10 Unique Paper Bag Ideas to Deliver Your Brand Message

Last Updated on October 19, 2023 by Packoi Team

Almost 8 out of 10 consumers prefer to touch paper bags. This is only one of the many statistics that prove the supremacy of paper bags as a packaging material.

The versatile nature of a paper bag makes it an ideal tool to deliver your brand message. In fact, branded paper bags can increase brand recognition and improve your brand identity – as long as you use the right design that represents your company well.

In this article, you’ll learn how to use custom paper bags to build a positive image for your brand. You’ll also get 10 unique paper bag designs as inspiration while creating a powerful marketing tool for your business.

Packaging as a Brand Message

Custom paper bags enhance brand recognition by making the paper bag stand out – and it doesn’t even have to be filled with print to make it happen.

Think about the Apple paper bag for a second. It’s plain white with just the brand logo and sometimes very minimal text. This is consistent with the sleek and minimal approach of the company in all its product and packaging initiatives. If you look at the branded paper bag, you’ll also notice that it’s made of sturdy paper bag material that can easily be folded and stored. Such as a white cardboard paper bag, It is sturdy and beautiful.

This is another representation of the brand’s image. It tells customers that the company offers elegance and sophistication in every product it launches. They won’t waste time on fluff and unnecessary products. Through their packaging, Apple has built a high-premium, quality-controlled reputation that people have sought after for years.

You can achieve the same for your brand when you use the right shopping bag design. It can be a walking advertisement that’ll improve brand recall or a perfect marketing strategy that can cause your business to stand out in the market.

To help you understand how influential the right paper bag design is, take a look at 10 unique retail bags that deliver a powerful brand message.

Paper Bags that Highlight the Product

Let’s start with the most simple and primary message of every brand – the product. If you’re not sure what paper bag design would attract the attention of your target market, use your product as the inspiration.

Here are examples of custom paper bags that used their product as the highlight of their design.

1. Shoelace Handles

This is a paper bag designed for Kong, a street/skatewear business. They specialize in collectible trainers, so it’s not surprising that they’ll incorporate that into their customized paper bags.

The shoe bag design was created by Rave, an ad agency that worked with Kong back in 2010. It is a simple white bag with a cartoon drawing of shoes where the rope handles are positioned to look like the shoelaces.

2. Beer Crate Design

This is an eye-catching paper bag design from Shumensko, a brand of Bulgarian beer. The paper bags were made to look like the beer crate that their product is usually shipped in.

The appeal of this design is the shocking idea that someone is carrying a beer crate around like it’s nothing. Of course, a closer look would show that it’s just a design. But then again, the fact that it made people look makes it an effective tool for brand recognition.

3. Tea Bag Shape

The customized paper bags launched by Lipton for their Clear Green product were also a stroke of pure genius. Instead of the usual square or rectangular shape, the paper bag looked like a giant tea bag. This was by the ad agency DDB for Lipton and was released as a campaign in Saudi Arabia in 2010.

This is a great example of using paper bags to create a strong brand presence for your business. It’s a great concept to use when you’re introducing a new product line.

4. Steering Wheel Handle

An automobile website from Turkey was presented with this paper bag design. It’s a perfect example of how a simple image with the right placement is enough to send an effective brand message. By putting the image of a steering wheel on the die-cut handle of the paper bags, it’s telling customers that this is a reliable source of automobiles and related products.

Custom Paper Bags that Show the USP

Apart from the products, your custom paper bags can also cleverly showcase the USP or unique selling point of your brand. You’re still promoting the product – but you’re doing it by focusing on what you can do for your target market.

Here are a couple of examples that you can get inspiration from.

5. Hair Strength

This is a shopping bag featured in a 2006 campaign for Pantene shampoo. This clever idea came from Grey Advertising in Kuala Lumpur. It shows a happy woman holding up a strand of hair that looks like it’s part of the rope handle of the custom paper bag.

The message here is that by using Pantene, customers can get stronger hair strands. If someone struggles with falling hair or weak strands, they’ll be intrigued by the shopping bag and more likely to know more about it.

6. Daily Fitness

This paper bag was designed for a fitness company in Germany. The dumbells are positioned where the die-cut handle is. When customers carry it around, it looks like they’re lifting weights and getting fit while walking.

It’s a great way to remind people to stay fit and keep their bodies strong. Once they get that idea in mind, they can refer to the company behind the shipping bag to help them get fit.

