Page 66 - Packaging News Magazine Sep-Oct 2019

66
BRAND & PACK DESIGN
www.packagingnews.com.au
September-October 2019
Packaging with sensory and sensibility
Creating a multi-sensory experience for consumers to engage with a product and its packaging can be the key to delivering a brand story that connects on another level. Harcus Design founder and creative director Annette Harcus discusses how products can be presented to transcend beyond the plasma.
THERE is a multi-sensory expe- rience for consumers that comes with packaging and its
design. Since 1982, Harcus Design founder and creative director Annette Harcus has specialised in packaging de-
sign for wines and spirits, body and beauty, and gourmet food products. For Harcus, “packaging needs to be invested with the sensory, as well as the visual”.
Packaging is at the forefront of con- sumerinteraction,HarcustellsPKN, and is an amazing way to speak and connect directly to a market at the touchpoint. “In today’s retail market, what confronts a consumer is a diz- zying array of choice,” she says. “Packaging, by nature, is actual and dimensional – it’s of the real, tangible world and yet it is often sold on the screen. So, we need to approach con- sumers with multi-levelled and multi-sensory tactics – in real life, on the web and on their phones –
presenting products in ways that transcend beyond the plasma.”
Harcus Design aims to transform clients’ presence and identity to make the brand message clearer and more engaging, with branding the core prospect – “the first way we illustrate how that core brand story is ex- pressed, is through the packaging,” says Harcus. The story told must have authenticity, meaning and relevance to build a brand story with personal- ity that connects.
“Real stories inspire trust... there needs to be a logical framework with- in your product offering, that relates to market segments and price points,” says Harcus. “Sensory imagery appeals to one of more of the five sens- es, and packaging that is rich in sen- sory detail helps the consumer per- fectly envision the story, the contents and its benefits.”
PACKAGING FOR PURCHASE
The multi-sensory experience needs to be balanced for consumers, en- abling them to engage with a product and its packaging. Harcus points out that seven in 10 shoppers say