Does Digital Packaging Give You the Way to Use that Precious, Irretrievable 0.7 Second

Written by George Gibson
Manager, Next PIJ Platforms
Xerox Corporation
I had the good luck to be able to attend PackExpo last fall in Las Vegas. There, weary and searching for a place to rest, a colleague and I sat down on some furniture made of corrugated board. We were, it turned out, in Clemson University’s fascinating booth where faculty and eager students really wanted to talk about the leading edge of package design. They even had a live demonstration of the use of eye-tracking techniques to measure the effects of package design. Ever since that I’ve been paying attention to what is it that draws my eye to a package, especially to one particular package in a sea of similar packages (presumable containing similar goods).
I’ve heard it said that in the sort of supermarket environment, presented with an array of similar products, consumers take 0.7 seconds to make their purchase decision. If they weren’t hard-wired to pick your brand you’ve got literally the blink of an eye to effect their purchase decision. No pressure but just how are you going to do that?!
One of the most effective methods is making the package personally relevant to the consumer. You probably can’t have their picture on every package they look at but you can do an increasing amount of regionalization, seasonal, event or affinity customization. In Rochester, the Lilac Festival and the Xerox Jazz Festival are big deals, why not create a link from your brand to those events. There are literally millions of such opportunities but most brand owners let them go unexploited. Why you ask? Because until know the economics of packaging has been the economics of mass production not the economics of mass customization.
Digital printing is on the very verge of transforming brand owners’ ability to use their packaging to connect with their customers and prospects at an entirely new level. Join me at the Xerox booth and let’s talk about how Xerox’s printing and workflow solutions can help you transform ordinary boxes into attention grabbers. Let’s share our thoughts about this most exciting time in the digital packaging revolution.