Packaging as a Great Weapon in the Marketer's Arsenal - Assignment Example

Section A Packaging can be a great weapon in the marketer’s arsenal. The importance of packaging has been rising for various reasons: increasing self service concept, more accountability on the part of company to ensure environmental safety, changing customer’s habits, increasing customer’s need and demand for information, media fragmentation and clutter leading to less effective and more expensive advertising, greater need for innovation etc. Marketers have to strike a balance among the various issues that packaging has to address. Often the purposes of packaging are many with many stakeholders in the packaging decisions. The stakeholders are the company itself, the middlemen, transporters, the customers, society at large. There can be found diverse definitions of packaging, ranging from very functional to one with holistic interpretations. In simple words packaging can be defined as an external element of the product (Olson and Jacoby, 1972) - an attribute that is related to the product but does not form part of the physical product itself. Arens, 1996) defined packaging as “the container for a product – encompassing the physical appearance of the container and including the design, color, shape, labeling and materials used” The purpose of packaging- As discussed earlier, packaging serves various purposes. Some of its purposes are: Product Protection – Protection of the product enclosed in the package from shock, vibration, compression, temperature, and other environmental effects etc. Easy handling and transportation – Packaging helps in proper handling of the products during dispatch, transit, storage, delivery etc. Packaging may provide convenience in all these stages through which a product passes before reaching the end consumer. Information – Packaging helps as a platform for providing various types of information related to product use, transport, recycle, waste dispose, product content, and other relevant information Protection from Pilferage – Packaging also helps in check product pilferages at warehouses, transits etc. The packaging, when not re-sealable may show if it has been tampered. Thus the product pilferage is checked. For certain product types like drugs any tampering to defile the company’s name can also be prevented Promotion - The packaging and labels can be great tools in the marketer’s promotional mix. Packaging is a marketer’s message. This statement can be substantiated through various dimensions. We will discuss them one by one. One of the greatest purposes that packaging serves is in marketing. Cateora and Graham, (2002) in their book on marketing management described packaging as an integral part of the “product mix” component of the 4 P’s of marketing mix: product, price, place and promotion. Keller (1998) argued that packaging is an attribute of the product, but is an element of brand together with the name, the logo and/or graphic symbol, the personality and the slogans. According to him it’s a promotional tool. The brand elements like logo, graphics and symbols all are to b placed t the packaging. Thus the success of the various brand elements is to a great extent dependent on packaging. Thus it helps in clear recognition of the product. Packaging as a Marketing Tool Of late advertising has come under huge pressure due to rising media fragmentation, message clutter etc. Although advertising is a great medium to reach large audience but the hit rate of advertising is going down, thus marketers are looking for media which command great hits like direct marketing or are less expensive like social media or packaging. Product’s packaging may communicate with majority of the target audience in a given context. Many marketers are of view that packaging is more influential than advertising due to its direct connect with the customer and thus has great impact on customer’s brand perception and experience. Hofmeyr and Rice (2000) argued that in most cases pack designs are more likely to influence a customer’s perception rather than advertising. Thus for the marketers with low advertising budget packaging can play ever more significant role. Packaging communicates with the customer in two phases: at the point of purchase and during product usage. ” (Löfgrun, 2005) argued that packaging touches customer through two moments of truth. The first moment of truth is about obtaining customers attention and communicating the benefits of the offer. The second moment of truth is about providing the tools the customer needs to experience the benefits when using the product. The Point Of purchase “A survey by Point of Purchase Advertising Institute (POPAI) in the UK found more than 70% of all purchasing decisions are made in-store at the point of purchase. (Jugger, 1999) argued that final five seconds are determining whether brands are purchased or not. According to Louw and Kimber