Appearance attracting new customers – Serbian manufacturers increasingly more aware of importance of packaging design

Store shelves are full of products made by various manufacturers constantly looking for new ways to set themselves apart from the competition and persuade the customer to choose their product. Experts and producers alike agree that well-designed packaging is becoming increasingly important in the race for consumers' attention. Whether it's cookies, drinks, cosmetics, hair-brushes, tools or toys, provided the absence of drastic price differences, there's a good chance that the customer will pick a well-packaged product.

According to some data, the packaging design is capable of persuading the customer to purchase the item in under 3 seconds, whereas a study by an American company has shown that 65% of consumers make the choice to purchase a product for the first time based on the appearance of the packaging.

Serbian producers of consumer goods have also become aware of the importance of attractive packaging. Even those who were sticking to well-known packaging for years have decided to make some changes. For example, the famous Serbian brandy drink of the Vinjak brand was redesigned after 400 million liters sold, and the unofficial “bricklayer's choice”, the Drina cigarette brand, has also received a facelift. Imlek has recently fully redesigned its entire Moja Kravica portfolio, bringing back the nostalgic triangular pyramid yogurt packaging to the market in the process. The fact that producers are adjusting to consumers is shown by the example of the company VODAVODA, which has launched new packaging featuring the Cyrillic script to the local market and the markets of the region, incited by a large number of customer requests to make the water from Banja Vrujci available in precisely that kind of packaging.

Coca-Cola has been presenting limited series of designer bottles in cooperation with local designers for two years in the local market, but the power of packaging design is probably more important for small players in the market. Andjeli, a small Belgrade-based producer of oatmeal cookies, for example, relies on ingenious packaging.

– If you look at the individual Andjeli packaging carefully, you will notice that the solution features silver dots which give out a specific reflection under light, practically making the entire store shelf come alive. This is not a coincidence – Milivoje Calija, the founder, says for our portal.

Our interviewee and his wife, Milica, have a background in media, advertising, marketing and PR, and they understood from the very start how important packaging was as a marketing element.

(Andjeli) The design of Andjeli is the work of Aleksandra Prhal, a multidisciplinary artist, who, as our interviewee says, fully responded to a very detail brief, based on the poetics, position and key messages of their products. Andjeli received the awards for the best packaging design in Serbia in 2014/2015 at the design and packaging festival Packtivity. In addition to the recognizable paper packaging, since last year, the cookies have been available in seven types of tin boxes. They plan to open their first shop this year as well.

– The packaging design is very important, but only if the essential quality of the product itself can match it. A bad product in a good packaging is a frequent and very unfortunate combination – Calija notes.

The Aura cosmetics company adheres to this principle as well. The Nis-based cosmetics factory operates in the region, but also in the Middle Eastern market, and they are also developing plans for export to the USA. Several years ago, they carried out a full redesign, which has proven to be the right move towards attracting new consumers.

– Packaging opens the door towards consumers, but if it doesn't contain a quality product, that door closes forever – Mila Litvinjenko, owner of Aura, says for our portal and notes that, in addition to the visual effect, design is supposed to enhance the product's safety and usability.

When asked how the right measure can be found, she explains that, when it comes to decorative cosmetics, a test of compatibility of the product with the packaging needs to be done first.

– When we say decorative cosmetics, we mean makeup, dyes, and no dye is stable under a direct source of light. The next step, therefore, is to choose the packaging in which the dye will be stable and warn the customer not to keep it under direct light. Only after these two steps are made do we start preparing the kind of packaging that will attract customers. Of course, prior to that, a market research is carries out and a decision is made in the end. Our decision is to be original.

Although they follow global trends and the far more well known foreign competition, drawing both positive and negative experience in the process, they never copy their foreign colleagues. A team of 5-6 is in charge of designing packaging in Aura, and the sales personnel is involved indirectly due to their market experience.

The increasingly more attractive packaging used by local producers is also indicative of the rise of the creative industry in Serbia, and some solutions have also received prestigious world design awards – Bakina Tajna won the best food packaging award at WorldStar 2013, whereas Sofi products placed second in the packaging category at the European Design Awards.

However, maybe even more important that the offer of solutions in the market is for the customer to clearly articulate the goal they want to achieve with the packaging. As Calija points out, the producer ordering the design needs to know what message they want to convey and what values they stand for, as well as why they do the job they do in the first place. If they are incapable of conveying these ideas, the graphics solutions often miss the essence of the product, which we've all witnessed.

No to redesign for the sake of it

Not every moment is suitable for change. As packaging plays a big role in creating a bond between a consumer and a product, our interviewees warn that it is not advisable to redesign the packaging too often, as that creates the danger of customers' not recognizing the product.

Ever since they carried out a full redesign, thanks to which women have recognized and accepted Aura as a quality brand, the Nis-based cosmetics house often presents limited collections standing apart from the standard design, though always featuring a recognizable Aura thread in it. Anjeli also rejects the concept of redesign for the sake of it. As they are thorough in their approach to this segment from the very start, they would opt for a change, as they say, only if they were to drastically alter the formulas of their products.

Global extremes

Whereas local companies still stick to standard forms of packaging, rich in color and imaginative details, some of the global solutions feature a more radical design. For example, one can find cigarettes packaged in a coffin-shaped box, a bottle of vodka in which a human spine is seemingly submerged, fish- or origami-shaped teabags, spaghetti packaging shaped like famous world buildings...

Ivana Bezarevic

Anđeli Beograd

Aura d.o.o. Niš

packaging design

creative industry

industrial design

Milivoje Calija

Mila Litvinjenko

product packaging

role of packaging in product sales

importance of packaging design

product redesign

product packaging redesign