Brand translation: packaging design differences between China and the West
Is a product still the same without its packaging? As the saying goes, looks matter, and without a properly designed package, a product is a hard sell, no matter how good its other attributes may be. In fact, the packaging design represents what the brand stands for as much as other elements of the brand’s visual identity, and in some cases, the packaging is almost as important as the product itself. After all, what would Coca-Cola be without its famous bottle?
In China, as in other markets, packaging design not only has the function of protecting the product and explaining its attributes and benefits, but also has the role of attracting consumers. Studies show that shoppers generally decide what to buy at the point of sale. To help sell the product successfully, the package must differentiate and characterize the product and ultimately become part of the product experience.
But how can packaging help the brand engage and attract Chinese consumers? What are the factors to consider in designing truly distinctive packaging for the Chinese market?
In this article, Labbrand discusses the impact that packaging design has on companies operating in China, and in particular the issues that product brand managers need to consider before falling into the “cultural trap” and developing a package. that overlooks the differences between China and Western markets.
We’ll look at the components of packaging design in the order a customer might perceive them: color; label and font; images, patterns and shapes; and materials
1. Choice of color
Selecting the right color palette for packaging has a lot to do with the ultimate success or failure of a product brand. In fact, color plays an important role in a consumer’s purchase decision. People spend a little over a minute making up their minds about a product they see for the first time, and much of this judgment is based on colors alone. Therefore, the intelligent use of colors in packaging design can contribute not only to differentiating the product from the competition, but also to influence moods and feelings and, ultimately, attitudes towards a product. certain product.
“We all have involuntary physiological and psychological responses to the colors we see,” according to the Chicago-based Color Research Institute, a group that collects information on the human response to color and then sells it to industry. “Color … affects our appetite, sexual behavior, business life and leisure time,” says Eric Johnson, director of research studies at the institute.
In fact, the same color can be perceived very differently in different cultures. For example, green is not popular in Japan, France or Belgium, while it can often be seen on packaging designed for Turkish and Austrian consumers. People in Islamic cultures react negatively to yellow because it symbolizes death, but like green as it is believed to help fight disease and evil. Europeans associate black with mourning and tend to prefer red, grey, green and blue. In the Netherlands, orange is the national color and can therefore be used to arouse nationalist sentiments.
Colors also have great meaning in Chinese culture. Yellow, as the color that only the emperor could use, and red, as a symbol of happiness and good luck, are very powerful colors to design product packaging for the market in this country. However, this does not apply to all product categories: Chinese consumers generally find these bright and shiny colors attractive for food products, but tend to prefer white and pastel colors for personal care and household items.
For example, General Mills adapts the colors used on its own product packaging in the Chinese market by using bright, eye-catching colors.
Kleenex, by contrast, features bright colors and slightly abstract flowers on packages sold in the US, but designs Chinese packaging with pastel colors and small, delicate, lifelike flowers.
2. Label and font
The label and typeface are critical to attracting consumers as they are a visual highlight on any package.
Different countries have different regulations on what information product labels must or must not contain, therefore the size and layout of the information on the label may need to change for the product to enter a certain country. .
In addition to country-specific regulation on labels, the key to marketing the brand to local consumers is the font used on the package. This is especially true in China, where foreign brands adopt Chinese brand names, and consequently Chinese typography, to better communicate with the market.
Coca-Cola, to name a brand that has truly mastered the art of package localization, places as much importance on the brand written in Chinese as the original in English. Chinese typography thus becomes an integral part of the brand identity in China and unmistakably shapes the packaging.
So much so that the Chinese side of the packaging is the one featured in Coca-Cola’s visual communications and advertisements in the country.
3. Images, patterns and shapes
Researchers estimate that more than 70 percent of purchasing decisions are made at the point of sale. Here the consumer quickly assimilates all the products on display – and also hurriedly searches for clues to help him make a decision.
Product brands that are successful in the Chinese market clearly take into account how images and patterns printed on packaging influence consumers’ decisions towards their own products.
For example, Mirinda, to effectively reach the younger segment of the Chinese market, not only uses brighter colors, but also features locally beloved cartoon characters on the packaging.
Instead, Pepsi draws on local culture, people, icons and activities as inspiration to capture and engage Chinese teens. Pepsi Tin reprocesses all of these items and uses them to dress up a locally relevant package.
Nivea offers a line of lip balms packaged in smaller solutions than those sold in the West. This is because Chinese consumers tend to prefer smaller pack sizes. This is particularly true for food products, as home departments have relatively smaller storage space and refrigerators than in the US or Europe.
4 material
The material used to produce the packaging is also extremely important in gaining the preference of the target consumers. For example, a growing segment of the population around the world and in China dislike products that use too much waste material for packaging directly due to environmental concerns.
Price-conscious consumers, on the other hand, are less concerned about packaging quality or recyclability and are generally more likely to consider other, more function-oriented factors when buying a product. However, these factors often depend on priorities that change depending on the category of goods, the specific product and the buyer’s available budget.
In other words, the material used to package a product reflects how much the company understands its market.
Colgate, for example, chose to differentiate its products in China by using a packaging material that was rarely used by competitors when the company entered the Chinese market in 1992. At the time, most domestic toothpaste manufacturers used aluminum tubes. . Colgate instead adopted the plastic tube now used by almost all toothpaste brands as it is more convenient, durable and safe for the user. The new packaging material helped Colgate sixteen around a third of the market share over the years.
In contrast, Alpenlibe, the candy manufacturer, uses the same size, design and colors in the packaging it markets in both the West and China, but in the latter case, it wraps its own brand candies in two thick layers of paper. , since the containers are resistant. generally associated in China with higher quality products.
Packaging has incredible power over what people buy. In the same way that people express themselves through the clothes they wear, they also make statements about who they are through the products they buy. In fact, we buy products not only for their functional attributes but also, and perhaps even more importantly, because these products promise to satisfy wants and desires. The package that wraps the product carries a large part of that promise.
The challenge when trying to build a locally consistent “promise” is to interpret the global brand identity and creative concept in a way that is meaningful to the Chinese market. The package design should attract attention, stimulate curiosity, create a connection, and ultimately make the shopper think the product is the best on offer. China is a country with a long history and rich culture, creating codes in the minds of consumers that must be considered during packaging design. To be successful in China, foreign brands must reinterpret their identity through the eyes of Chinese consumers to truly understand how colors, patterns, images, typefaces, and material choices can contribute to creating an experience. significant product.
