Branding - Packaging - Presentation...AUGH!!!

Let me start off by saying - HAPPY FRIDAY!!! (Can you tell I'm ready to hit the week-end running hard - scissors and sewing needle in hand? LOL) This week has had me thinking about Spring: Spring colors, Spring cleaning, Bed Springs and what can be made from them, Springing Forward, Spring loaded....What? My mind is spring loaded! Sometimes it's a broken spring, but still!

As "red.neck Chic" is heading into the Spring season, I have been thinking about our branding, packaging and presentation...we have it all down pat, but it is always fun to see and think new things - and there is always room for improvement and a lil' somethin' extra!!!

"Branding is one of the most important factors influencing an item's success or failure in today's marketplace. A brand is the combination of name, words, symbols or design that identifies the product and its company and differentiates it from competition. Branded items are more recognizable and memorable."

I ADORE getting something that I have ordered in the mail from Etsy sellers...it's always like Christmas (after I have stalked the postman and made him hand over my package)! I grab the box or envelope, set it on the table and very carefully remove the packaging tape, very reverently open the box and voila'! Pretty paper, pretty ribbon - business card, thank you note - it is all there and so delightful that I almost forget to grab the item I ordered! It is something that I will always remember the next time I go to purchase - often times I am a repeat customer! That's the response that I wish to get when a "red.neck Chic" fun thing gets a new home!!! I also want someone to see one of our shopping bags, gift wrapping, business card and product and know immediately that it is a "red.neck Chic" item! "Branding...more recognizable and memorable"


Let's look at Kate Spade for a minute...if you are a purse fanatic (as I am...she is my hero!!!) she has all of her items branded! Her boxes, shopping bags, purses - everything! It's great! My Mom got me a set of her demitasse cups and saucers a couple of Christmases ago...I have the box sitting in my bedroom so I can look at it! I think I keep it dusted more than I do my china cabinet...and the lil' cups and saucers are gorgeous! Bright and happy and fun! Where was I going with this? Oh! You ALWAYS know her stuff is theeeeeeeeee "kate spade". Her packaging, coloring, style - it is all the same throughout - all perfectly "branded". Oh, and it's all great. LOL Lucky girl that got this bag as a gift (hint hint - I will take mine in pink please)!!!

As for the packaging and wrapping...yummmmmm.....I have found some inspiring "creations" on the internet! Let me share some with you!



I would be in girly - frilly - sparkly thing heaven to open a box and behold the beauty of my purchase all wrapped up in vintage wall-paper, pretty ribbons and silky flowers...(blissful dreamy sigh goes here)...I am thinking I need to purchase from onehundredwishes just so I can look at her beautiful wrapping!!!

Martha always has great ideas - a brown lunch bag can go far...very far...



I am a sucker for letterpress items...doesn't matter what it is, so to me the top packaging is inspiring to say the least!!! (You might want to watch your calender when I come 'round...) And what girl in her right mind would have a problem opening up this "gem" of a box - who cares what's inside!!!

With all of this being said (yeah, I know I'm a lil' long winded today!) I am now going to "tweak" some of our packaging! Since "red.neck Chic" is all about "going green' - "upcycling" and "recycling" think of the fun I can have with ribbons, flowers, bags - and yep, you guessed it - duct tape!!! haha!

Here is a great article that I found today on Etsy - I have to say it set off a whole NEW list of ideas!!!

Have a great week-end - Happy Junkin' - and let the packaging and shipping begin!!!

Comin' to you LIVE from a single-wide...
hee-hee

:-) robelyn