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It can be challenging to get shoppers to notice your product in a crowded and competitive market. Understanding various strategies for creating eye-catching retail shelf packaging can improve shelf appeal and attract more customers. Learn actionable tips to make your product stand out on the shelves in a crowded marketplace.
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The Impact of Packaging on Consumer Behavior in the Food and Beverage Industry
When it comes to food and beverage packaging, appearances matter. The right materials, designs and colors can capture shoppers’ attention or leave your products untouched on the shelves. Learn how your packaging elements can help you increase brand awareness, boost sales and build customer loyalty.
The Importance of Packaging Durability in Home Improvement Products
Durable, resilient packaging is important for home improvement products, as it protects them from damage and excess moisture and enhances branding efforts. In the home improvement industry, product quality is everything. Sturdy packaging can help items remain in tip-top shape from transit to the shelves to customers’ homes.
Explore the top benefits of durable packaging, including improved customer experience, sustainability efforts and product protection.
The Impact of Packaging Design on Brand Perception in Online Retail
When you start a business, you must do thorough market research, set up a budget and brainstorm marketing campaigns. One other key business aspect is branding. Your branding is more than a color palette or a logo — it must represent your business’s personality, values and messaging.
You can attract, relate to and retain customers with a solid brand identity. However, to do so, your branding must be consistent in all areas of your business, especially its packaging.
There is a packaging effect on brand perception beyond aesthetics. Discover how to elevate your brand through thoughtful design below.
How to Choose the Right Packaging for Home Improvement Tools
Home improvement tools help customers make their houses more comfortable, but what can companies do to highlight their product’s benefits? Choosing suitable packaging makes home improvement products stand out and persuades shoppers to make a purchase. It also plays a crucial role in reflecting the product’s quality and the brand’s values.
Learn the top factors to consider when choosing tool packaging and how to find the option that suits a product’s weight, size and usability.
How Packaging Affects Consumer Choices in Home Improvement Stores
Did you know that brands have seven seconds on average to make a good impression before a customer moves on to the next option? That’s why packaging plays a part in consumer behavior, including home improvement store packaging. Packaging is about more than simply protecting a product — the design, color and materials used can greatly influence what shoppers decide to buy. For example, attractive packaging can catch your eye while clear information helps you understand the product’s benefits.
In this post, we’ll cover how packaging affects consumer choices in home improvement stores. These factors include preferences for product packaging and design, functionality and sustainability.
The Impact of Minimalist Packaging on Health and Beauty Products
The packaging you select plays a significant role in whether a shopper picks up your product. So, what makes minimalism an effective design choice?
The concept of “less is more” is especially true in the health and beauty sector. Embracing this philosophy allows brands to create products that speak for themselves and resonate with customers’ desires.
How Packaging Influences Consumer Behavior in Beauty Products
The beauty industry is all about appearance, from product packaging to application. Businesses in this field know that while aesthetics play a huge role in sales, it’s not just about how a product looks but also how good it makes customers feel.
What if you could use the packaging to show customers how your product would make them feel? There are key elements that shape how shoppers see your product and influence their shopping behaviors.
The Role of Packaging in Enhancing Brand Identity
Packaging and brand identity form a symbiotic relationship. Understanding how to use packaging to communicate with your customers can take your business to the next level.
By incorporating key elements of your brand’s unique personality into product packaging, you can resonate with new and existing customers, build trust and enhance loyalty.
Discover how your business or company can create memorable connections between your customers and brand by selecting the right combination of color schemes, typography, materials, designs, shapes and more.
Holiday Packaging Guide
During the holiday season, most stores explode into festive colors, and we owe much of that to holiday packaging. Limited-edition packaging can add a fun, exclusive touch to your product and appeal to seasonal sentiments, like the joy of spending time with family or the excitement of special peppermint flavors.
Great Northern Wins Excellence Award at 81st Annual PPC Competition
For the last 81 years, the best paperboard packages across North America have entered and competed in the North American Paperboard Packaging Competition. Hosted by the Paperboard Packaging Council, the annual competition is for carton manufacturers involved in the concept, design, print, performance, and shelf appeal of paperboard packaging. A jury of packaging professionals, industry experts, and professors judge the submissions at PPC’s headquarters in Springfield, MA.
This year, Great Northern is pleased to announce it received an Excellence Award for its Promega Corp package! Great Northern has worked with Promega for over 20 years and produces secondary and tertiary packaging components for them including kit boxes, inserts, and shipping cartons. Recently, Promega was in need of a new packaging solution that would allow their custom order department to efficiently kit a wide range of customer-specified product configurations.
The project required a mix of corrugated and laminated materials but needed to have the same appearance on both. Our designers began by matching the desired colors on the digital press and partnered with a local company to match the digital colors and matte finish. The solution was a series of kit boxes designed specifically around their most common bottle sizes and kit quantities and the new solution maximized efficiency in their kitting process.