key functions served by packaging at POP are: Cutting through the clutter, communicating marketing information, stimulating or creating brand impressions, Providing various brand cues: Value, Quality, Safety Louw and Kimber Mentioned that there are more than 25,000 items in an average British supermarket and while just average 39 items are carried in a shopping basket (Jugger, 1999). Thus it’s obvious that a customer has so many choices to consider, but practically very few of them pass the perceptual screen of the consumer. The importance of eye catching quality of a packaging can be understood by a simple fact that in an average supermarket the typical customer gets exposed to 300 brands in a minute. (Rudh, 2005). A packaging to be able to grab attention, has to be placed in shelf in a manner that it has more chances of getting exposure and the packaging should be in visual contrast with the surrounding products. For low involvement products like impulse purchases packaging plays even more significant role by stimulating the purchase. However, even for high involvement products, customer due to time constraints may use packaging as heuristic. Product Usage (second moment of truth) After purchase also, packaging plays a significant role not only functionally but also from promotional point of view. Rudh, 2005 stated “Unlike advertising exposure which can be relatively brief, packaging continues to build brand values during the extended usage of the product and can drive brand equity and loyalty.” The functional and promotional roles of packaging are: Functional Role- Functional role of the packaging from the customer’s point of view starts after the purchase. It’s here that the customer’s experience with the product is built. If the packaging is such that it increases customer’s convenience and offer other psychological benefits, the satisfaction derived will be much higher than that would have been derived sans packaging. Marketing Role - The marketing ability of packaging after the purchase does not go down. In fact its potential is immense as the customer reads the message for so many times and the brand may get exposure to other customers also. Innovation - When marketers struggle, to innovate the product due to slackening demand especially in case of low involvement purchases or impulse products packaging may often become an important tool for innovation. Packaging can offer immense opportunities for innovation. The package change may bring some functional changes or just cosmetic ones. The functional changes could be airtight moisture proof packs, easy squeeze tubes, temper proof seal on water bottles. While on a cosmetic level changes could be in terms of shape of the package only, but they can also be very successful from customer’s point of view In fact a cosmetic change may offer newer options for those who are always on a lookout for new and novel offerings. For example cylinder shape of Pringles potato chips and Absolut vodka bottle are popular. Another advantage of packaging led innovation is increased ability to meet customer’s needs. Consumer habits are changing very fast due to changes in various factors in the environment. Marketers are struggling hard to first understand the changing consumer patterns and habits and then to respond accordingly. Packaging may offer great advantage in terms of meeting changing customer needs and habits. Thus proactive marketers can have better chances of succeeding through innovative packaging designs. These innovations will help in increasing the satisfaction level of the customers and thus will be able to enhance profitability of the company. There are several examples where company changed packaging to meet the evolving needs of the customers. For example in India Nestle launched “Maggie Cuppamania” ready to eat noodles to meet the changing lifestyle of Indian consumers. Cosmetics, food, etc are changing their packaging designs to meet or stimulate customer needs. Thus packaging may offer great potential for marketing through meeting customer needs. Packaging influences the perception about the product and the brand. Bone and France (2001) showed that the graphics on a package can significantly influence attribute beliefs and purchase intentions. Cheskin 1930 coined the term ‘sensation transference’ which means that people’s perceptions of a product or service are determined by the aesthetic appeal of their design. He argued that people perceive package as a part of product and thus how they feel about the package is often transferred to how we feel about the product itself. For example in his study in 1940, Cheskin found that Margarine was not due to the associations attached to it. Environmental Impact of packaging and Marketers’ image Environmental impact of packaging is an important issue for regulators, society and marketers. Marketers are always concerned with those aspects of packaging that influence