Gen Y, who was born from 1980 to 1994 is a group of customers with great purchasing power, becoming the top concern of many brands. To conquer this generation, brands need to understand the psychology and behavior of Gen Y to have an effective printed packaging identification strategy.
If product marketers are interested in attracting more millennial consumers, they need to pay more attention to the complex packaging selections that are sometimes neglected or made in silos elsewhere. Gen Y, in particular, should be taken into account when marketers reach packaging decisions.
What are their feelings and ideas? What do they like and dislike? Do you understand their desires or requirements? These are critical questions to think about if you tend to engage Gen Y with your packaging. Let’s look at which design features should be added in the packaging that is aimed at millennials.
Minimalism printed packaging
Although Gen Y prefers minimalism, it does not mean you should only stick to a black and white colour scheme. In simple words, you should try new things, like both clean shapes and layouts, while maximizing space as well as symmetry. This is especially essential when it comes to bottles, so consumers can easily read the information on the label. Bright or contrasting colours, unique font, shadow and texture are also well-designed.
Subdued colours
Even though designers have traditionally depended on the usage of subdued colours when designing minimalist packaging, bright or contrasting colours are presently having their 15 minutes of fame. Nowadays, many businesses are already utilizing vibrant colour combinations on their printed packaging to make their products more superb as well as more outstanding on the shelf. Moreover, to seek new inspirations and ideas, marketers usually take cues from popular social medias, such as Instagram, Behance, Pinterest…
Fancy font styles
Besides minimalism, Gen Y also prefers unique typography. Therefore, to grab their attention, designers should take the best effort to design one-of-a-kind fonts from scratch and make unique selling points for their products that can stand out among the “shelf noise”.
Simple printed packaging
When it comes to obtaining information, connecting with people, or making purchases, millennials are spoilt with speed, simplicity, and efficiency. As a result, savvy businesses ensure that their products’ unique selling propositions are easy to recognize and digest. As previously said, simplicity is essential. Complex packaging takes more time for Gen Y, so they will move on before making a purchase.
Gen Y prefers storytelling printed packaging
Everyone loves stories, and so do millennials. They spend hours on social media browsing stories in order not to miss out on any of them. Stories are interesting and important to this generation, and brand owners may take advantage of this device.
Businesses must tell a real and distinct narrative. It means that design components such as stock pictures and old fonts are no longer appropriate. Gen Y considers them quite boring, nearly antiquated, and they might harm your brand’s reputation. Hence, if you want to win over this target group, choose both creative and visual content that emphasizes the “why” of the purchase rather than the “what”.
Stunning product images
Information is now available in an instant way, which makes millennials less likely to notice text-heavy printed packaging. Around 41% of millennials feel overloaded with huge information. For this reason, it is necessary to prioritize high-quality photographs. The user experience that Gen Y customers desire and need is created via user-centred pictures and stunning product images.
The bottom line
Gen Y is a challenging generation to get into, but if you want, printed packaging is a great way to gain their confidence.
The selection from bottle, label to the closure and secondary packaging, everything is critical in expressing a product’s own distinctive story. Printed packaging can have a significant impact on purchase decisions. As a result, it’s key not to undervalue it and to be able to identify each component needed to make the target audience fall in love with the product.
See more impressive packaging samples of Starprint here. If you want to create attractive printed packaging that attracts users, do not hesitate to contact us here.