Brand Loyalty: Appealing Coffee Packaging Bucks the Trend

Just how important is packaging to brand loyalty, you ask? According to the experts at Business Insider, a customer will generally form their first impression about not only a product but your entire company in approximately seven seconds, meaning that packaging essentially becomes the foundation of the impression. Packaging represents everything: From an important decision-making tool to a communications channel for your brand's promise to deliver a quality experience and everything in between.

There is perhaps no industry that understands this idea more right now than the coffee industry. Gourmet coffee is everywhere and the sheer breadth of options has led to a consumer base that is decidedly less loyal than ever before. Coffee packaging that bucks trends and emphasizes things like convenience and even attractiveness has emerged as the way to not only attract new customers but instill a sense of support in existing ones.

Variety is the Spice of Life

If you're dealing with a product like coffee that essentially offers the same basic experience regardless of how a customer interacts with it, packaging, therefore, becomes even more essential than ever before. In a recent study, it was reported that Dunkin' Donuts is actually the leader in packaged coffee goods in the United States as far as brand loyalty is concerned, and not just because they market themselves as being affordable.

Rather, it all comes down to their packaging. Users can enjoy a cup of Dunkin' Donuts coffee in a huge variety of ways depending on their needs at the moment - from coffee pods designed for home brew machines to the traditional in-store experience to bagged, packaged coffee and more. By embracing variety and offering a unique experience through innovative coffee packaging with each channel, Dunkin' Donuts has been rewarded tremendously through brand loyalty in an industry where this is typically hard to accomplish.

Why Packaging Is So Important

One of the reasons why innovative packaging is so important to the coffee industry, in particular, has to do with just how unique its customers truly are. According to Statista, the average person in the United States spent an incredible $21.32 per week on packaged coffee in 2013 alone. More than that, it has been proven that many consider coffee to be not a luxury, but a necessity - coffee drinkers have proven that they aren't the type to wait around for sales to buy brands they enjoy. They're willing to pay whatever the asking price is for a great cup of Joe.

In turn, using innovative packaging technologies that buck the trend to attract customers accomplishes many things at once. Loyal coffee customers often act as brand ambassadors, allowing producers to therefore gain new customers relatively inexpensively. Because coffee drinkers are also fiercely loyal once they HAVE decided on a brand they like, they're essentially hooked - taking price sensitivity almost entirely out of the equation from the get-go.

If you're looking for a new way to take your brand loyalty to the next level through appealing packaging solutions, don't hesitate to contact Viking Masek for more information.