How can you use packaging to create a sense of playfulness or whimsy around your products?

1 Why playfulness matters

Playfulness is a quality that evokes positive emotions, such as joy, curiosity, and surprise. It can also stimulate creativity, engagement, and loyalty. By using playful packaging, you can appeal to your customers' inner child, make them smile, and differentiate your products from the competition. Playful packaging can also enhance your brand personality, reinforce your values, and create a lasting impression.

2 How to create playful packaging

When creating playful packaging, there are many factors to consider, such as your product, target audience, and budget. To catch attention and convey a cheerful mood, use bright colors, fun shapes, and quirky fonts. Interactive elements such as puzzles, games, stickers, or pop-ups can invite customers to play with the packaging and learn more about your product. Incorporate humor, puns, jokes, or surprises to make customers laugh and enjoy your brand voice. Tell a story, create a character, or use a theme to connect with customers on an emotional level and spark their imagination. Additionally, use eco-friendly materials, reusable containers, or recyclable components to demonstrate social responsibility and encourage customers to reuse or repurpose the packaging.

3 Examples of playful packaging

To inspire you, here are some examples of playful packaging from different industries and markets. Crayola crayons feature colorful illustrations, catchy names, and educational facts that appeal to children and adults alike. Tony's Chocolonely uses unevenly divided bars, bold colors, and catchy slogans to highlight its mission to end slavery in the cocoa industry. Jones Soda utilizes personalized labels with customer-submitted photos and quirky quotes to create a sense of community and humor. Oatly's witty copy, conversational tone, and minimalist design communicate its benefits, values, and personality. Lastly, Lego's iconic bricks, characters, and themes create packaging that showcases its product, invites creativity, and evokes nostalgia.

5 How to measure your packaging success

Once you launch your playful packaging, you need to monitor and evaluate its impact on your retail sales. You can use different metrics, such as sales volume, revenue, market share, customer retention, or customer satisfaction, to measure how your packaging contributes to your business goals. You should also track and analyze your customers' feedback, comments, and reviews, to understand how they respond to your packaging and what they like or dislike. You can use this information to improve your packaging and optimize your results.