Brands focus so much on the products themselves that they often forget the significance of what surrounds that product and how it is presented to the customers. If you think about it, the first thing that the customers touch is the packaging of the product, not the product itself.

Imagine you are going to a job interview. You’ve invested so much time and effort in preparing for this interview, but have you considered how to present yourself when you meet your potential employer face to face? This is the importance of first impressions. Dressing up for a job interview is a sign of respect, not just for the company but more importantly for yourself. Yes, dressing up in a suit or a dress takes more time than just wearing a grey t-shirt and jeans like Mark Zuckerberg. But putting the extra time and effort into dressing up visually shows that you are committed to this goal, and you invest in yourself.

Your customers are like interviewers. In fact, they already are your employer because customers opening your product means that they paid money for your hard work and dedication.

Packaging is more than just a box that contains the product. It’s a symbol, an icon. For example, the orange box of Hermès, and the slowly opening box of the iPhone. There are some iconic packaging in the fingerboard community as well. The cork packaging of Flint, the tissue paper of Woob, the package design of Beast pants, silk bag of Skowood, and more. Each packaging represents the brand’s unique identity, and how customers remember them.

“Packaging that taps into emotional triggers such as nostalgia, joy, or belonging can evoke robust responses, driving purchase intent and brand affinity” (Robinson 2024, Forbes). The packaging and the unboxing experience is what transforms a customer into a fan.

Product packaging represents respect for the time and effort that you put into your work. The small details reflects your dedication. Imagine that you buy a bag from a luxury brand and it’s packaged in a cheap container that obviously shows the brand didn’t put much care into. Would you think that your hard-earned money was well spent?

This is why luxury brands such as Hermès, Patek Phillipe, and Rolex constantly invest significant amount of resources in their packaging and how their products are presented to their loyal customers. Because the packaging represents the brand’s value, culture, philosophy… and most importantly, it represents the memory that the customer creates through the experience of receiving and opening the product.

According to a survey conducted in 2018, “most Americans agree that the design of a product’s packaging (72%) and the materials used to package a product (67%) often influence their purchase decisions when selecting which products to buy” (Niv and Harris, IPSOS).

As much as the content of a book is important, the cover of a book is equally important because it is the first thing that readers come across to decide whether to read the book or not.

“People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care” - Theodore Roosevelt