Product packaging is one of the non-price competition strategies other than price factors, and its status and role in modern marketing activities are more and more noticeable. The concept of a broad product is a whole consisting of three levels: physical product, formal product, and extended product. The product packaging that we want to analyze belongs to the second level - the scope of the formal product. Formal products refer to the shapes and methods through which real products are implemented. What a real product describes is just a concept, effect, or benefit that can only be achieved through certain forms. Formal products mainly in five aspects: quality, characteristics, style, brand and packaging.
In marketing, some scholars refer to the package as the 5th P in parallel with the 4P (Product, Promotion, Price, Place) combination. In the marketing practice, companies use packaging to put thousands into the package. The goods are colorful and seductive.
DuPont's marketing staff, the world's largest chemical company, after thorough market research, discovered the famous DuPont law. That is, 63% of consumers make product decisions based on the packaging and decorating of their products; housewives who buy in supermarkets are often more than 45% of their purchases when they go out due to the attractive packaging and decoration. It can be seen that the packaging is the face and clothing of the commodity. It enters the eyes of consumers as the "first impression" of the commodity and hits the psychological balance of the consumer's purchase. After all, purposeful purchases are rare; in the face of hypermarkets, there are a variety of goods on supermarket shelves, and the degree of homogeneity is gradually increasing. It is not an easy task to make choices quickly, let alone a considerable amount due to advertising budgets. The new products that take the terminal route and struggle with the appearance of the packaging appear to be very important at this time. After all, there are a few companies that can promote themselves.
The role of packaging
Packaging has five main functions:
1. The packaging is a silent salesman (the silent temptation)
Japanese scholar Gana Guang believes that there are three basic conditions for packaging to become a “salesmanâ€: brand (brand), image, and differential. He called it the BID principle. Trademarks are the signs of goods. A product without a trademark is just like a person without a name.
To make packaging a salesman, you must first highlight the goods on the packaging. Expanding the gap refers to the conscious expansion of the differences in quality between trademarks through the use of trademarks and packaging.
Someone once did an experiment and put the same detergent in several packages of different brands and shapes to try it out for consumers. As a result, they thought it was a few different quality detergents. This experiment shows that trademarks and package styling can play a prominent role in product characteristics.
The result of widening the gap is to make consumers form a relatively fixed impression on a certain commodity—a trademark or a packaging impression. The trademark or packaging impression gives the individual character of the product a specific image and the product is more attractive.
2. The packaging is a magnifier with product features.
What are the characteristics of goods, not personally used, and taste is not easy to understand. So for many commodities, especially new products, letting people understand their characteristics has become an important issue for companies. The packaging can capture the characteristics of the product through engaging styling, pictures and text printed on the packaging, enabling consumers to have a general understanding of the product they are selling at the moment they come into contact with the product.
3. The packaging can provide the same kind of wine. If two or three bottles are bundled together, it is very convenient for customers to carry two or three bottles. Therefore, to change the packaging of goods and provide convenience to consumers, it is possible to win customers who are hesitant and unwilling to carry their goods and thus promote product sales.
4. Packaging is a microcosm of marketing strategy. A well-designed packaging, in a materialized form, embodies a company's marketing strategy, the company's target market. The product price and distribution strategy adopted by the company should be reflected in the packaging. If the company’s target market is a lower-income consumer, then the packaging should be simple and unpretentious. Otherwise, the target customers will not dare to enquire. If the product is to establish a high-quality image, the packaging must first be of high quality.
5. Packaging can bring a sense of security The most primitive and basic function of commodity packaging is to protect the product and prevent it from being damaged, leaked, decayed, and deteriorated. With the development of economy, the change of market concept, the protection function of packaging itself has changed, and the protection function of packaging itself has also changed. It promotes consumers by giving them a sense of security. This is especially true for products that are easily damaged, leaky, and easily moldable.
