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Style or substance: how to make packaging gains in 2024
If brands embrace authenticity, anything is possible.
For decades, style and substance in packaging have been engaging in a tug-of-war. But for many of today’s consumers, packaging needs to offer both to stand out in a crowded market.
Communicating a sense of style through packaging is fairly straightforward. It’s what packaging has been about for decades – take your brand’s identity, add in the design trends of the day and a dash of creativity and, in the right hands, you can come up with an eye-catching pack.
Communicating the substance behind that brand, on the other hand? This is much more difficult – but in 2024, it will reap the biggest rewards.
Jazz musician John Coltrane once quipped, “You can play a shoestring if you’re sincere” – and 2024’s packaging industry, in a way, will prove him right.
What do 2024’s consumers think?
Part of the challenge behind this is because that substance actually needs to be there in the first place. You can’t ‘fake it til you make it’ with modern consumers, who are increasingly sceptical when it comes to brand claims – particularly claims that focus on the environment. Gen Z consumers are the most eco-conscious, but also the most sceptical – surveys show that 88% of them don’t trust a brand’s ESG claims.
As Gen Z is about to inherit the mantle of the world’s foremost spending power – currently held by millennials, but only until 2025, by which time Gen Z will make up 27% of the total workforce – many brands look at these young shoppers as a puzzle that needs to be solved. But, instead of focusing on how to appeal to Gen Z consumers, with all their idiosyncrasies, brands should focus on themselves first, and look at their own authentic values.
The first ‘digital native’ generation is more aware of issues surrounding sustainability, ethical sourcing, and labour exploitation in the supply chain than any before it. Any claims a brand makes will have to be backed up with something real and tangible to connect with today’s consumers. Fortunately, packaging is the perfect vehicle to communicate this.
It is worth noting that these trends are not expected to change in subsequent generations – in fact, they will likely become more pronounced as Gen Alpha follows Gen Z. While little is known about the spending habits of Gen Alpha – the oldest of this generation are only around 13 at the time of writing – early signs indicate they will be even more socially conscious, even more comfortable with digital technology, and even more sceptical of brand claims as a result. Looking beyond 2024 sees these trends likely continue.
Being part of the packaging solution
In the packaging industry, the word ‘solution’ is ever-present. It doesn’t simply produce cartons, bottles, or trays – it makes solutions! That term should take on a whole new meaning in a new era of consumerism in 2024. Between the Global Financial Crisis, climate change, and Covid, millions of younger consumers have had their fill of corporate failures and problems created by previous generations. Now, they expect businesses to step up and be part of the solution.
Packaging can act as a tangible demonstration of a brand’s commitment to being part of the solution. Great modern packaging design should work hand-in-hand with brand messaging to not only display company values, but to embody them in a way that consumers can touch and feel, as well as see. It is important to remember that packaging’s job does not necessarily end once the consumer has made a purchase. How the consumer opens the pack, the way the pack functions to protect the product, and, if necessary, the convenience of returning a product in its original packaging are all vital touchpoints that a brand can use to reinforce its values through packaging.
Adding this kind of functionality to a pack doesn’t have to infringe on its sense of style – and doing it sustainably doesn’t mean that every pack has to be a kraft-look brown carton tied up with hemp ribbon. With an innovative structural design, print techniques, and packaging enhancements, it is possible for packaging to show off its sustainable substance in style.
There are coated recycled board grades on the market that offer the same smooth printability and brilliant whiteness as virgin grades. New foil application techniques mean metallisation can be added to flexible packaging without affecting its recyclability. And extravagant, luxurious bottle stoppers can be made with recyclable or biodegradable cork substitutes.
Swapping out plastics for recycled content or plant-based materials, lightweighting and reducing pack size to reduce the overall carbon footprint of a pack, or incorporating easy-return features to help minimise logistics costs are just a few techniques that can be applied as part of a broader sustainability strategy.
As organisers of Packaging Innovations & Empack, we see how these innovations advance every year, and often get advance previews of the year’s trends to come. You can join us at next year’s event and get inspired about how to drive your business forward in 2024 – simply register for a free ticket at Packaging Innovations & Empack 2024, held on 21 & 22 February at the Birmingham NEC.
[1] https://www.mckinsey.com/~/media/mckinsey/email/genz/2022/12/06/2022-12-06b.html
[2] https://www.zurich.com/en/media/magazine/2022/how-will-gen-z-change-the-future-of-work
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Latest news from Packaging Innovations & Empack
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