How to Plan for Custom Holiday Packaging

From Labor Day to New Years, each holiday offers you a unique opportunity to connect with consumers and position your brand and products in a way that is relevant to their lives in the moment.

A well-executed holiday packaging strategy will ensure you have everything ready in time and that your products are top of mind with holiday shoppers during this busy and competitive season.

Be it back to school, Halloween, Thanksgiving or Christmas, we hope that by following the guide below you can be confident that your brand will be recognized and relevant not only for this holiday season, but for every season to come.

The Blueprint to a Successful Holiday Packaging Strategy

The single most important thing you can do to prepare for the holiday season is to start early. The best-case scenario is to start planning and collaborating with a packaging supplier in the summer, preferably about 12 weeks in advance.

Peak season for the packaging industry starts in early September and spans until Christmas. You want to be well on your way in the planning process by Labor Day to ensure your vendor can meet your timeline during this period of increased demand.

Key items to consider when planning your holiday packaging are choosing a vendor, conceptualizing your packaging, creating the marketing plan, and navigating the ordering process. The packaging conceptualization phase is one of the more important ones as it is where the magic happens.

During this phase, you need to communicate with your vendor's packaging designers what you are envisioning. The three most important questions to have answers to that you need to let the designers know are “What is the product?”, “What is the purpose of the packaging?”, and “How is it shipping?”. Providing these answers will give them a good idea of how to bring your concepts to life. The more details, the better.

“Get your packaging supplier involved early! When you start thinking about your project and work closely with a supplier early on, it gives us ample time to marry your ambitious ideas with execution.”

— Laura Hard
Regional Sales Manager, Eastern Washington

The Ultimate Holiday Packaging Planning Checklist

Check out this a step-by-step guide that will help you plan a successful holiday packaging strategy. In it, you will find a packaging production timeline that includes all the key items mentioned above and more, a printable checklist of tasks to keep you on track, example holiday project features, and creative packaging ideas to differentiate your brand. 

Download the full guide here.

Start Planning for the Holidays

Many of our clients are already gearing up for Q4 events. Now is the perfect time to start your preparations, stay ahead of the game, and make your brand a trendsetter with holiday packaging this season. Contact our Packaging Advisors to get started today.