Why the Unboxing Experience Matters
From a social media perspective, the ongoing question remains, “Are Unboxing videos still popular?” or “Will unboxing videos help build my brand?” Both are valid questions when determining where and how to spend the promotion budget.
However, we propose that when it comes to building a brand following rather than advertising for brand awareness, whether a video theme is popular has less impact. What will build the brand—a foundation of returning customers who consistently choose you above all other options—is the connection you create between the customer and the brand. Giving your customer a purchasing experience that feels like a gift of appreciation fosters customer loyalty and creates repeat purchases.
The Personal Touch in Unboxing
Unboxing should be evaluated first and foremost as a personal experience—tactile, individual, satisfying, connecting. We’ve shared before about the impacts of touch on a consumer’s anticipation and assumptions about the spirit product. With unboxing, you draw out that tactile experience with greater opportunities to build anticipation by engaging sight, touch, sound, and even scent.
Layered Unboxing: Protecting Your Products with Style
Think in layers – Simply lifting the lid off a box will not truly be an “unboxing” experience. But lifting the lid to reveal a dark green bag woven of recycled wool, tied with a silken ribbon, begins to develop one. Extend the experience by ensuring a thick-papered envelope rests atop the bag, intended to be opened first—a thank you for the purchase and a few tidbits of information to enhance the experience.
Each layer should bring the sensory experience closer to the actual spirit itself—rich or light, sweet or spicy, grounding or spirited. When the bottle is finally revealed and lifted, it should bring both a sense of happy conclusion and a desire to sample the spirit right away.
Sensory Engagement: Enhancing the Customer Experience
Think in senses—The secondary packaging’s color, composition, and finish set the expectations, and it’s your first opportunity to surprise and delight. A simple, light-stained wooden box with a small brass clasp introduces a different experience than a leather-bonded box with rounded corners and a sliding lock that must be aligned with a brand image in order to release.
Product packaging offers the unique opportunity to use the sense of hearing when designing your packaging as well. When developing your layers, pay attention to the sounds your chosen materials make as they move against one another. Did you choose protective packing paper that makes a high-pitched crinkling noise when it’s moved or softer, thicker paper that rustles more like cloth? And no one wants to be in the midst of lifting an elegant bottle from the box to the screeeeeeeech! of glass rubbing against too-tight packaging with the wrong finish.
Creating Lasting Memories
Think in memories – We use cues of color, touch, and sound to express our brand, but those elements work only because they are the basis of memory formation and recall. Creating an actual unboxing experience adds in positive memory features of anticipation and fulfillment.
To take it a step further, create and layer unboxing materials that can have a secondary use for your consumer. The lovely cloth that enwrapped your bottle can be laid atop the home bar as the “special place” your spirits bottle will now set. The ribbon with brand-crafted pewter charms on its ends becomes an accent draped atop the picture frame. Whenever your consumer sees or touches the items, they think of your brand and the enjoyment it has brought them.
Above all, the unboxing experience should be fun. This isn’t about revealing a surprise—most of your customers will know what they’re purchasing—but is about satisfying and exceeding expectations. Customer loyalty is often enhanced when customers feel valued and appreciated.
We at Spearhead believe that unboxing and secondary packaging don’t need to be restricted to ultra-premium and higher price points. We’re absolutely dedicated to ensuring that the packaging elements used to create an unboxing experience are sustainably sourced and directed. We’re thrilled to partner with brands looking to launch, elevate, and expand through quality packaging presentations.