Impulse buying. Product packaging put to the test.

We are introducing a new blog feature: GRAND BRANDS. We are judging product packaging on graphic design expertise, planet-friendliness and brand promise as well as the product itself. We got the idea for this feature when we came across Kitty-Hoots Organic Catnip at Pets at Home in Worthing. We were not looking for catnip, however, this product shone out against its rivals on the shelf, and we had a Eureka moment! We believe that manufacturers who produce purrrrfect planet-friendly packaging should be given some recognition and credit!

The judging and reviews will be as follows – all out of 5 points.

• Eye-catching design? The overall graphic design of the packaging. Did the packaging design make us impulse buy? Was the packaging eye-catching and easy to read?
• Useful packaging design? Did the graphic design include the most important details of the product. Were any warnings printed on the outside of the packaging? There is nothing worse than buying a product and getting home to discover you need another product to use it, or that you cannot use the product on a certain kind of skin/carpet/fabric etc. Exclusions should be printed on the outside of a product’s packaging.
• Customer interaction? Does the graphic design create a customer dialogue – eg competition, feedback, prize draw etc.
• Can the packaging be recycled? Most manufacturers are printing/producing packaging which can be recycled. We, as a planet-friendly company, try to only purchase products with recyclable packaging.
• Minimal packaging? Does the product use unnecessary packaging or it is planet-friendly?
• Delivers the promise? Does the product live up to the claims on the packaging?
• Product pricing? Is the product price good value compared to it’s rivals?
• Easily available? Is the product easily available in a large number of stores to purchase?

PRODUCT NAME: Kitty Hoots Zoom around the Room Organic Catnip

• PRICE: £1.99 from Pets at Home, Worthing
• Eye-catching design? I was not looking for catnip, but the mad, bright pink, orange and lime green packing screamed BUY ME!!! The bright packaging was minimal with a crazy handwritten font – and has an organic feel about it. When you look at the packaging you are ‘living the experience’. Great graphic design in our opinion. When you open the product up, the experience continues. There are instructions to ‘watch your cat go crazy’. My cat did! You can send movies of your cat going (nice and funny) crazy to the manufacturers website: www.kittyhoots.com. Please note that you do get directed to a new website called www.fatcatinc.com. This is the only reason we gave the product 4/5 as it should be updated. Guess the manufacturers are using old stock up first. Great graphic design fused with minimal packaging proves impulse purchases are possible.
• Useful packaging design? Handwritten font is all-over-the-place-mad-crazy, but it works! No warnings necessary on the packaging design, as catnip is a natural product and it is organic of course.
• Customer interaction? You can send your mad movies and photos to the manufacturers at www.kittyhoots.com.
• Can the packaging be recycled? The outer cardboard packaging can be recycled. The plastic pouch the catnip is can’t be recycled, but the pouch makes up 5% of the overall packaging so we approve.
• Minimal packaging? Yes!! Clever minimal packaging, yet does not compromise from the attraction of the product.
• Delivers the promise? Our cats went crazy for this product. They can even smell it when it is locked away in the draw.
• Product pricing? £1.99. Average price amongst its rivals.
• Easily available? This particular product is in Pets at Home, however, www.kittyhoots.com products are available online at a number of other online stores.