|
|
The
Fifth P of Marketing
Packaging
design is a specialist niche.
Wil
Lyons explains why what's on the box can be just as important
as what's in the box.
Depending upon which survey you read, at least 66% and perhaps
as much as 80% of all grocery purchase decisions are made
at the point of sale - right there in the aisle as you fill
your trolley! Not that one buys four times more than originally
intended (although a whole set of supermarket layout strategies
are designed to help achieve that objective too!). These findings
relate to brand selection. Thus you may plan to purchase sausages,
tea and ice cream, but there's a wide selection of each and
four times out of five you'll decide exactly which brands
to put in the trolley only while in the shopping situation.
You can probably relate to that if, like
most people, you come out of the supermarket with rather more than you
originally intended and if, like most people, you browse to a certain
extent while shopping rather than rigidly sticking to a favourite brand
of absolutely everything. One U.S. survey has shown that, on average,
people spend 10 seconds viewing each product category and in that brief
time only get to see some two thirds of the goods displayed in that
category. So fully one third of what's on the shelf does not even get
noticed. Thus, after all that product development, all that media advertising,
all that distribution and shelf positioning - most purchase decisions
are made in that last few seconds. The customer's hand hovers briefly,
then picks. Mostly, it picks out the product that best projects from
the shelf, standing out attractively from the surrounding clutter.
Although more comprehensive marketing models have largely
superceded the well loved 'Four Ps' of marketing, they still
strangely gloss over what always was and still remains arguably
the most important P of all - Packaging, and specifically
packaging design.
On the face of it, such startling survey findings as those quoted
above might be calculated to lead manufacturers, distributors
and marketing companies to scale back a little on the enormous
expenditures undertaken to differentiate their product through
tweaking the recipes or product features. One might expect
them to cut back on inordinately expensive advertising campaigns.
Why not target the elusive half that doesn't work for starters!
Conscious that most purchase decisions are made in the final
few seconds, a concerted effort to win the packaging endgame
is indicated.
While the aforementioned findings and similar ones from many
surveys world-wide are quite well known, it has been my experience
that, thanks to the scant attention paid to the power of packaging
in marketing training and literature, most marketers and designers
alike have a poorly formed view as to what constitutes effective
packaging design.
Intelligently conceived and well-executed packaging design
is not just about art or aesthetics. Its primary function
is to sell the product by means of visually communicating
not just one 'notice me' message, but up to several distinct
messages which range from statements about positioning and
likely price to statements about quality, status, dietary
considerations, environmental correctness and more.
Intuitively, it is difficult to appreciate the capability of a simple piece
of packaging to convey a complex set of messages in an instant.
Due to the sophistication of the human eye, however, it is
indeed possible to achieve this. At its simplest, you can
look at a flat, two-dimensional representation of any object
on paper and instantly 'see' the real world object. You can
glance at a painting in an art gallery and have an instant
gut reaction.
If you look away immediately, even though you have only seen
the painting for a second or two, you will be able to articulate
not just one, but several reasons for your reaction.
Subconsciously, the same process is at work as we fill the
shopping trolley. In a sweeping glance we survey, say, the
pre-packed cheeses. Sometimes we will know exactly what we
want and will seek it out and select it. Mostly though, we
like a bit of variety and will quickly scan what's on offer
- just whatever catches our eye. A brightly coloured generic
or 'own brand' may catch the eye because it is designed to
do so. It is also designed to suggest basic, processed, perhaps
not of the highest quality, economy price. That's fair enough
and, if it suits your taste and pocket, go for it. Sometimes
the marketing line associated with these products is that
they can be sold cheaper because money is saved on packaging.
Not so many customers believe that, or the competing brands
would be wiped out.
There are a lot of cheeses in that chiller cabinet and, if you don't
want the economy brand, you may spot another whose effective
packaging design has managed to rise above the clutter and
attract your attention. The quality wrapper in traditional
looking 'natural' material, the upmarket name, classical design
lines and labelling combine to say - at a glance - 'quality
product, natural, trustworthy company, suitable for putting
out before guests, bio-degradable pack, expect to pay more!'
The ability to effectively achieve that immediate complex
of signals through a piece of packaging design is a specialist
niche skill within the graphic design field. Really good packaging
designers are hard to come by. Once found, they are highly
prized by customers who have discovered the difference good
packaging design makes to their sales figures.
There are important functional aspects attaching to packaging
design. It should enable the customer to understand what the
product is, how to use it, how it looks (when displayed at
its most attractive of course!). It should possess appropriate
functionality as a container, be it a cellophane wrapper,
box, can, bag or bottle.
Structural qualities may also be built into the packaging design in ways
which can enhance brand equity and which, indeed, can harm
brand equity if the design is poor. If a Coca Cola bottle
was stripped of its cap and labelling, you would recognise
it anyway because of its distinctive shape; same goes for
Aqua Libra, or Bovril. The customer is not thinking about
design per se, but is nevertheless taking it all in. You don't
really think about structural design features when trying
to get to grips with one of those ill-conceived milk cartons
that put the milk everywhere but in the glass. You just avoid
them in future. The result is that the marketers may not realise
they have a problem.
Packaging does not exist in a vacuum. Ultimately all the other Ps must
be right. If the packaging gives the customers a message which
is at odds with their actual experience
of the product, then the cognitive dissonance so beloved of
the textbook writers kicks in and all the design in the world
won't save you. On the other hand, if your product does not
send loud, clear and appropriate signals to your target market
segment from its position on the shelf, then all the product
design and advertising in the world won't save you. Marketers
can get the edge that really matters if they pay due attention
to the power of packaging.
The
author, Wil Lyons, is a leading expert in packaging design and Managing
Director of Artefact Limited with an international clientele specialising
in packaging design, corporate design, web design, POS design and marketing
concepts.
Contact Wil at:
Artefact Limited,
Gresham House,
383 Clontarf Road,
Dublin 3.
Tel: 01 833 0081
Fax: 01 833 0068
Email info@artefact.ie
|
|