cost, convenience, protection of the product, and promotional ability of the packaging. However various package materials may have adverse impact on environment, thus government, social interest groups etc intervene in the packaging material decisions to safeguard the society, for examples: ban on poly bags as they are not bio degradable. This may prima facie seem to be a cause of trouble for marketers, as they may have to change materials and processes in response to their negative evaluation by regulators. This may involve cost also both monetary and others. On monetary level it may mean buying new supplies, changing processes and it may also impact negatively on aspects customers’, shopkeepers’ habits and convenience. For example a lot of customers when forced to accept grocery in a paper bag rather than poly bags resist. However for responsible marketers this offers an opportunity to build their brand image. Madrigal and Boush (2008) argued that “social responsibility” is a trait in brand personality and the companies that function in an environmentally friendly way are considered to rank higher on “social responsibility” attribute. They added that the marketers who are considered socially responsible are rewarded by many people willing to patronize them. Thus the environmental hazards of packaging may offer responsible marketer to differentiate itself on the basis of social responsibility and build a better brand. Another significant environmental concern in food and beverages market is obesity. The fast food companies are blamed for rising obesity and health risk, led by the junk food they offer. Wansink and Huckabee (2005) suggested various ways through which companies can deal with rising problem of obesity which ultimately be detrimental for their businesses. This way the company will be perceived as more responsible and also will be able to enjoy market in the longer run. Section B The product – Light Chips Description – Chips made from wheat flour and other ingredients, which are light and crispy. Target Audience – We are majorly targeting these at a sub segment (health conscious youth) of the biggest segment (youth) for this type of product. Serve size – 40 grams ( to reduce over eating) Material – Poly vinyl package Color – Green and Yellow (Kaszubowski, suggested that green reflects health and yellow stands for optimism.) Louw and Kimber argued that yellow resembled butter and also argued that mass products should be in light colour.) Typography - Louw and Kimber said for this type of product, serif and sans serif typographies should be preferred Graphics - Louw and Kimber stated “Products directed to the middle classes, use horizontal and oblique straight lines, circles, curves, wavy outlines and asymmetrical compositions” Picture Text placement - Louw and Kimber offered that for better recall, the picture should be placed on the left side. No resealing - That would increase over- eating which may be a social problem and the marketer will be troubled in the longer run. Package Design References Arens, W. (1996). Contemporary Advertising. United States of America: Irwin. Bone, F. P. & France R. K. (2001). Package Graphics and Consumer Product Beliefs. Journal of Business and Psychology, 15(3), 467-489. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25092735. Cateora, P. and Graham, J. (2002). International Marketing. New York: McGraw-Hill . Exploratory Study. Managing Service Quality, 15 (1), 102-115. Francis, E. S. (1949). Packaging Aids to Marketing. The Journal of Marketing, 13(4), 512-517 http://www.jstor.org/stable/1247792. Jugger, S. (1999, October). The Power of Packaging. Admap Magazine. Kaszubowski , R. How to Use Color in Food Packaging, Journal of Student Research, 61-65. Löfgren, M. (2005). Winning at the First and Second Moment of Truth: an Louw, A. & Kimber, M. The Power of Packaging. 2-27. Madrigal, R. & Boush, D. (2008). Social Responsibility as a Unique Dimension of Brand Personality and Consumers’ Willingness to Reward. Psychology & Marketing, 25(6), 538–564. McDaniel, C. & Baker, R. (1977). Convenience Food Packaging and the Perception of Product Quality. The Journal of Marketing, 41(4), 57-58. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1250234. Quelch , J. A. & Cannon-Bonventre, K. (1983, November, December). Better marketing at the point of purchase. Harvard Business Review, 2-8. Rex,J., Wai, S. & Lobo, A. An Exploratory Study into the Impact of Colour and Packaging as Stimuli in the Decision Making Process for a Low Involvement Non-Durable Product Rice and Hofmeyr . (2000). Commitment-led Marketing. John Wiley & Sons Ltd, Twedt, W. D. (1968). How Much Value Can Be Added Through Packaging? The Journal of Marketing, 32(1), 58-61. Wansink, B. & Huckabee M. (2005). De-Marketing obesity . California Management Review, 47(4), 6-18. Yuva, J. (2003). Trends in environmental packaging. Inside Supply Management. 18-20. Read More