Do You care About Packaging?

[djrey]

5 minutes ago, Corylax18 said:

Maybe for some, but thats a big brush to paint so broadly with. I agree with your general assertion that Marketing works, but not universally across industry and customer demo's. 

I'm at the point now where I buy more bundles of Customs/Farm Rolls than I do individual Regular production cigars. The boxes and bands do nothing for me, flavor wise. Its just wasted money. 

 

I understand where you are coming from. Private rolls can certainly be great. The only issue is there would be no way to actually test that unless that same custom roll was packaged and presented to you without you knowing. 

[Tstew75]

The way our planet is headed, we're better off with as little packaging as possible.

Luxury product packaging doesn't have to be excessive to be interesting....AND it seems green is a big selling point these days. Run with it

[Walter19]

Ill be honest, if something is packaged nicely, I feel it holds more value, whether it does or not.

I design electrical components for AC cooling fans and was asked to create a box that would be sent to customers for sample purposes. The only suggestion given to me was to make it "Apple clean".

[Chibearsv]

I'm ok to try any new cigar if I think the price is relatively reasonable.  If they come in fancy packaging like a black lacquer box with white dots, so be it.  But the packaging does not factor at all into my decision to buy again.  My only decider for a re-purchase: "was the smoking experience worth the dollars spent?".  I prefer they come in some form of a wooden box but that's not a deal killer either if they're tasty.

[Bijan]

1 hour ago, djrey said:

A cigar with an ornate band that comes from a dress box or cab will taste better than the same cigar with no band that comes out of a plastic bag. The mind is more complex and has more innate control over us than many want to admit. 

Some of the best cigars I've had have been vintage singles some without bands coming out of plastic bags I keep in a tupperdore.

On the other hand I always think less of San Cristobal and Vegas Robaina because their bands look cheap and ridiculous to me 😂 I would definitely rather they came unbanded in a plastic bag. I smoke a fair number of El Principe, so I'm not totally shallow.

1 hour ago, djrey said:

If our Cubans came without bands in plastic bags do you really think we would still have a "Latest CC Purchase" thread? Doubt it... We want to see those big ass cabs of Lusis!

That and the daily smokes thread would be funny if unbanded cigars were still common.

[joeypots]

I think fancy packaging is fine particularly if the item is going to serve as a gift. I'm buying cigars for my own consumption and don't care about the package and the band (s). Bad cigars in a great box are still bad and as the saying goes, you can put lipstick on a pig but it's still a pig.

[Silverstix]

16 minutes ago, Chibearsv said:

I'm ok to try any new cigar if I think the price is relatively reasonable.  If they come in fancy packaging like a black lacquer box with white dots, so be it.  But the packaging does not factor at all into my decision to buy again.  My only decider for a re-purchase: "was the smoking experience worth the dollars spent?".  I prefer they come in some form of a wooden box but that's not a deal killer either if they're tasty.

Yeah for sure, the re-purchase is definitely gonna be dependent on the smoking experience. But putting that line in the water and catching us the first time - those shiny packages and fancy bands certainly do get some of us to buy a box on a whim

[djrey]

I am not saying an unbanded cigar will never beat a banded cigar. There are obviously many cigars with no bands or boxes that can beat a banded cigar. Again, the only way the topic stays relevant is if you have the same exact cigar, one banded and boxed, the other non banded and bagged. My assertion is that in that particular scenario the banded and box cigar will win, purely based on the effect of the marketing on your brain. Stating your favorite cigar is a custom roll without bands and boxes does not mean your brain beat marketing, it just means that cigar never had a chance to be marketed. 

8 minutes ago, Bijan said:

On the other hand I always think less of San Cristobal and Vegas Robaina because their bands look cheap and ridiculous to me 😂 I would definitely rather they came unbanded in a plastic bag. I smoke a fair number of El Principe, so I'm not totally shallow.

I'm with you here! Those bands are pretty rough! I also think PL is pretty awful which is a shame cause I love their box art. 

[Puros Y Vino]

14 hours ago, LordAnubis said:

I think this is a topic that is irrelvant for FoH members, which is at odds with the wider smoking demographic. The general demographic who may buy one cigar box in their lifetime at duty free would appreciate a nice box for sure. But we, the regular smokers who buy 5-100 boxes a year have no interest at all in the boxes. Some people repurpose some boxes which is good, but mostly they get thrown out or thrown in a bonfire. Good question though, what do you do with all your empty boxes from the store @El Presidente?

