Someone has rightly coined out
that marketing is not about battle of two similar products but it is a battle
of consumer perceptions. Product packaging is definitely the best and last
chance for the marketer to make an impression and more importantly a sale.
Statistics suggest that 50% of the purchases depend upon emotions, more so when
a client is confused between two similar products. Companies that have mastered
the art of aesthetics are also at the top of competition and this will include
brand names like Apple, Nike, Cassina, Nokia, etc. in many cases, design and
product packaging is what defines a brand and gives them the competitive edge.
Thinking as a consumer/customer,
what really happens when we enter a store and are confronted by several brands
of same product in the aisle? It is human to associate, remember and compare
when it comes to making a choice. The human brain classifies everything, not
just with the quality (which is fairly same with most top brands) but also the
presentation. In the marketing jargon, “Top of Mind” is an extremely crucial
point of sale. The customer can make several such associations – association
with the advertisement that seemed unique or an association of the product
quality with the elegance or packaging. Even shopping bags with the name of the
store on it has an effect on the buying compared to bringing home a plain white
plastic carry bag.
Research has proved that products
that influence all our senses have a strong impact on our buying behavior.
Package design, thus is an essential part of the marketing strategy, making the
product unique, special and powerful. As such packaging acts as:
- The physical representation of the brand’s personality
- Helps draw attention is a crowded space
- Influences perceived value and positions the product in higher category
- Differentiates a brand from competitors
- Brand identity as in color and graphics
- Reflects creativity, modernism and other special qualities
- Protection for the product
- Presents a story
With some product packaging,
customers have been presented a whole new dimension. Brands like Apple have
used product design and product packaging as a cornerstone in the industry.
While design in the modern world is synonymous to style, packaging can be said
to be a personal stamp of the brand rather than just a label. It certainly has
been able to provide an added value that customers automatically cherish and
remember the next time they are in the buying queue.
Take for example the YKM Shopping
Bag. The strings of the bag represent a fitness regimen in action and after you
have a look at it; it will definitely stick to your sub-conscious for a long
time. More unique examples will be the spaghetti brand called NYC and the
highly functional packaging of the Thrift toothpaste tube.
Considering the importance of
packaging, it is not surprising that brands are investing heavily on
motivational research, psychological manipulation, color testing and similar
functions to test the customer’s perception/reacting to the changed design.
Packaging further presents great opportunities for information transmission and
convenience. In some cases, packaging has been the sole reason that people go
for a product (to be kept as a souvenir). At the core it is all about making
the customer recall the brand based on the attention seeking capability of a
packaging.
