Bath, Body and Personal Care Packaging Design

Last Updated on June 21, 2022 by DesignerPeople

If it’s consumer loyalty you’re going for, Personal Care Products are the way to go. A customer once impressed by your brand will always rely on it for his/her/their needs.

Personal care products adorn the cabinets of (most) bathrooms all over the world, customizing the looks of their users-

• It may be a single body wash for the rustic gentleman
• An elaborate collection of products for the choosy bachelorette.

Statistics show that the personal care segment in India will reach USD 5,134 Million in 2021, while user penetration will rise from 13.7% in 2021 to 24% by 2025.

Nobody runs away from personal care

There is a massive market at your disposal if you choose to go into it with your style. But always remember that there is plenty of fish in the sea. How then do you stand out? How do you enthral your customer so when they glance through the shelves and see your products, their eyes widen in glee? The best way to do it is your packaging.

You know that your product is good, but the first thing on your frequent jacuzzi-goer’s mind would be the packaging design on the outside. If it gets a “wow” reaction, you’re in business, and if not, it’ll probably never see a bathtub.

So how do you think you can pull this off? You might have your ideas, but we here at DesignerPeople can guide you towards a package that is exciting and innovative. Here we’ll give you a few pointers:

Before you start your exciting new adventure in personal care product packaging, four questions need answering:

How do you define your brand?

Simply put, a brand is a feeling, a perception among people who contact it.

Branding follows this definition. Think of it as a person- it will have its personality and identity, and you need to shape it on your own, bring it to life in your way while changing its character accordingly.

Once your brand has a personality, it needs a voice. Brand identity brings together the elements that comprise your company to bring forward the right image to the customer. Your logo, website, social media presence, or packaging are all part of your brand voice, and brand design- all of them are constantly talking to your consumer base.

All of these are essential while building your brand. Without a definition, you will have no control over the brand, and without an identity, you’ll get stuck.

Remember that if you can’t define your brand, the market will define it for you- and that will have negative implications.

What are your competitors doing- and what can you do differently?

To be aware of your competitors, you will need to know what trends currently dominate the marketplace. As mentioned above, there will be a lot of competition for you to wade through.

There will be industry trends, for example, the recent shift towards “clean” packaging. When it comes to body care products, people tend to go for larger sized packages because they get more value for money.

Trends like Flexible packaging, brand protection packaging is one of the many predicted trends to grow. You need to closely follow what your competitors are doing.

Ask yourself how you’re different. What makes you different from others is your point of difference (POD). Your target customer base would choose you over other brands for that reason alone.

What are your mission and values?

Customers want to purchase branded products that have ethical values, a purpose. They want to stand behind the brand, so you must connect with them. You’ll need more than glittery bath bombs and non-alcoholic aftershave- you need a concrete set of values and a corporate mission. Product packaging is an excellent tool to communicate these ideas.

You need to start with your mission statement. Ask yourself, “why am I doing this?“. For example, you might be opting to elevate the standards of male body wash by going for an all-natural approach with your line of herbal products.

Keep asking yourself questions- “We are here for XYZ reason. In 2 years, we will become ABC.“

Your corporate values will then determine your strategies internally and communicate with your customers externally. Your packaging becomes crucial for this to happen. What position do you occupy? Going by the example as mentioned earlier, your packaging should reflect sustainability and environment-friendly methods on

Packaging while keeping in mind values and ethics help your organization to connect with your customers. It will talk to them about what you stand for and what you want to become as a brand.

All of it will determine your place in the personal product care industry.

For example, Hindustan Unilever defines its mission as something that would “add vitality to life”, “meet everyday needs” and “help people feel good”. This is a clear indication of what the brand is trying to do on a macro scale.

When it comes to vision, Unilever strives to “make sustainable living commonplace”. This is another clear message to send across to the customer.

Also Read: Best Brand Design Trends 2021

Who is your ideal customer?

Your brand occupies a niche in the market, but to do that; you want to make sure it gets into the right hands. You want your packaging, to appeal the customer, but you have to know who they are first that is your “target audience”.