To learn more about our award-winning design, check out our success story on Promega Corp.!
A Guide to Packaging and Branding Alignment
Packaging and branding are two essential facets of marketing that help businesses communicate their value to consumers. While these concepts are different and can’t be used interchangeably, they complement each other to ensure businesses market their products effectively.
Brand and consumer alignment ensures a company’s brand identity resonates with its audience. It requires consistent public touchpoints that reflect the brand’s core values, creating an authentic experience. Alignment influences marketing, employee behavior, and customer trust, fostering loyalty through a cohesive brand presence.
Below, we discuss the main differences, how the two concepts relate and why it’s important to align product packaging with brand identity.
Choosing the Right Packaging for Your Product
Your product is great, and it deserves great packaging. Learn what goes into choosing packaging for your product!
The Benefits of Corrugated Packaging
As a business owner, you have plenty to consider regarding how to protect, transport, present and sell your products. Packaging forms an essential part of your product’s journey from storage to customer, so choosing quality packaging is vital.
How Sustainable Is Corrugated Packaging?
Corrugated packaging is a traditional material used to protect and transport products. We can attribute its widespread adoption and growing popularity to its environmental friendliness and ability to reduce carbon footprints. Using sustainable corrugated cardboard packaging can attract environmentally conscious consumers and improve your brand’s reputation.
Understanding Eco-Friendly Packaging Certifications
As more people and organizations become environmentally conscious, businesses seek ways to demonstrate to their consumers and other stakeholders that they are part of the positive change. One of the areas a company can focus on is its packaging — the first thing a customer sees when they buy an item or their goods are delivered.
Oshkosh Sets a New Record in Their Safe Quality Food Audit
Great Northern Packaging – Oshkosh has completed its SQF audit for 2024 and is pleased to announce its renewal of the Safe Quality Food (SQF) Certification. This certification validates that Great Northern has robust food safety control systems effectively implemented in its manufacturing process. SQF is recognized by retailers and food service providers around the world who require a rigorous, credible food safety management system.
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Great Northern Wins a 2024 FTA Excellence in Flexography Award
Our Great Northern Chippewa Falls facility is pleased to announce its recognition as having produced one of the 52 award-winning print samples in Flexographic Technical Association’s (FTA’s) 2024 Excellence in Flexography Awards.
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Great Northern Earns American Institute of Baking Certification
The Great Northern Appleton facility has recently announced that it completed its AIB (American Institute of Baking) Certification audit. Being AIB certified allows the Appleton location to manufacture products for secondary packaging for customers. The Great Northern – Racine facility completed its audit earlier this year and is also AIB certified.
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The Role of Packaging in Shipping and Logistics
Shipping has made it possible for companies to transport goods and products quickly and efficiently over long distances. In turn, packaging plays a major role in shipping and logistics by protecting products during transportation, ensuring they arrive safely at their destination. Various types of packaging designs exist for different products along with protective packaging materials to provide extra support and cushioning.
What Is Corrugated Packaging?
Corrugated packaging is a layered material that creates affordable, lightweight, strong and eco-friendly packaging solutions. It’s highly customizable, providing different types, styles and sizes of packaging to facilitate the shipping of various products. Corrugated packaging is actually the most commonly used material for packaging and transportation in North America.
Great Northern’s Appleton Facility Maintains ISO Certification
The Great Northern Appleton facility has recently completed and passed its three-day ISO (International Organization for Standardization) re-certification audit and will be re-certified for another three years. The ISO 9001:2015 certification ensures a world class management system where an organization demonstrates its ability to consistently provide a product that meets customer and applicable statutory and regulatory requirements. This certification also applies to Great Northern’s Chippewa Falls, Twin Cities (MN), and Racine facilities.
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Year Four of the Great Northern Collaborative Experience at UW-Stout Is Underway
Course Background
This year’s spring semester at the University of Wisconsin-Stout marks the fourth year of the Great Northern Corporation Collaborative Experience. Back in 2020, Great Northern announced that it would be investing in a four-year pilot project focused on advanced design and packaging. The sponsored course is an advanced design selective for graphic design students and a senior capstone for packaging students.
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Racine Facility Earns American Institute of Baking Certification
The Great Northern Racine facility has recently announced that it achieved its AIB (American Institute of Baking) Certification. Being AIB certified allows the Racine location to manufacture products for secondary packaging for customers. Racine joins the Great Northern – Appleton facility with the capability to provide certified packaging to food industry customers.
Environmental Impact of Single-Use Plastics
Single-use plastic products include plastic bags, straws and other plastic items that are generally thrown away after one use, creating more waste and impacting the environment.
The Benefits of Sustainable Packaging
Your businesses can contribute to a green future for the next generation with sustainable business practices, such as using eco-friendly consumer packaging.
2024 Packaging Trends
Packaging has become so much more than delivering products safely to consumers. How you package your products, what materials you use and their appearance can contribute to your business’ overall success in the long run. Companies are now using different types of packaging as marketing tools to increase brand awareness and form connections with their customers.