I wouldnt mind a nice box if it had 100 cigars in it, makes it worthwhile. But what i dont like at all is a nice box that has 10 cigars. They're just uselss and generally a waste of space relative to the number of cigars.

I would agree.  I do like the classic cabinets and dress boxes as they are.  The BHK boxes are gorgeous but probably add more to the overall price than I care to spend.  That style seems to work better in GR releases.  I was excited about the Montecristo 1930 series until I saw the boxes, which I do like.  Bu,t once again, another price premium.  I do not like the new EL packaging though. While it is snazzy, it just seems like a justification to charge more. When I started buying cigars in 2009, EL's in 10 counts were somewhat reasonably priced against a regular production counterpart. 

[smbauerllc]

I suppose, at least with cigars, that I do care about packaging a little bit. I will always buy the tubo version of something if available (not for looks, but for cigar protection ), and do appreciate a smaller, elegant band (which most cc's I have had do), something that isn't very common with nc's it seems. Many nc's have very large or just gaudy bands and I don't like how it looks.that said, i always remove the band before smoking so it isn't a big deal really

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[Kevin48438]

NC companies have done experiments where even just a simple ribbon on the foot makes a big difference in sales.  In the US, this stuff starts to happen after around $12 USD per stick.   The expectation there is getting toward the premium end of the market.  Then a company has to keep up with the others.   You cant have the least pretty box on the store shelf.  Especially if your brand is less than 20 years old.

[Habana Mike]

9 hours ago, Corylax18 said:

Less is MUCH more for me when it comes to cigar packaging. 

I really prefer the first photo. but if they had stopped at the second photo, I would be happy with that too. I'm not a huge fan of all the gloss and boxes that are so delicate they need a box themselves. (anything with a Carboard over box)

But, regardless of our opinions, Marketing/Fancy packaging work, otherwise, companies wouldn't spend the huge sums they do on it. 

That's what I'm talking about!

[SmokyFontaine]

I'm a total sucker for good packaging. It's why I tend to "try" a new cigar by buying a box. It's insane, irrational, and ends in occasional buyer's remorse... then I keep doing it.

[Jimmy_jack]

Give me unbranded smokes in wood slb all day. I’d be a happy camper. 

[Scubasteve20]

I thought this thread was going to be about the insanely perfect wrapping job the FOH logistics crew puts on my 24:24 orders! Seriously, I'm debating shipping my kids' Christmas presents to OZ to get that treatment!

Regarding the ACTUAL topic, Just like how getting older leads me to favor a petite corona, I also could care less about the packaging if the smoke is right. In my earlier cigar days, and still some of my most memorable, came in un-banded cello bundles.

[NSXCIGAR]

15 hours ago, djrey said:

A cigar with an ornate band that comes from a dress box or cab will taste better than the same cigar with no band

I know what you're saying but don't forget Cuba packaged cabs with no bands for 100 years. Obviously they didn't feel the need for that ornamentation. This goes back even before the Revolution so even when the brands were private cabs were unbanded. Many cigars were sold in both dress box 25s and cab 25s and I would assume both sold equally well. 

You could make the argument that perhaps the cabs weren't selling well since HSA eliminated most of them in the 2000s and added bands on remaining cab models, but I think this was simply proactive marketing by HSA. 

[rcarlson]

I'm in.  These'll compliment my Nickleback Deceniul Release. . .  to impress the ladies.  

[Corylax18]

On 3/12/2021 at 4:56 PM, Habana Mike said:

That's what I'm talking about!

That was the best split ever. 

[dominattorney]

On 3/12/2021 at 8:57 AM, Bijan said:

Some of the best cigars I've had have been vintage singles some without bands coming out of plastic bags I keep in a tupperdore.

 

That's packaging and branding too, just by another name. I think we lie to ourselves by saying we are unaffected by expectation, in whatever guise it is presented to us. 

True test is to throw a Gurkha band on a vintage CC single and see how that stacks up. 

[Bijan]

40 minutes ago, dominattorney said:

That's packaging and branding too, just by another name. I think we lie to ourselves by saying we are unaffected by expectation, in whatever guise it is presented to us. 

True test is to throw a Gurkha band on a vintage CC single and see how that stacks up. 

Yes definitely. I don't disagree. I was just saying bands don't always improve things. As I said there are cigars where the ugliness of the bands gets to me when it shouldn't.

[Habana Mike]

6 hours ago, Corylax18 said:

That was the best split ever. 

Yes it was!

Plastic bags and saran wrap! That's all the packaging you need.

At least I have a stack of empty boxes to put them in for proper storage. Recycling at its best.....