Before starting the branding and packaging process, plan out who your potential customer is.

What is the packaging speaking to them? Who are the customers you target? What are their challenges when they are looking for an attractive product?

Knowing these will help you make the proper packaging and branding decisions to guide your brand in the right direction. Packaging, significantly, will help you draw customer attention.

Going back to the previous example, Kama Ayurveda had selected their target customer by going through the values perpetuated by natural and herbal design. They pre-selected a customer who thinks ethically about the environment and provides exactly what they need.

Elements to be careful of before you start designing the packaging for your product care items.

1. Simple and Clear Packaging Design

Packaging design does not need to be too complicated and congested. Even if its design is ornate, the message should be clear, bold, attractive and straightforward. The customer looking at the product should have a clear idea about what the product does, what it is about, and why should I buy it.

The ideal package shows clarity about what the brand is about, what it contains, what its specifications are, and how to use it properly. It is essential to remain aware of these factors because failure to show them in your packaging would make your product collect dust on the shelf. The packaging design should be clear, simple and at the same time must distinguish itself from its competitors.

An example would be Olay’s design, which has simple black-and-white colours and is prominent in its portrayal. Its packaging is iconic in shape and stands out boldly to capture the attention of the Indian customer.

2. Honesty in packaging

 It is crucial to follow this step. You must appropriately reflect your product on the packaging, and it must show precisely what the product is. Prepare yourself for a sales crash or even legal action if you refuse to be authentic and honest about your product.

They say honesty is the best policy, and it cannot hold enough importance in how your work is perceived.

It is also essential to send out the right message.

The recent backlash against Fair and Lovely is an example- people didn’t want to associate being dusky with being unattractive. Hence, it is essential to know if your packaging reflects the correct brand ethics.

3. Attractive Packaging

The title is self-explanatory. Unattractive and uninspired packaging designs alongside generic shapes will leave your product unnoticed- here are a few factors that will make sure your brand package stands out:

1. Typography

Your packaging font can tell the customer what you’re about: it talks to your customer base.

For example, Gillette’s bold and distinctive font immediately appeals to the male customer as reliable and consistent.

2. Colour Palette

It is a vital element in personal product care packaging. People associate emotions with colour, and understanding those emotional responses can help you inspire the customer.

For example, Himalaya’s line of face wash products has a transparent, blue-green look to their packaging- not only does it reflect the brand, it additionally shows how the brand is natural and refreshing.

3. Shape Design

A large, cylindrical package will be different from a rounded, flat package, and both will create a different outlook on your brand. It is, therefore, essential to choose forms and shapes that fit your brand image.

An example would be Gillette’s ergonomically shaped, sleek designs which carry forward their image of being a shaving-focused brand, while Olay’s excellent shape is attractive in its way.

4.Brand Voice

A clear brand voice is a must-have for any personal care brand worth its name. With the arrival of social media, it has become increasingly necessary to build your brand around your packaging. Your packaging defines your brand voice- it shouts out to the customer- “Hey, here I am“, in a defined way to reassure the customer about a consistent brand experience.

Shelf Impact

Your product will inevitably end up on a shelf with other products. Studies show that it takes roughly five seconds for a shopper to register something on the aisle from a distance of three-to-six feet.

In that scenario, even the most secure and safe packaging can lose its visibility among others like it. Visualize your product by placing it on a shelf with other products.

Is it different enough to gather customers? Is it visually appealing? Many factors contribute to the product’s shelf impact:

1.Colours: When we see something, we simultaneously register all the colours at once. If packaging can create contrast, it will become retail friendly and stand out because it will visually strike the customer’s response on the brain.

2.Shapes: These include product pictures on the packaging, any profile really- this has to be included because after the customer registers colours, the body will direct their perception.

3.Symbols: Symbols instantly communicate meaning- think of the Olay underline or the Nivea circle.

4.Words: Text is the final conveyor of meaning because it is through wording that brands can focus on their niche and communicate information about it. It sets them apart from their competition by eliciting an emotional reaction.

