Brands/Products
Here is Why Packaging Matters for Your Business
It wouldn’t be wrong to state that packaging is a crucial determining factor in how your potential customers perceive your brand or company. That said, investing in high-quality produce packagers will help your brand get the attention of your target audience.
You might want to look at packaging from the buyer’s perspective as it will help you determine what will grab their attention and boost your sales. Think about this, you are entering a store and picking new products to take home – understandably, the first thing you will see on the shelf is the packaging before the product itself.
Here are crucial reasons why packaging matters and why you should never skimp on the product packaging:
Demonstrate Brand Identity
The better the packaging, the better you will connect with your target audience; however, you must ensure that the packaging creates a perfect impression of your business and the product(s) inside the packaging.
While designing the box and packaging of your products, you will want the packaging to serve as a reminder to your customers about your business and products. To incorporate brand identity in the product packaging, you might want to focus on the following aspects:
- A clear display of your business logo on the package/ box.
- Use of attractive colours, fonts, and brand trademarks.
- The box should have a good first impression on new customers.
- Ideally, the packaging should also rekindle old memories of your loyal customer base.
When it comes to effective packaging, you might want to ensure that everything that is written on the packaging is informative and things that your customers need to know.
Boost Customer Experience
You might have heard about the unboxing experience before – it is all over social media, where potential buyers share their unboxing experience with the world. That said, smart business owners use their product packaging and the subsequent unboxing experience as a marketing strategy.
As a newbie entrepreneur, you might want to think back to the days when you were a kid on Christmas. Remember those days when you would wake up really early and run to find your presents underneath the Christmas tree.
Reminiscing back, you might realize the excitement about the colourful presents that are elegantly wrapped, and as you tear them apart, it is pure thrill, excitement, and exhilaration going through your body.
Today, as an adult, you can get the same feeling when you come home and see a package on your doorstep – even when you know exactly what it is you are getting, there is still that level of excitement and bliss when you are unboxing it.
If you are an e-commerce brand and sell your products online, leveraging this emotion is an amazing way to leave a positive, long-lasting impression on your customer, especially when they are most receptive.
How to Create the Best Unboxing Experience
If we look at the packaging – we see that it is the first contact point for your customer, and quality packaging can lead customers to try out your contact for the first time. Therefore, it is most important that you leave a lasting positive first impression.
The first step to designing a perfect unboxing experience is the use of custom packaging. You might think of the box as your stage to present your product to your potential customers when it is opened.
The next part of creating a killer unboxing experience is what is inside the box, which isn’t just the product itself. You might want to print inside the box to add a level of luxury and a little touch of elegance, which is also a great way to say “thank you” and maybe keep a hidden message in there that is only for your customers.
The hidden message can be as simple as a thank you note – printed or handwritten. If you look at the note from the customer’s viewpoint, you will understand how empowering such a note can be by making your customers feel like they own a product. This is also a great way to add to the ideal unboxing experience.
Packaging as a Marketing Strategy
A good-quality box is great for an influencer\s unboxing video – another innovative digital marketing strategy you cannot ignore as a business owner. You need to create a great unboxing experience that is not just for the customer but also because there is a great chance that your product might end up in a social media influencer’s video.
Today’s consumers rely heavily on online product reviews before they buy them. Combine this fact with the fact that YouTube is the second-most popular search engine globally. And you might have already witnessed the role that unboxing videos play in forming an opinion about a product before someone buys the product.
So, if your product is going to end up in an unboxing video, your unboxing experience must be flawless.
Use Packaging to Provide Value
Some people believe that an unboxing experience is a waste of resources; however, the truth is that the best unboxing experiences are eco-friendly. Creating the best unboxing experience is that it is very easy to go overboard with an unboxing experience.
But a good unboxing experience is never about adding more stuff – on the contrary, a good unboxing experience is simply about delivering “more” value to your potential customers than they anticipate.
The product packaging and the unboxing experience are all about delivering more value according to your morals and brand’s value. A good unboxing experience might include the addition of discount vouchers and void fillers and other freebies into the box.