Classic illustration
1. Coca-Cola Coca-Cola can be said to be a model for product packaging. As a kind of popular beverage, there are not many kinds of Coca-Cola. The reason why people are loved by people at all levels is one of the secrets of success is to use different product packaging for different consumers. The previous glass bottle packaging has its fatal weaknesses: the price is single and does not meet the consumer psychology at all levels; it is not portable and is easily broken. In order to win more consumers at all levels, the Coca-Cola Company has changed its previous form of packaging: low-income consumers can buy 1.25 liters of plastic bottles of Coca-Cola, which are low-cost, storage-resistant; high-income groups. Consumers can choose a can type, which is easy to carry and cater to fashion. For scattered consumers, Coca-Cola is also equipped with bulk Coca-Cola. In addition, for different tastes of men and women consumers, the company launched Sprite, Fanta and other beverages; the most valuable is Coke's red, Sprite's green, Fanta's orange, gives people with excellent visual effects, very consistent with the product itself specialty. Rich and varied packaging forms meet different needs from all aspects, and market share has naturally increased.
2. Shuijingfang has done a good job in packaging in China. It is called "Shuijingfang" and it is known as the miracle in the history of Chinese packaging. From the year before the Guangzhou Garden Hotel Shuijingfang was opened in the previous year, Shuijingfang succeeded in occupying the high-end liquor market in Guangzhou and Shenzhen, and landed in the Beijing-Shanghai market. The sales amounted to several hundred million yuan. Throughout the marketing strategy, packaging has contributed. Swellfun took the lead in the use of paper and wood combined packaging, perfectly embodying the combination of gold, wood, water, fire, and earth, and rich national traditional culture. The solemn elegance of the company was awarded to the world's top advertising award Mobi packaging design gold award. In terms of cultural appeal, “Shuijingfang wine, live cultural relics were brewed in the original siteâ€, “upper class, Sheung Shui, and Shangkou’s fine wines, Shuijingfang brewing water from the Minjiang River and clear snow, subject to Dujiangyan’s Chunze. Since ancient times, Shuijingfangjiejiajialiangquanquan, households Humei, famous wines, and handed down from generation to generation "... These words are really exciting. At the same time, Shuijingfang announced that it is necessary to change the most expensive wine in the high-end liquor market in China for many years. This appeal of responsibility has also touched many consumers. In short, the success of Shuijingfang lies in: First, pay attention to market segmentation, and be good at capturing the flash of opportunities. Second, the target market is locked in and its market positioning and product characteristics are clearly defined. Swellfun is positioning itself as a high-grade wine in China, focusing on Chinese characteristics and high quality. Both of these characteristics are strongly expressed in product packaging, product culture and publicity. Third, it clearly puts forward its corporate strategic objectives, namely changing the situation in China where the premium wine is dominated by wine.
3. China's milk powder market At present, domestic milk powder packaging design is very incomprehensible, not only the color of the front of the bag is unreasonable. The pattern is rigid and the content on the back is very small and very simple. The contents of the back of foreign milk powder packaging are very large, it includes important precautions, feeding tables, milk disinfection and milk regulation methods, nutrition information, nutrient content table. Production date, site and other information. Some may feel useless, but young mothers think it is absolutely useful. The reason why foreign brands of milk powder has succeeded in occupying the high- and mid-range milk powder market in China is relying on these materials and relying on various advice and guidance from nutrition experts.
When the domestic milk powder companies blindly guide consumers to “sometimes milk substitutes for breast milkâ€, please look at how “power and strength†is done. In this important issue, it reads, "Break is the best food for infants. Before you decide to use a larger amount of powdered infant formula, you should listen to the doctor's advice." How responsible it is to inform the public about the truth is a respect for consumers. . As long as it is a variety of information about milk-fed infants, it can be found on the packaging of foreign brands of milk powder. For young mothers who are new mothers, how much experience do they have when they feed their babies? No, only rely on these learning materials. According to Nestlé's survey, all parents who use the "Li Duo Jing" to feed their babies have all read this series of information and are very serious. In fact, these materials are the only driving force that has been guiding young parents to repeat purchases. In particular, those figures and forms, in the consciousness of the Chinese people, represent the authority and represent a formal, professional, and formal thing. These charts and various materials make the young parents very much trust this. A product, I believe the quality of its products are superior. In the packaging of domestic milk powder, no one has such a comprehensive feeding guide. How can young, non-feeding parents trust their products?
Foreign brands of milk powder are mostly equipped with special measuring spoons. Even if they are not, they will tell consumers exactly how many grams of milk powder they have. However, domestic companies do not have a dedicated measuring spoon. Although there are hints on the packaging, there is still nowhere to check what shape the size is. Therefore, if the domestic milk powder companies consider more packaging factors, learn from the successful experience of foreign countries, and improve the product packaging design, it will definitely improve the status quo.