Several times a month, individuals, inventors, and startups reach out to me with questions about the best ways of packaging their really cool ideas. One recent conversation was with Clemson alumna Catherine Chapman, co-founder ofBitRip，一种数字磁带，可存储有关应用到的对象的大量信息。他们在线出售磁带，但她正在寻找将其产品包装到零售市场中的想法。
这是一个好问题。数字磁带,可以使用d like a combination sticky note and QR code doesn’t really fit into one particular retail category. It isn’t actually a sticky note, so it doesn’t belong in office supplies. Though it’s tape, it doesn’t really fit in with masking, painting, and duct tapes. It can store digital information, but it isn’t software. It is a completely new concept, and it requires its own unique category. But before consumers can understand it enough to appreciate its many uses, they first need to be educated about what it can do. What I suggested to Catherine, in fact, what I recommend to most of those who ask, is to consider fifth-panel packaging.
What is fifth-panel packaging? Don’t boxes have six sides? Which one is the “fifth” one?
What the term really means is “extra panel.” It’s a common packaging technique for electronics and audio/visual devices. Remember the days when software was purchased in a box, before downloading gigabytes was a realistic scenario? You’d take the box off the shelf, review the front and the back, then open the panel on the front. The little circle of Velcro made a slight scratchy sound like you were opening a book for the first time—a powerful psychological factor that bridged a level of familiarity to the excitement of what was about to be revealed. On those two inside panels, you were able to read more about the features and functions of the software, see screenshots and other graphics, and get a feel for whether this was the right software for your needs. The space provided by the extra panel allowed the software marketers that much more area to communicate value without taking up any additional shelf space or overloading the precious primary display panel (PDP) that needed to grab your attention first.
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阅读Midol如何重新设计其包装，包括添加第五个面板。 |
书本开放不是唯一可用的第五个面板。还有第五板钉悬挂箱，通常称为“第五面板标题”。通常，他们容纳一个主包装，例如一瓶药或一管润唇膏。瓶子或管放在盒子中，但它不是一个千里的六面盒子，而是具有延伸件，可以将其悬挂在钉上。该扩展名在正面提供了额外的营销区域，并增加了盒子背面的营销区域。这些扩展的营销领域非常适合不适合单个零售类别的新产品，例如Bitrip的数字磁带。包装上的额外空间可用于教育消费者有关该产品的信息，并帮助消费者确定它是否解决了他们的需求。对于相对较低的成本，第五个面板的广告回报可能很大。
Beyond just marketing the product, a fifth panel can give consumers a memorable tactile experience before they even purchase the product, providing a kind of unboxing experience right there in the store. Think of a fifth-panel package for the newest in sound-cancelling headphones. You pick the box up off the shelf, loving that satiny feel. The box doesn’t say much, but it doesn’t need to. Still, you turn it over, examining all sides, reading the information that’s there. You get back to the front and slowly open that fifth panel. There’s that scritch that lets you feel you’re the first to crack the spine of this “book” (even though you know you aren’t, you feel like you are). And then, there they are, nestled in the velvet-flocked plastic form are the headphones you’ve been waiting for. You smile and trail your fingers across the matte-finish cellophane, imagining these on your ears, looking like the well-contented, stress-free person sitting in the pastoral scene on the back of the cover you just opened. Yes, you know these will provide all the noise-cancelling bliss you’ve dreamed of.
第五个面板确实需要一些思考，然后才能实施。Quad的创意总监Tobias Watson指出，第五个面板应传达一定的护理和精确度。例如，纸板的厚度将加倍以创建第五个面板，因此，如果您当前使用24分库存，则该面板现在将变为48分。这可以为软件包提供额外的安全性和保护性，但也可能给一些折叠和粘合操作带来挑战。
许多第五个面板都有一定程度的优质性。随着增加的空间，有空间可以散布您想说的话和图形显示产品不同方面的位置。同样的增加空间还可以产生一种需要填写尽可能多信息的感觉，从而使体验不仅是压倒性的，而且可以忽视。
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Read Dr. Hurley's column on the benefits of traditional design prototyping tools. |
凭借精心设计的第五面板套件，好处肯定超过了缺点。Periscope的创意总监Richard Gordon-Smith认为第五面板纸箱是品牌体验的经济“拥有元素”。对于大多数人来说，诸如定制瓶形状之类的成本优势可能是一个艰难的决定，但是对于第五板纸箱来说，这一决定不一定是正确的。品牌可以利用这种结构来创造互动体验，通过触觉和触觉来吸引感官，并产生物理空间。戈登·史密斯（Gordon-Smith）描述了大多数品牌如何主要依赖视觉资产，因此第五个面板为在销售点和拆箱期间为消费者提供新的维度开辟了许多可能性。
那些希望将纸箱升级为“苹果般”标准的人可能会感到震惊，当报价带回具有柔和的功能的自定义设置框时。尽管这些标准对于大众杂货项目不实用或负担得起，但第五个面板可能会提供您想要为更专业的产品提供的目标。
第五个面板是一个相对简单的概念，但它可以提供强大的信息。这就是为什么我将其推荐给许多人，他们呼吁如何打包他们创建的独特产品的问题。将路人转换为购买者的唯一方法是看到和触摸包装。如果购物者不被诱使购买新产品并进一步探索，那么他们就不会购买。由创建者来对购物者进行有关该产品的教育，并邀请他们尝试新产品。
因为它很小，因此很难对PDP进行教育，而且设计必须很简单。第五面板包装提供了一些额外的空间来共享更多信息，希望有希望有更多的人与包装互动。戈登·史密斯（Gordon-Smith”：“包裹是您足够信任的品牌，可以进入您的家。”第五个面板可能是您邀请消费者拿起您的包裹并信任足以带回家的理想场所。
R. Andrew Hurley博士是克莱姆森大学的副教授。他可以接触到me@drandrewhurley.co