However, a good unboxing experience might also be something as simple as saying thanks and putting the thank you note inside the box.
The Takeaway
It doesn’t matter how attractive and high-quality your product is if you fail to do justice to the packaging. Many small business owners tend to skimp on the packaging while focusing on the product’s quality.
That said, as a business owner, never make the mistake of neglecting the significance of quality packaging.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The excellent services offered by SweepSouth have attracted the attention of Alitheia IDF as it has invested about $11 million into the online home services platform providing cleaning services to a wide range of customers across Africa.
Co-founded in 2014 by Aisha Pandor and Alen Ribic, SweepSouth has a presence in Africa’s four key tech markets: South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, and Egypt.
This latest round of funding will allow the company to further develop and grow its infrastructure and team in South Africa, roll out new services in existing markets, and pursue both greenfield expansions and acquisitions across the African continent and beyond.
In addition to its expansion efforts, SweepSouth will scale its current efforts to improve the economic and legal rights of domestic workers through efforts such as the SweepSouth Report on Pay and Working Conditions for Domestic Workers Across Africa – a report that highlights the struggles of domestic workers in Africa and encourages more action from governments and stakeholders.
The investment of Alitheia IDF, Africa’s first and largest gender-lens private equity fund, in SouthSweep comes after its acquisition of Egyptian home services platform, Filkhedma, in December 2021
“This new funding round is an important one for our team as we continue to scale in South Africa, and further grow our operations in Kenya, Nigeria, and Egypt,” says Aisha Pandor, co-founder of SweepSouth.
“We’re excited to continue SweepSouth’s work in connecting customers with home service providers across the continent, building a platform that empowers domestic workers and local tradespeople.
“We are particularly proud to have raised funding from Alitheia IDF, a female-led fund, and to have included more women investors on the cap table via a female-focused SPV during this round. We are excited about what this means for us going forward and thrilled to have Polo Leteka from Alitheia IDF join the board,” she added.
“We are proud to support SweepSouth’s growth as it expands its platform that substantially improves the financial and social outcomes for domestic workers across Africa, most of which are women. In the domestic services industry, which is notoriously informal and exploitative, SweepSouth’s model solves autonomy, security, increasing income for its service providers, and affordability and flexibility for its end users. AIF’s investment will enable the development of infrastructure and operations that will deliver growth for stakeholders – particularly domestic workers and local tradespeople at the base of the economic pyramid,” says Polo Leteka, Principal Partner, Alitheia IDF Fund.
Alen Ribic, the co-founder of SweepSouth, adds: “We’re excited about bringing new shareholders on board in our mission to build technology that aids in providing meaningful connections – giving customers access to safe, convenient services, and home service providers access to decent work opportunities under dignified conditions.”
It was learned that the size of the round, which is SweepSouth’s largest to date, is a result of strong growth in the company’s valuation and social impact since the previous funding round.
Current investors Naspers Foundry, The Michael and Susan Dell Foundation, and Futuregrowth Asset Management all committed to participate in this new round, as did new investors Endeavor Catalyst, Endeavor’s Harvest Fund II, Caruso Ventures, and E4E Africa.
Alitheia IDF, Africa’s first women-focused and women-led private equity fund, is a $100 million gender-lens fund co-founded and managed by two women-led firms – Alitheia Capital (Lagos, Nigeria) and IDF Capital (Johannesburg, South Africa).
The fund, which announced its final close in 2021 to become the largest gender-lens private equity fund in Africa, identifies, invests in, and grows SMEs led by gender-diverse teams in six African countries: Nigeria, South Africa, Ghana, Lesotho, Zimbabwe, and Zambia.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The 2022 edition of the Women in Marketing and Communications Conference/Awards (WIMCA) will take place next month, the organisers have announced.
In a statement, it was disclosed that the event, in its sixth edition, will take place for two, Friday, October 7 and Saturday, October 8, 2022, at the Landmark Event Centre, Lagos.
