I can’t believe it has been a year since I last posted on The Creative Connector. During this 12-month hiatus, I finished my MBA at Columbia Business School in New York and relocated to Florida to head up marketing for one of my clients, Nutra Pharma Corporation. Nutra Pharma is a young and innovative biotechnology company developing some very novel treatments for multiple sclerosis, HIV, Adrenomyeloneuropathy and pain. Now that I am once again “settled” into the business world, I will be posting regularly about interesting ideas in business, marketing and entrepreneurship. Of course, feel free to contact me if there is anything that you would like included that I have not covered in previous posts. And now to jump “write” in…

As Chief Marketing Officer at Nutra Pharma, one of my responsibilities include the design of our packaging for our drug products. Most recently, our team spent time working on the development of packaging for our newest over-the-counter pain reliever, Nyloxin, which treats moderate to severe chronic pain using cobra venom — yes, cobra venom. Throughout the packaging design process, our team received the following advice and feedback from several experienced marketers:

Know Your Customer First
Knowing your customer before you jump into the design of your packaging will allow you to better understand what needs to go into the packaging – from the amount and type of information to be included on the package to ease of use of the product.

Develop a Brand, then Design the Package
Your packaging should be a seamless extension of your brand. If you haven’t yet done the work to develop your brand, then complete this step first. It will make your design process much easier when it’s time to complete the packaging.

Keep it Simple, yet Informative
If you’ve ever picked up a package and have immediately begun drowning in text, then you’ll know exactly what this means. You should include enough on your package to educate your customer about the benefits of your product, but at the same time keep it short and to the point. Too much information on a package becomes overwhelming.

Quality, Quality, Quality
Don’t skimp for the cheapest packaging option. This doesn’t give you an excuse to go overboard. Just keep in mind that low quality packaging can cheapen your product. Don’t let this happen to you.

Stand Out from the Pack
Have you ever walked down the aisle at a grocery store and noticed that all of the products in a certain category look the same or similar? I know I have. Don’t let your product fall into this bucket. Make sure your packaging is unique so that it stands out on the shelf and will be noticed. In the end, it’s all about sales and good packaging can help support sales for even the most boring product category.

Swing by Your Retailer and Check out the Competition
This goes alongside the previous tip. Stop by your target retailer and look at the shelf where you would ideally like your product placed. See what your competitors are doing for their packaging design. Take note of fonts, colors and package size.  If you’re further along and have an actual prototype of your packaging, bring that, along with a digital camera, and snap a few photos with your product on the shelf to see how it will look from a consumer perspective.

Have Fun with Your Packaging
It’s important that you have fun when designing your packaging. Let those creativity juices flow freely. Even your wildest concepts should be considered during the first few rounds of your design process. At the very least, these concepts will help you become a better designer now and in the future.

Packaging comes in all types of shapes, sizes, colors, and textures. When designing great packaging, keep these tips in mind and most importantly, especially for those with retail products, stick to a design that will stand out on the shelf.

For additional packaging design resources, check out the following blogs:

Recently, I heard a board member recount a story about a sale on Gilt that included a certain designer’s shoes. Apparently, Gilt sold 10,000 of these shoes in less than three minutes and the waiting list climbed to 40,000 members. Pretty unbelievable. The site currently runs sales in categories for men, women and children.

For those that are looking for an invitation to join, here is a link with the invitation code included.

Join Gilt Groupe

Yapta is an innovative new site that helps you track fare changes in your airline tickets. If the price of your ticket falls, Yapta, for a small fee, will try to get you a refund or credit for the difference.

What an exciting holiday gift — a nice write-up about RareShare on TechCrunch. Feel free to check it out here.

Congratulations to friend and longtime client, Neil Roth, for the launch of Xtreme Green Products, a new line of 100% electric eco-vehicles. The line currently includes jetboards, police mobility vehicles and 2-person electric motor scooters. What an innovative concept and important contribution to sustainability.

You can check out the complete product line at XtremeGreenProducts.com.

Posts: 

• Using a Strategic Partner to Leverage the Success of Your Next Launch
• Tips for Raising Money for Your Company
• Luxury Marketing: Elevating Your Brand
• Even Simple Viral Videos Can Make a Big Impact on Your Business
• Tips for Giving Great Speeches
• Word and Phrases to Remember When Writing PR for Your Company
• Why Every Company Needs a Blog
• Reducing Employee Turnover by Making Your Company Fun  
• Raising Capital for Your Social Enterprise
• Become a Better Entrepreneur

Interviews:

• Jason Mendelson, Managing Director at Foundry Group
• John Maggio on Succeeding in the Natural Foods Industry
• Francine Katz – The Queen of the Beer Industry at Anheuser-Busch

Links:

• How to save money running a startup (By Web Entrepreneur Jason Calacanis)
• Essay About “Being Good” When Starting a Company (By Entrepreneur and Technology Evangelist Paul Graham)
• Thoughts on Choosing Board Members (By Venture Capitalist Fred Wilson)
• Orange’s Unlimited Web Page