The job of packaging doesn’t end when the consumer makes their purchase. Instead, it can be the start of a special relationship between a brand and a consumer. Packaging has the power to create memories that will last a lifetime. How? Through the unboxing experience.

Often, this experience is tied to the cultural cachet of a product or brand. Think of sliding the drawer open on an Apple product and unveiling the sleek contours of a new iPhone or iPad. Pulling the paper away from a new pair of designer shoes and inhaling the new leather smell. Carefully pulling a new bottle of Laphroaig from a plush relief in an exquisitely-produced gift box. Everyone has at least one memory like this – a vivid experience of fervent anticipation and intense fulfilment.

However, with the right packaging, any brand can elicit these feelings from its customers – even ones with no prior knowledge of the product. And the rewards for doing so in the modern market are greater than ever. Unboxing is now a phenomenon with such a cross-sector, multi-demographic appeal that it has created a sort of online cottage industry.

Few things capture the cultural zeitgeist like an unboxing video. What was initially a user-generated niche has since exploded into an unstoppable marketing juggernaut. Whole YouTube channels dedicated to unboxing videos have collectively amassed billions of views.

This doesn’t take into account social media posts and videos put out by consumers every day. Four in 10 consumers would share a post featuring a purchase if it came in premium, unusual, or otherwise excellent packaging, according to research by e-commerce platform Shopify. But brands should look beyond all these mind-boggling numbers in favor of the story behind them.

Unboxing content is now just another accepted – highly effective – form of marketing. What’s important about it isn’t necessarily its content, but what it represents. That is, that consumers across the world are intensely interested in not just the products but the whole experience of consuming and using the product. And product packaging is inseparable from that experience.

The marketing industry’s worst-kept secret was confirmed with hard data in 2013 when a Psychology of Marketing study found that attractive packaging evoked an impulsive urge to buy a product. By adding the visceral, authentic feeling of an unboxing experience into the mix, it’s no surprise that watching people open unique packaging for all kinds of products is as popular as it is.

Some of this can be explained away by a desire to live vicariously through others; to watch them open something unattainable. But data from Google found that 62% of consumers who view unboxing content do so as a form of market research during their purchasing journey. Positive unboxing experiences lead to quick, tangible results. It is such a powerful force in the modern market that it’s as close to essential as anything else.

What this all means is that investing more time and attention to detail into a product’s packaging is highly likely to pay off in the social media age. By tapping into the enthusiasm consumers have for premium unboxing experiences, brands can create products that effectively market themselves in the form of extremely likeable social media posts from happy customers. And brands should treat each like on each post as an extra potential lead for a new or returning customer.

So how does a brand create such a viscerally joyful experience from something as simple as tearing away some cartonboard? Luckily, there are plenty of techniques that a packaging expert can employ without inflating costs.

Something as simple as an intricate or ornate folding carton design can lend what would otherwise be a dull box a more bespoke feel. And one thing any consumer appreciates is being made to feel that personal touch – like the brand respects them enough to craft something special for them.

Both-sides printing is also an increasingly popular technique that can provide a guided opening experience. It lets brands print messages, images, logos, or anything else on the inside of the packaging, reinforcing those positive vibes as the consumer feverishly uncovers their new purchase. This can also help avoid frustration by providing opening instructions in the case of more complex, multi-part products that need to be unboxed in stages.

If all of this was easy, everyone would be doing it. The fact is that crafting elite packaging is an art form. Being able to carry the consumer along on an unboxing journey, eliciting the right responses at the right time from a bit of cartonboard and plastic is a skill that only the experts, like New Vision Packaging, possess.

Great packaging can attract a customer – that part is simple. But if a brand wants to keep that customer coming back in a crowded marketplace – if it wants to build a relationship that lasts a lifetime – it cannot settle for simply being “great.” It must shoot for the stars, crafting something inspired, exceptional, and captivating.

Ultimately, consumers do not remember products – they remember the experiences and feelings that products give them. By partnering with a high-end packaging expert like New Vision, brands can make sure that those experiences are unforgettable.