According to Brand Communicator, Nigeria’s leading brands and marketing publication, the company packaging the programme, the theme for the event is Breaking More Biases for a Sustainable Future.
It reinforces the actualisation of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 5-Gender Equality in line with this year’s International Women’s Day campaign theme, #BreakTheBias.
It was stated that the event had been repackaged to include an exhibition, masterclass, and other initiatives that make this year’s WIMCA more robust, engaging, educating, exciting, and memorable for participants than they have ever experienced.
The convener of WIMCA and publisher of Brand Communicator, Joshua Ajayi, stated that interested participants could register for the programme for free at www.wimca.ng.
The conference taking place on the first day will feature sections on career development, personal branding, women and personal finance, and marketing CEOs’ success stories, while the second day will focus on a masterclass and an awards & gala night.
The exhibition will hold side-by-side with the first day’s conference and the masterclass held the next morning. It is expected to fold up at least two hours before the awards evening.
“This year, we are taking WIMCA to a new level, celebrating women and charting a new course for women to break more biases for a sustainable future.
“For the first time, we are making it a two-day event with an exhibition that covers the two days, a masterclass segment that holds the next morning, and a special awards ceremony that holds the second day.
“This year, part of the glamour will include the recognition of the top 50 women marketers in Nigeria. I can visualize one of the most glamorous and prestigious recognition projects ever hosted for women in sub-Saharan Africa,” Mr Ajayi said.
“This year’s WIMCA promises to be more glamorous than ever with many exciting initiatives that will be unforgettable.
“The two-day event is what no one in marketing and brand management would want to miss. It is always a viable platform for networking and gaining brand visibility for women and the men who come to support them,” he added.
Recall, last year, experts in the business of brands and marketing communications in Africa gathered to dissect the theme Women in Leadership: Building a strong Professional PIE (Performance, Image, and Exposure) and Dawn Rowlands, CEO of Dentsu Africa, one of Africa’s most influential women leaders was the lead speaker.
This year, the value and excitement have been lifted to the next level. Stakeholders in the Brands and marketing industry like APCON, NIMN, CIM, and Members of various Industry bodies: MIPAN, AAAN, OAAN, PRCAN, ADVAN, EXMAN, and others from diverse fields are expected to grace this unique event.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
A partnership aimed to meet the demands of consumers in Africa has been signed between Jumia and Coca-Cola.
Through this deal, consumers of the soft drink brand will have the opportunity of having the products delivered to their doorsteps in the shortest time possible, the leading e-commerce platform in Africa confirmed in a statement.
This move, which will be available to customers in Nigeria, Egypt, Kenya, Morocco, Côte d’Ivoire, and Uganda, will increase the assortment available on Jumia and support product delivery in the fastest time possible. Consumers also will enjoy promotions such as ‘buy-one-get-one free’ and discounts of up to 20 per cent on Coca-Cola orders.
“We are happy to partner with Coca-Cola to meet consumer demand for everyday products at the fastest delivery time and at affordable prices.
“Coming after the launch of our Quick Commerce – Jumia Food Mart, we are happy to let our consumers know that they can expect their delivery of beverages in under 20 minutes, offering convenience at its best,” the chief commercial officer of Jumia, Romain Christodoulou, stated.
The Vice President for Customer & Commercial Leadership at Coca-Cola Africa Operating Unit, Minas Vourodimos, while also commenting, said, “We are pleased to partner with Jumia as we strive to meet the needs of consumers across Africa by making our beverages available for delivery to their homes when they need them.
“Through this, we will be offering an alternative for easy and fast access to Coca-Cola brands across several beverage categories to hydrate and refresh.”
There has been a notable increase in purchases of everyday products on Jumia since the COVID-19 outbreak as more consumers than ever continue to embrace online shopping.
Groceries/everyday essentials is a fast-growing category on Jumia, according to the Africa e-commerce report entitled Jumia Africa e-Commerce Index 2021.
