HEALTH & PACKAGING

Nowadays we can sell toothpaste as a cosmetic, with an argument base on beauty. A sunscreen is at the same time an anti-aging cream, and taking pills of collagen and magnesium is part of the daily beauty routine of many people.

We are all aware of the radical change that the concept of health has experienced in last 10- 15 years.

In our minds, health is not just the absence of illness and treatment is not just a remedy to a puntual or defined problem.

Today health means lifestyle, quality of life, beauty, energy…

Pills are no longer an exclusive territory of pharmacy as well as cosmetics of perfume shops or beauty centres.

There is a growing trend towards IN-OUT treatments and, furthermore, drugs called OTC (Over-The-Counter) has completely change the concept of pharmacy.

According to the Annual Report prepared by ASPIME, pharmacies located in urban centres and tourist zones already obtains over a 40% of its sales out of SOE drugs (only on prescription).

All this means new opportunities and new concepts:

• A higher percentage of consumers indicates that the figure of pharmacist gives them extra confidence.
• A 80% of consumers of parapharmacy products see themselves as prescribers of those products they love.
• E-commerce has had a great impact on OTC   and parapharmacy products in recent years.

And its here, within all this changes, where secondary packaging have made a big push in sales strategies of this kind of products.

Nowadays we can sell toothpaste as a cosmetic, with an argument base on beauty. A sunscreen is at the same time an anti-aging cream, and taking pills of collagen and magnesium is part of the daily beauty routine of many people.

For this reason the pharmaceutical architecture has completely changed; more open spaces, attractive designs, display windows that shows Christmas or summer campaigns. (see our board on Pinterest here)

All this concepts must be reflected in packaging and presentation cases with a design much closer to cosmetic world than to the medicine one.

May a box influence the end-user´s choice? May a case boost your sales?

Of course it can:

• Beyond the information printing on it, a box communicates though its shape, touch, colour and design.
• Promotional packs or treatment packs increased impulse purchases and so the brand development.
• The increase of self – service model in pharmacies and parapharmacies needs a packaging that puts things very easy and clear to consumers.
• A case or a box can facilitate usability to the patient though its design
• Actually trends are talking much more about life styles than about trendy fashions. Consumer has change its way and reasons to buy one product or another. Knowing how to target our message in a proper way to the proper public is very important.

Therefore, when we go design packaging to our healthy products we must take into account the following aspects:

• Innovation: focus on information and usability.
• Break with schemes but in a moderate way to avoid that products seem over designed.
• Building trust around our product must be our most important goal, beyond impact.
• Give information to be received at-a-glance.
• Today, communication is global, it means that we must take into account the physical and digital environment wen we are designing our packaging. First of all because the Network has become our favourite and natural method do consultation and after, because packaging has emerged as an important ally in digital marketing strategies. Above all in those social networks where the image is protagonist, like Instagram.

Today, trends talk to us much more about life style than about trendy fashions.

The consumer has change, he knows perfectly what he need according to his lifestyle, he highly appreciates health and healthy.

Is easier to contact him because there are many more communication channels, but is much harder to win their trust because he is also the overload of information era.

In all these senses, presentation and packaging can be the key to success or defeat of a product.