That’s a great idea for your paper bags. Show a need through your packaging to open minds about what your brand can offer.

7. The Inner Handyman

In 2010, Craftsman Tools launched a campaign in partnership with the Y&R ad agency. Part of this campaign is a black paper bag that has a drill positioned by the die-cut handles. There’s no other design apart from the brand name and the text “Trust. In your hands.”

This simple design gives two messages. At first glance, you’ll get the message that you need to trust in your hands. Even if you’re not an expert, with the right tools, you can be a handyman. But after getting a closer look, you’ll see that there’s a period after the word “Trust.” It then tells you that if you hold the drill from Craftsman, you can trust in what your hands can do.

With the right image and a few words, you can send a compelling brand message that can build trust and make people willing to try your offer.

Compelling Paper Bags to Promote Advocacy

Another idea for your custom paper bags is to promote an advocacy that you want your brand to be associated with. It could be about sustainability, animal welfare, humanitarian aid – anything that you and your target audience feel strongly about.

Here are a couple of examples that used this idea.

8. Save the Animals

Greenpeace launched shopping bags that show the arm of an animal reaching up to the handle of the bags. When someone carries the bags, it looks like they’re holding hands or the person is helping the animal up.

This is a great way to promote animal welfare and how the world needs our help. It raises awareness about the needs of animals and leads people to inquire about what they can do.

Use your paper bags to educate people about issues that your brand is supporting. You won’t just encourage them to help. You can win their admiration and loyalty.

9. Unplug and Save Energy

You can also use customized paper bags to give your target audience important reminders that can keep them safe while using your product.

One example is from Meralco, a main supplier of electricity in the Philippines. In partnership with the ad agency TBWA, they released a series of paper bags that remind people to be cautious of plugged devices and to conserve energy. The bags featured images of electrical devices, with the rope handle looking like it’s a part of the unplugged cord.

10. Humanitarian Aid

You can also make your paper bags emotionally compelling to move them into action.

One company did this, and it was a huge hit. Die Arche is a German Christian Child and Youth Aid company that printed the image of a young girl holding out her hand like she’s asking for food. This image is positioned inside the bag. So when the customer unloads the items they purchased, they will see the image to remind them of the children starving in Berlin. This campaign was able to increase donations significantly.

Think of an image that can make people act on buying your offer. Focus on emotionally compelling images to increase customer engagement.

5 Tips When Designing Paper Bags for Brand Purposes

There are many ways to design custom paper bags to deliver your brand message. It’s an effective way of establishing your brand’s identity and getting people to know, like, and trust what you stand for.

Here are some tips that can help you design effective shopping bags.

1. Choose the Most Powerful Message

It all starts with the message. You need to choose one message that sums up what you want your brand to stand for. This is the message that people will remember you for no matter what. It’s like how Apple is known for its sleek and elegant designs. Or how Coca-Cola encourages sharing.

What message do you want your brand to be associated with?

2. Target the Emotions of Your Market

As you think about the message that you’ll put in your paper bags, consider how your target market will react to it.

Your customers will play a crucial role in the success of your paper bag design. You have to target their emotions so they’ll react the right way to your packaging design.

3. Use Innovative Ideas and Designs

If you notice, the paper bags mentioned in this article were all innovative in their own way. They defied the norms of where images should be printed. Some even did it inside the bag.

Make sure you consider the positioning of the images and text on the shopping bag. This affects the impact of your design.

4. Make It Interactive

Use QR codes or hashtags to help promote the message in your paper bags. This will increase the social engagement around your brand, and it’ll also help reach more people.

Campaigns that create a lot of noise are considered effective – especially if it’s noise that originates from your customers.

5. Don’t Forget about Sustainability

No matter what advocacy or message you’re trying to promote, you can always squeeze sustainability. By using kraft paper bags or recycled materials, you’ll be hitting two birds with one stone.

Don’t miss this chance to promote eco-friendly practices through your paper bag. Encourage sustainability along with your brand message.

Let’s Create Personalized Paper Bags for Your Brand. Packoi Printing Can Help with the Design Process.

Creating personalized paper bags for your brand is a worthy investment – especially if you can use it to spread your brand’s message. Make sure you know how to design the right custom paper bags to represent your brand well.

If you need help, Packoi Printing has the experience and expertise in designing packaging materials. Our design team can help you create a powerful message through a compelling paper bag design.

Reach out to us so we can discuss your paper bag ideas. Give us a call and we’ll get back to you with a fair quote in no time.