Packaging is a great opportunity to remind your customers and a lot of other folks about your company, product, or service. Putting your name and info on your packaging gives you a chance to share a message. If you’re not putting your brand on your packaging, then you’re missing out on chances to spread your word every single day.

True Story

A long-time customer shared a story with us. His home goods store sold bulky products that required some pretty big bags. Those bags were a great place for some BIG branding. It was as if each customer who walked out of his store and down the street with one of those large custom bags was carrying a billboard with his store’s name prominently displayed as a reminder to every passer-by.

But the funny part was that he got an extra kick when pulling out of his home’s driveway in the morning. While driving down his street on garbage day he noticed something. Up and down the street he saw his store’s name plastered on bags full of garbage. He tried not to be proud that his bags were full of trash and in the junk pile. But his store’s name was still out for everyone to see, reminding them of his store, and showing just how many people were shopping there on a regular basis.

Reusing Boosts Branding

What are some other ways that re-use of your packaging serves as an ongoing reminder message? Well, if you use nice shopping bags with your logo on them, people are likely to carry their lunch to work in them.  Then everyone in the lunchroom will see your logo. It’s like a roaming testimonial. Maybe they carry their dress shoes to the office in your bag. Everyone on the street, bus, train, or in the hallway will see your message.

What if you put your restaurant’s name on a plastic carry out container? First of all, every time a customer opens their fridge, they’ll see your message. If they pack their lunch for work, there’s a good chance that coworkers are going to be exposed to your logo. And, if your customers store “knick knacks” in your plastic carry out container, then they might decide that they need to stop by your restaurant the next time they’re looking for a spare button, or a thumb tack. You’ve just placed your very own subliminal suggestion.

A box, bag, or takeout container with your name on it is a chance for you to get your brand out there for years beyond the brief time when other media will come, go, and be forgotten. Don’t miss out.

Tell Us Your Story

Have a story about your custom packaging that’s worth a share? We’d love to hear it!

Need help getting your brand added to your packaging? We can make it happen very easily. Give us a call at 888-321-2248 and one of our Packaging Advisors will be glad to help you.

Designer and entrepreneur Lela Lee is the creator of the slightly off-beat and refreshingly original retail company Angry Little Girls. With a boost in business and a plan to relaunch her brand, Lee came to us needing distinct custom packaging. Lee wanted packaging for her smaller gift items like jewelry, socks, and books. What she wanted was a merchandise bag that customers could cut and use as wrapping paper when gifting. And we found a way to turn this inspired design into a reality. We were very excited to work on this project with Lela because not only was it unlike previous jobs, it felt great being a part of her branding process.

What Was Needed

“I needed a custom bag to convey the new messaging of my brand,” says Lee. “I’ve always had merchandise for sale, but Anger is a Gift is a new chapter in the story of my property. I needed a bag and new art that ties in the gift line with the existing brand name.” When asked why she decided to go custom Lee says, “The art on the bag tells a story and hopefully carries my message to other people.”

What We Did

We worked with Lee to try to bring her ideas into fruition. By adding a simple dotted line along the edge, plus brief instructions, and the Angry Little Girls merch bag became suddenly reusable as giftwrap. And that’s another opportunity for Lee to get her company name seen.

“I love it,” exclaims Lee. “I’m proud to give each customer a bag with their transaction.”

Did you know we’re a one-stop shop for many customers? That’s because we customize a wide range of items, and we carry stock items as well.

Welcome 2017

As we begin the New Year, small business owners are contemplating what the next 12 months holds for them. And many of us will make resolutions to achieve our goals.

Here are a few resolutions that many small business owners may have on the top of their lists. We want to offer a few suggestions on how to tackle them.

Increase Sales (and Profits)

Sounds easy but it generally requires CHANGE. Each business owner needs to start this change process by asking questions and committing to making adjustments.

Some of the adjustments might include:

Work harder, add new products, adjust pricing, change the marketing efforts, and invest in a website to allow customers to buy 24/7/365. On the HR front, get the right people “on the bus” and the wrong people “off the bus.”

How do you start? First of all, get an impartial friend in a non-competing business to spend time with your team brainstorming. Then pick what you believe to be the best options and map out your action plans. Don’t forget to assign one person with responsibility to follow through on each area and then monitor results.

Go Green

Every night you throw stuff into the dumpster and you think about your company’s addition to the earth’s growing carbon footprint. Plus your customers are asking (or at least thinking) more and more about what your business reflects. They’re also noticing packaging or products from recycled materials, and what you do to be more eco-friendly. Pay close attention to your packaging’s sustainability, reusability, composability or recyclability, because your customers sure are.

Now’s the time to show your customers you care about the environment by stocking recyclable, compostable, or biodegradable takeout containers and bags. At MrTakeOutBags.com, we stock a full supply of eco-friendly products from recyclable bags to compostable containers. We even have biodegradable cutlery!  Take a look at some options.

Order More Systematically/Save on Shipping

Competition is fierce, so there is little room for waste.

Aim to:

• plan better to order more efficiently, less often, yet not too much,
• watch inventory and buy more when it makes sense based on lower price points
• reduce shipping costs by hitting weight levels that earn discounts
• throw away less unused or wrong packaging items, ingredients or product

Did you know you can get a 20% discount when your MrTakeOutBags shipment weighs 200 pounds or more? With this in mind, plan your buys more systematically and aim to combine multiple products on one order. You’ll benefit with lower bills and fewer chances of running out of inventory!

Invest in Your Brand

Your customers will pay a premium when they recognize and value your brand’s promise. So you’ll want to invest in your brand.

There is a lot of work involved with defining your brand.  Here’s a blog post by marketing firm Hubspot that outlines some of the steps.

Once you’ve defined your identity, you’ll want to consistently and compellingly convey it with a logo (and perhaps a tag line) that illustrates your brand’s identity.

Be sure to put your logo on all of your signs, bags and packages. Got questions about branded packaging? Give us a call at 888-321-2248.

Praise Your Team More

A positive staff is among the most important contributors to your brand so you’ll want to be sure the team feels energized and appreciated. A great way to encourage this attitude and boost moral is by sincerely praising your team. Letting employees know when they do things well is very important.

Here is a practical way to measure how often you praise your colleagues:

• Start the day with 5 coins in your right pocket.
• Every time you praise someone, move a coin to the left
• Your goal is to have all 5 coins in the left pocket by end of day
• Repeat the next day

The New Year brings great promise for improvements in your business. Let us know how MrTakeOutBags can help you achieve your 2017 business resolutions.