The Packaging Secrets That You Need to Know by S M Didarul Hasan. The readers of Bangladesh Brand Forum are primarily experts in marketing field and a portion of them are life-long learners. The target audience here thus are well acquainted with packaging tidbits; still, some people will love reading and discovering some insights. So, before explaining what needs to be considered in product packaging, I would like to shed light on its theoretical aspects first. Almost all of us who are working in sales, marketing or brand management and have studied or are studying Business Studies, have heard the name of Professor Philip Kotler – Father of Modern Marketing.  We always follow his books and try to absorb and utilize many concepts from him. As a result, reflection of Philip Kotler’s thoughts and views of product marketing is clearly visible in many people of our country. It would be wrong to say that this only happens in our country. Rather, this scenario exists almost all over the world. In fact, where there is marketing, there is a reflection of Philip Kotler’s theories and concepts.

Those who have got introduced with ​​“4Ps” or the “Marketing Mix” from Philip Kotler’s books, believe that the addition of another “p” to the ​​’4Ps’ would symbolize the concept of “Packaging”. Philip Kotler has also presented packaging as an essential part of marketing in his book. In case of consumer goods or packaged goods, significance of packaging cannot be ignored. Because, the first interaction of buyers with this type of products is through packaging. Even when a product is on display in a store, physical encounter of the product/brand with the buyer takes place through packaging.  Philip Kotler claimed in one of his theories that a pack acts like a five seconds commercial (advertising). Significance of packaging can also be understood from this statement.

Many of us buy products based on prior experiences. This may be due to brand loyalty or based on word of mouth, the influence of radio-TV commercials or information from various media. However, collection of information about a product starts with packaging. The brand story begins when the package is picked up. If the pack can’t start telling that story, at the end of the day the buyer will not be attracted to that brand even though the product is of good quality. To get this story started, marketers need to pay close attention to packaging. If the package is of a sensitive (or fragile) product, the beginning of the story becomes even significant. Then packaging materials have to be selected carefully. Most of the marketing managers consider packaging and labeling as part of product strategy. Packaging includes design and production process of all levels of the product, such as the initial packaging (water bottle or honey container), the secondary packaging (cardboard box for water bottle or honey container) and the shipping packaging (large size cardboard boxes). However, if we think holistically and from different perspectives, the significance of packaging cannot be denied at any cost.

If we analyze the significance of packaging from research point of view, we will find several research that has shown that 40% of the buyers are buying products that they are already aware of. Some of these buyers may have bought that product before or knows that the product is good or has got informed about the product from others. Research has also shown that around 67% of buyers change their purchase decision after entering a super shop/store and decide instantly. There have been a lot of changes and improvements taking place in the way we buy products nowadays. People of developed countries purchase all the products from super shops. Buyers from all over the world make most of their purchases from supermarkets. This trend has also got bloomed in our country. Number of super shops in our country is increasing day by day. Usually in a super shop, there is no employee to persuade the buyer rather the buyer has to choose from thousands of displayed products. Research says that most of the buyers change their minds and purchase decisions after entering a supershop. And in this change, packaging plays the dominant role. Customers are attracted by the package first. Then he/she picks up the package and reads the written texts. If they are satisfied with the messages on the pack, they become interested on the product. Package does not only attracts buyers but also describes the product type. That’s why we can recognize which pack is of rice, of flour or of oil. Product package should be able to talk with customers. This scenario is most common in developed countries. In these countries, almost all are supershop like retail outlets. Research has shown that each of these supershops carries about 15,000 different products. Every minute a customer passes through over 300 products. Packaging is, then, the only tool to force the buyer to stop and pick up ones. Packaging is then considered as the only spokesperson for the brand.

