Now, just imagine the average consumer in the supermarket aisle doing the 'rush hour' shop on autopilot. Or think of an online shopper choosing from a grid of thumbnails. How can brands trigger a connection and 'click' with people?
The shelves are loaded with generic packaging and it's easy for people to stick to the shopping script. So, what's on the list? The most inspiring brands that were early to innovate probably are. And if they are on the end of a gondola this week, then our consumer will stock up. However, me-too brands that are trying to muscle in will struggle to fend off private labels.
OK, we call this competition, and competition is good, but brand-owners must evolve to protect their assets. To survive, brands need to demonstrate leadership and use every tool available to create and protect what is valuable intellectual property.
Brand-owners often ignore structural packaging, or at least misunderstand the value it can offer. 3D packaging is a vehicle that can be used to communicate what your brand is and what it stands for. It's not just a canvas for an enlarged logo, colours or imagery; it's what consumers pick off the shelf before they commit to buy it.
Tangible benefits
Packaging is probably the only means of brand communication that you can actually hold in your hand. By using different materials and finishes, the feel and touch can imprint a lasting impression of the brand's personality until it's time to buy again. At home, 3D packaging has the last word.
Sensory feedback is memorable. Shape, feel and functional features all connect to people and can demonstrate a strong understanding of their needs. An engaging physical pack can prove a powerful tool to embed strong consumer recall, leveraging the only touchpoint that truly reaches people.
The trend for marketers to default to the 'big logo' syndrome bewilders me. It may improve short-term standout, but competitors do copy and catch up quickly. Generic packs offer generic experiences and these short-term tactics are missing the point and failing to invest in valuable assets that help brands stay ahead.
Demystifying the 3D myth
There is a big myth around structural innovation - it's too expensive, takes too long, the technical guys say it can't be done or 'I don't have the experience to run a structural project'.
All those comments may be valid in isolation, but they point to a lack of initiative and vision of what a brand can really stand for and how it can set itself apart. If your key driver is a six-month lead time, then you will always play catch-up.
Defining the ethos of your brand should help establish guiding principles that can be communicated holistically across all touchpoints, including any physical pack.
If your brand is well defined, then producing a new structural pack is no different from producing a new label. Knowing what your brand stands for can speed up the internal decision-making process through better-informed decisions and insightful research.
Boost engagement
Consumers are great at telling you what they currently do and don't like, but they are hopeless at telling you what they will want in the future. Brands have to rise above this if they want to lead.
Leveraging 3D to engage people can create unexpected benefits. Intellectual property and technical lockout raise the profile and recognisability of the brand and prevent copycats. Consistency builds trust - and trust is the difference between a one-off and repeat purchase.
Yes, it can take longer to implement but a 3D pack can establish leadership in the market for a decade, and a lasting foundation on which to build a brand in the long term. Thinking in this way results in a budget smartly spent, embedding year-on-year gains and creating lasting opportunity to challenge the competition. With this in mind, can you afford not to invest in 3D?
The decision to do so and, therefore, build strong brands for the long term, should be integral to a marketing strategy. To survive, brands must be in the race, innovate and lead the market. And if you don't realise you are in the race, then you've already lost.
Name Philip Bordet-Stead
Job Director of 3D branding, Design Bridge
Career highlights 6am, -8 degsC on a farm in Devon, (literally) immersing myself in a 'fertility drug' project for dairy cows. Acting beyond the call of duty, I donned an arm's-length surgical glove ...
Your style Insightful and direct
Favourite gadget My telescope - a Meade ETX 125mm
What keeps you up at night? Imaging Saturn's rings and Jupiter
Which style icon would you be? The 19th-century French artist Jules Cheret. Known as 'the father of poster advertising', he revolutionised the field of advertising through his design and colour-printing techniques.