Is Your Product Packaging Resonating with Millennials?

As of this year, millennials surpassed the Baby Boomers as the largest living generation in the U.S., as well as throughout many countries/markets around the world. Millennials should no longer be an afterthought at your company, but rather, a central focus for your marketing, advertising, and of course, product packaging. How and why millennials buy products can have an adverse impact on your present and future revenue.

Which brings us to the classic attributes of millennials, and how you can appeal to their good side. For starters, millennials are unique, expressive, conscious, and many of them, rich. They are transforming every trend in the global market, wiling to spend more money on packaging that is ecofriendly as opposed to harming the planet. Millennials feed into ‘experiences’ as a generation shaped by social media, intent on learning more about the company vision and mission statement, as opposed to the actual product.

From this kind of story investment, millennial consumerism is blurring the lines between package and product. In fact, the package is now an integral part of the product, and no longer just a means to which the product can be delivered.

This is putting new pressures on companies to spend more time caring about the design and functionality of the packaging, as well as its origin. Ecofriendly packaging has become critical for a generation that watched “An Inconvenient Truth” at age 12.

So, if you’re removed from the millennial generation yourself, and wanting to know more about how you can bring them onboard with your company, here are some strategies that will surely catch their attention.

Millennials love the internet. They trust the internet. In fact, 91% of millennials trust online reviews just as much as reviews from friends or family. That’s why so much of their shopping happens online. As the globe moves towards an eCommerce future with many brick and mortar locations being forced to close, product packaging needs to be able to accommodate this new, digital age.

What does that look like in practice? For starters, packaging needs to be cleaner, brighter, and more minimalist than ever before. Many millennials will never hold the product in person before they buy it. Additionally, structurally, these packages need to be able to withstand worldwide shipping before they reach their final destination. That means compartmentalization is critical for keeping separate parts sturdy and protected.

Millennials seek personalized, custom experiences over anything else. They are the anti-cold calling generation. They want to feel special, heard, and seen. Therefore, they respect carefully curated and virtual social personas, developing a deeper connection with the brands they invest in.

That’s why hand drawn doodles, stories, and other anecdotes on your packaging will help millennials feel like they actually know you and your brand better. Companies like Absolut Vodka and Chipotle get this better than anyone, with personified packaging that tells a story for every single unique product. Chipotle will even let you in on their ingredients and where they came from, so you can feel like part of the entire process.

Get rid of the obsolete boxes and generic packages, leveraging innovative ideas that reach out to each consumer directly.

As a generation obsessed with Instagram, millennials are always looking for the next big thing that will make them seem ‘cool’ and unique at the same time. From fiction to fashion, millennials want limited edition products that they can flaunt on social media, in their blogs, and in person with friends. Coca-Cola is one brand that has been pursuing limited edition designs, which spurs millennials to snap an Instagram Story that they then push out to their following. It ends up as free marketing for your company, as well as loyal millennial purchases.

Millennials love to film themselves going through product packaging and opening up a present or an influencer kit. If you include a special note and some cool, bonus treat, like a lipstick or sticker, millennials are going to love it. They are a generation that is used to having every piece of information available at their fingertips. There are no longer any surprises. If you can manage to surprise them with creative packaging, they will never forget it.

Millennials’ standing, power, and wealth are too much to ignore anymore. Regardless of how you feel about the generation, if you want them to buy your product, then you need to cater to their wants and needs today.

Here at Lize Packaging Singapore, we can help you draft meaningful, millennial-inspired product packaging design that will win you the hearts, minds, and influence of millennials around the world.