If kept in mind, all of these can aid in increasing sales and making your product prominent.

Functionality

If packaging had a mission, it would be protection and storage. What is inside should ideally be more important than what’s outside and should remain protected at all costs. But customer demand dictates otherwise: convenience comes first. Everyone wants easy-to-use packaging.

Customers want it easy as a breeze; something that opens and closes quickly is easy to squeeze or rub off. These are factors that can make or break a brand.

All of it links itself with sales growth- an easy to use container gives more practical value to the customer- a customer would prefer buying a body wash bottle that doesn’t slip from their fingers.

Below are a few points that packaging functionality includes from the start to the end of the supply chain:

1.Protection

As mentioned above, packaging’s priority should be protection.

It is the fundamental function of the product package- to keep it safe from the outside environment, but it also functions inversely- it keeps the atmosphere away from the product as well.

The goal should be to keep your product away from weather damage that can happen with rain, dust, sun, dirt, and fall damage. Additionally, it should be resistant to static and dynamic forces as well.

Storage and transport need to be essential elements of packaging as well- it must handle being stacked one on top of the other easily- and during transport, it needs to have a shipping system that ensures quick access to products.

It is the base from which the packaging starts fulfilling its more glamorous roles.

2. Sales

As a function of packaging, sales promote the product- it is the point where the layers of packaging start coming off, and the visual identification of the product begins to happen.

At this juncture, packaging design comes in and starts playing a vital role in its functionality.

3. Promotional

You should build the product package design so that it promotes the product on the outside.

At this position, the customer would see the product for the first time, and packaging here needs to influence their decision positively.

4. Service

Placing various kinds of information about the product- like its use, legal allowances, manufacturing, and expiry date are fundamental to the packaging design.

It does not mean that you can fill it with enough text to obscure the more visible parts of the packaging; doing it tastefully should be the goal for any personal product care packaging design effort.

Consistency and Flexibility 

Finally, you arrive at the endgame- you have collected all of the elements you need to build a stunning personal care product package design. All of this looks great on paper, everything is planned carefully, and nothing can go wrong.

But there is a final element that you cannot ignore- consistency. If you want to succeed in this business, every encounter your customer will have with the product needs consistency. It needs to be consistent across your social media platforms, your website, your influencer partnerships, everywhere. It would crucial for you to display your packaging prominently and clearly to get your brand voice across. Every element representing the brand should exist on the packaging design.

If you’re consistent with your product, you will retain customers. With consistency comes a promise: we will develop ourselves even better in the future and keep doing so- our goal is to be us in five years. It, of course, comes with a rigorous and robust brand strategy.

With consistency comes flexibility- the promise to do better means that you must keep doing better in every scenario. Times are changing today- keeping in mind the pandemic, customers need a refreshing experience when it comes to their bath, body or personal care products- it is not possible to do without them. With the ever-evolving industry, your packaging design needs to keep its appeal across all platforms, be it through multi-layered packaging design or re-sealable designs- packaging will keep changing. Still, the brand identity, message and values must remain consistent.

Conclusion

All of it takes hard work and dedication. Ask yourself- “Do I have what it takes?” not only do you need your brand to be consistent, you need to be consistent yourself as well because your brand is you.

DesignerPeople’s range of market experience and packaging expertise can help you create packaging that reflects you and your brand and make a complete packaging solution to meet all your needs. We provide elite consultation through our 17-year industry experience to give you what you want and what you need.

Author: Priyanka Thakkar

Passionate, adventurous and my never-ending learning approach lead me towards the world of content writing after working years in core marketing profile. My experience of working in world-famous MNC motivated me to understand the niche requirement of strategic words to communicate correctly about brand message towards people. My zeal in an informal way of writing articles allows anyone to enrich their knowledge in the world of branding, packaging and digital marketing. Being an MBA in Marketing and HR, my excellence lies in framing marketing strategies as well as relationship building. Do connect me personally my LinkedIn & I love to share my expertise with you.