing world, using them would not be the best idea for any manufacturer or retailer.

It is well known that the packaging industry is one of the most dynamic and continually changing industries in the world. This changing nature is a result of the universe in which the industry operates. Several macro economic factors have forced the industry to be one which continually changes. Packaging Manufacturers have no choice but to adapt in order to meet the demands of various influences if they wish to survive in the industry. This rate of adaptation will continue far into the future and is something embedded in the core of the packaging industry.

One of the big influences, which are sure to change packaging in the future, is environmentalism. Environmental pressures have played a massive part in the packaging industry for many years however the environment seems more relevant that ever in contemporary times. The best example of recent environmental pressure which is sure to make the packaging industry change in the near future is the move towards bottled water drinking. The rapid increase of bottled water drinkers has lead to a large increase in the amount of waste plastic bottles piling up in landfills. Whilst recycling is one way to solve this issue there is little doubt that packaging manufacturers will have to think of new ideas in order to help the decline of waste plastic bottles.

Another of the big influences on the packaging industry which will cause change in the future is new consumer needs. There has been a change in trends with regards to what consumers want from packaging. In family situations people are starting to buy food in larger more value sized packages. This presents a new issue as packaging manufacturers have to think of ways to use minimal packaging to seal larger portions. Also there has been a change towards the need for re-sealable packaging. Whilst this development is not all that new for some products re-sealable packaging is being demanded for several products which have never been provided with re-sealable packaging before.

A final influence which is causing changes in the packaging industry is laws and industry regulations. As discussed before the environment has a massive impact of the packaging industry and new laws have been brought in with regards to recycling. This means that packaging manufactures have no choice but to ensure that their packages are easily recyclable. Recycling is already in place but new regulations will come to pass involving re-clamation. Re-clamation means that certain parts of packaging which can be used again will be sent back to the manufacture. This mostly applies to large products; however it is likely that most products will have to adapt to include an element of re-clamation within their packaging.