Alternatives to Plastic Packaging
Plastic is unhealthy, and it’s all around — from landfills to oceans, lakes and rivers. Between 19 and 23 million tons of plastic seep into aquatic ecosystems annually and harm marine and aquatic wildlife.
Complete Guide to Packaging Food in Custom Boxes
Packaging protects your products during transportation and storage while also playing a critical role in food safety. Therefore, it’s vital to package food products correctly, following Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) standards to ensure they arrive at their destination in optimal condition and meet food safety requirements.
Oshkosh & Twin Cities Plants Earn G7 Master Facility Re-Certification
Great Northern Packaging is pleased to announce that the Oshkosh and Twin Cities locations have been re-qualified as G7 Master Facilities and have both received a G7 Targeted designation for their digital and offset print presses. This qualification verifies that Great Northern’s digital and off-set presses meet G7 Targeted color specifications for grayscale colors, as well as primary and secondary colors (CMY and RGB).
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Oshkosh Location Renews Their Safe Quality Food Certification
Great Northern Packaging – Oshkosh has completed its SQF audit for 2023 and is pleased to announce its renewal of the Safe Quality Food (SQF) Certification. This certification validates that Great Northern has robust food safety control systems effectively implemented in its manufacturing process. SQF is recognized by retailers and food service providers around the world who require a rigorous, credible food safety management system.
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5 Signs It’s Time to Upgrade Your Packaging
Your packaging does more than ensure your products reach customers intact. It changes how consumers see and relate to your brand. There is a definitive link between packaging and purchase behavior, and many businesses know how to capitalize on this link to boost their sales, cultivate brand loyalty and differentiate themselves from their competitors.
How to Make Products Stand Out on Shelves
With so many products on the market, having unique product packaging will ensure your products stand out among the rest. Whether you sell fun food products or want to promote your beauty line, the best packaging designs are unique and help to enhance your product. Explore how you can use packaging to catch a customer’s eye.
Requirements for Medical Device Packaging
Medical devices are essential pieces of equipment necessary for completing surgeries and evaluating patient symptoms. There are strict regulations for these items, as they must be sterile and in top-functioning condition for medical professionals to use them safely. These requirements make proper packaging essential.
How to Reduce Packaging Waste
Sustainable packaging has much to offer everyone — including your consumers, your company and the planet. If your packaging is wasteful, you aren’t doing anyone any favors. Still, reducing packaging waste can be challenging. After all, you need to protect your product and accommodate marketing materials. Fortunately, you now have extensive options for efficient, sustainable packaging. Let’s take a look at how you can reduce waste in packaging and better meet your sustainability goals.
How Is Club Store Packaging Different?
Before a product hits the shelves of a club store like Costco, Sam’s Club or BJ’s Wholesale Club, it goes through a unique journey. Club stores have specific packaging requirements, and their customers are shopping in a distinct environment. Packaging designers must keep these factors in mind as they prepare to work with club stores. Let’s explore what you need to know about designing club store packaging.
Packaging Trends of 2023
Packaging that communicates your brand’s image, mission and products or services comes in various shapes and sizes. You’re already offering your target audience exactly what they need — now, you need to grab their attention through trending marketing strategies. Your product packaging choices can speak to your audience, making a lasting impression and promoting your brand through visual appeal.
The new year is the perfect time to revamp your brand’s packaging and get a head start on reimagining how you market your products. Trends come and go over time, so it’s essential to reevaluate what your packaging says to your consumers. Consider whether upcoming trends fit your brand’s image or spark an idea for your business’s future marketing.
WEBINAR: Paper or Plastic: Which Solution Is More Sustainable?
It’s no secret that consumers today are more environmentally aware than ever before, and that includes the packaging of your product. Product protection and print capabilities are important when developing a package, but what kind of effect does package sustainability have on the consumer’s purchasing decision?
Our recorded Paper or Plastic: Which Solution Is More Sustainable? webinar reviews:
- Consumer’s impact on sustainable packaging
- Consumer’s impact on retailer sustainability programs
- The sustainability of paper vs plastic in each stage of the packaging life cycle
Great Northern Packaging Claims Two PPC Excellence Awards
This year marked the 79th annual North American Paperboard Packaging Competition for carton manufacturers involved in the concept, design, print, performance, and shelf appeal of paperboard packaging. Each and every year the best paperboard package designs from across North America are submitted and judged by a jury of packaging professionals, industry experts, and professors and Great Northern Packaging is pleased to announce it received two Excellence Awards!
Great Northern Packaging – Oshkosh Earns Safe Quality Food Certification
Great Northern Packaging – Oshkosh is pleased to announce its renewal of the Safe Quality Food (SQF) Certification. This certification validates that Great Northern has robust food safety control systems effectively implemented in its manufacturing process. SQF is recognized by retailers and food service providers around the world who require a rigorous, credible food safety management system.
Read More…