Packaging is a powerful tool to communicate your brand identity, value proposition, and product benefits to your potential customers. But how do you know if your packaging is effective and stands out from your competitors? In this article, we will share some of the best ways to analyze your competitors' packaging and use the insights to improve your own.
The first step to analyze your competitors' packaging is to identify who they are and what they offer. You can start by looking at your direct competitors, who sell similar products to the same target market as you. You can also look at your indirect competitors, who sell different products but satisfy the same customer needs or goals as you. You can use online platforms, industry reports, customer reviews, and social media to find out who your competitors are and what their packaging looks like.
By analyzing your competitors’ packaging, you can gain a deeper understanding of your market positioning, discover potential areas of improvement, and identify opportunities to differentiate your brand. This process, if done periodically, can ensure your brand remains competitive and appealing to consumers.
The next step is to evaluate the different elements of your competitors' packaging, such as the shape, size, color, material, design, logo, label, and message. You can use a SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) to assess how each element contributes to or detracts from their brand image, product quality, customer appeal, and environmental impact. You can also use a scorecard to rate each element on a scale of 1 to 5 based on your own criteria, such as clarity, creativity, uniqueness, functionality, and sustainability.
The third step is to compare your competitors' packaging with yours and identify the gaps, similarities, and differences. You can use a matrix or a table to visualize the comparison and highlight the key features and benefits of each packaging option. You can also use a customer journey map to understand how your packaging influences the customer experience at different stages, such as awareness, consideration, purchase, and loyalty. You can also use feedback tools, such as surveys, interviews, or focus groups, to gather customer opinions and preferences about your packaging and your competitors'.
The fourth step is to learn from your competitors' packaging strategies and use them as inspiration or benchmarks for your own. You can look at their best practices, such as how they use packaging to differentiate themselves, create value, attract attention, convey information, or evoke emotions. You can also look at their mistakes, such as how they use packaging to confuse, mislead, overpromise, or disappoint customers. You can use these insights to improve your packaging design, message, functionality, and sustainability.
Regularly scan the market for new packaging trends, biannually or quarterly. Hold benchmarking sessions comparing your packaging to competitors. Set online alerts for real-time feedback on packaging. Annually brainstorm design iterations and assess sustainability. Biannually review branding messages on packaging. Conduct annual customer focus groups for direct feedback. Continuously update improvements, stay alert to regulatory changes, and document insights after each major review to stay competitive.
Algún día, la competitividad pasará a un nivel superior de cooperación, un facing de tama?o común entre empresas podría ser un tremendo ahorro para todos, si de todas maneras llegan a ser en competencia el mismo tama?o, mejor acordar el mínimo y ahorrar los únicos que ganan son los proveedores de envases.
The final step is to test and optimize your packaging based on your analysis and learning. You can use A/B testing, prototyping, or mockups to experiment with different packaging options and measure their impact on customer behavior, satisfaction, and loyalty. You can also use analytics tools, such as Google Analytics, to track and monitor the performance of your packaging in terms of traffic, conversion, retention, and revenue. You can use these data to refine your packaging and make it more effective and competitive.