Packaging is a form of communicating company values, and messages. It is part of a company’s branding and marketing strategy. Because there are messages being sent out through packaging, it is easy to start doing things that might be misleading, mis-informing or bad for the environment. In this post we will talk about 3 ethical issues a packaging designer or brand could face in the packaging industry.
Product packaging, on top of being a way to communicate messages and protect a product, it is an added cost to a business. Because the role of packaging is to protect a product, but also to persuade consumers to pick your product over your competitors, sometimes we might choose what is best for our product and neglect what is good for the environment. Unfortunately, packaging is something that people discard of to get to the product, and it is easy to choose materials that are inexpensive and attractive for printing capabilities, but may not be the best sustainable options. At ibox Packaging we have materials that are made of recyclable materials and 100% recyclable.
Sometimes marketers use wording and images that could send a message that is misleading or untrue. It is very important to always stay true to your company values and release information that is true. This should be a practice to be exercised in every marketing collateral, including packaging. An example of misleading information is using words such as fat free, cholesterol free, low fat, and 100% pure juice.
If you look at retail packaging examples often you may see that the image of the product does not look like the product itself. There is a lot of alterations to the image before printing it. A good example is in food packaging. There are professional food make up artists that enhance the colour and ingredients of a product to make it look more appealing to the eye. This is a good way to attract people to your product, but again, it should be a truthful representation of what you are selling.
At the end it all comes back to packaging and ethics. In business, it is important to sell your product to make profit, but it is also important to build trust with your consumer, and be responsible in using environmentally friendly materials. For more information about sustainable packaging design, or sustainable packaging options please contact us. Also, sign up to our newsletter for more information, company updates, price specials, and more.
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