The View: Am I the Only One?
Have you found yourself inside that dream where you’ve gone back to school, and you can’t find your class or remember your locker combination, or you didn’t attend class the entire quarter and suddenly it’s time to take the final? It’s that feeling of ‘I should know how to do this and yet I’m nowhere prepared!’
Strangely enough I find myself in these dreams but with a new twist. Instead of school is tradeshows! I can’t find my booth; I forgot my business cards; I fear I’ve forgotten how to “be” at trade shows. And just for jollies let’s throw in COVID… is it safe? Can I hug? Will there be masks? Will attendees come?
The dream has been recurring now for a few weeks and I believe it is in anticipation of the upcoming shows. We’ve entered a new world and I can’t help but wonder if my pre-covid skills have gone missing?
Just wondering how many of you can relate.
Cheers
Kerri
Packaging ultimately is the mating call to the consumer. On your bag or cup or can are your brand, your promise, and your product all wrapped up in one package. It is calling out, “Find me!” to your key demographic. This was its primary purpose beyond the storage and transport of your product.
Today that purpose has grown. Packaging has its own story now, and that story better be a sustainable one. Reducing waste and having the option to compost or recycle the bag or cup is an increasing need. With the voting dollars of Millennial shoppers at stake, it is necessary to have a sustainable message attached to your brand. At whatever level you can achieve this, you should—starting with packaging and paper cups.
Not only is there an escalating issue with plastics and waste management on a global scale, but your customers are asking for more sustainable solutions. During the pandemic, people were forced to look at their trash more thoughtfully. People had time to consider each product in their house and whether it was contributing positively or negatively to the life they wanted to lead.
The trend toward sustainability was already a big part of the agenda when it came to Millennials and Gen Z. The pandemic merely sped things along as it did with so many other inevitable trends.
Today packaging’s purpose has been repurposed to attract more through function and what that function stands for as opposed to simply looking good. The consumer is interested in substance and message over style alone.