Being overloaded with brands and choices, consumers always go through a lot of troubles when purchasing. They notice a huge presence of different brands at the purchase points and as a result they fall into a dilemma. To get out of this particular situation there are three ways. First, retailers can help buyers. Retailers give information of best products so that the buyers can shorten their list of preferences. Secondly, media communication can help buyers to choose products. Radio-TV commercials, electronic & print media or even billboards can help consumers with different information. Thirdly, packaging can assist buyers to shorten their consideration set and choose a particular product.

There are two conditions for ideal packaging. Firstly, packaging must not sacrifice core functionality of the product. Whether products’ quality and uniqueness can be preserved in the package has to be considered. If the packaging fails to confirm this, the product will lose market. Secondly, what benefits packaging can offer to the buyer have to be well-thought-out. Whether or not the pack can ease use of the product, carriage or transportation of the product or the pack can be reused, need to be considered. Many buyers are interested in sustainable packaging. However, buyers pay highest importance to the quality preserving capacity of a pack. Research has shown that many buyers choose plastic bottles instead of tin jars when buying coconut oil. Not only buyers but also what benefits sellers are going to get, need to be considered. Products should be packed in such a way that sellers can easily deliver it to customers. Color combination of the product is also crucial as many buyers like transparent packets or bottles for many products. For example, customers would like to see color of water from outside. For, oil, tea or coffee, we observe similar attitude. Consumers want to get information of the product from the packet. Different research found that buyers want to confirm product quality through the pack. Besides, they want to get basic information about the product. This information includes name and address of the producer, materials used in production, approval from different institutes, production date, expiry date, weight, price etc. About four months ago, we launched a new package for our tea. Main objective of this change was to increase sales through packaging improvement. We viewed this from a “growth point of view”. With the help of a research agency we analyzed what changes can be brought and how these changes are going to affect sales. From that study, we have seen that two-, three- and four-layer poly-packaging is usually used in packaging. Some packaging is done in carton bags. But in this case, there is a foil pack inside – as we can see in Dano and Nido milk packaging. Glass bottles are being used in the packaging of some products. However, for consumer or packaged goods we can see four to five types of packaging. In case of tea, poly-pack is highly visible. As a result, after bringing tea from the market, we cut the packet, put/pour tea in a jar or container and throw away the packet.  So, we thought of introducing a container pack to increase buyers’ convenience. If it becomes possible, no other container will be required to keep tea. Aboutt Twenty years ago, we (Ispahani) had a plastic container for Zareen tea that was user-friendly. At the same time, this airtight container was able to preserve 100% quality of tea. So, we were eager to bring that packaging back. Since the introduction of the new packet, the sales volume of our tea has been steadily increasing.  Our company has a rice brand called “Parban”. When we did research on its packaging, we found rice of different brands in the market. Considering from customer point of view, we found that for rice, customers prefer such a packaging where rice can be seen well even from outside of the packet. Besides, they want to find the brand name or logo visible or readable in the packet from distance. This is because the packets of rice are often kept in a place where there is a distance of about five to seven feet between the buyers and the displayed products. That’s why products that customer want to see before purchasing, should be given transparent packaging.  In addition, brand name or logo should be written in a way that customers can easily find their desired brands. If a product is of premium category, customers should get that feeling of premiumness from the pack. In this case, what kinds of materials (packaging materials) have been used in the packaging is important. As well as, customers want to get detailed information about the product from premium packaging. So, there should not be any deficiency of information. Customers also look for aesthetics in premium packaging. This should also be considered.

Lastly, we have to keep in mind the six element of brand identity development and these are brand name, logo, symbol, slogan, jingle, and packaging which are also known as distinctive brand assets (DBA). In case of packaging, color consistency must be maintained carefully over the years. Color should be representative of the brand. Then customers will be able to recognize that brand or products from distance and this becomes a distinctive brand asset. For example, Olympic’s Energy Plus Biscuits or Cadbury Chocolate pack. Deep blue or deep purple packaging is strongly rooted in people’s minds, something like color branding. So, customers can recognize the products regardless of where the product is displayed in a store. Other companies that have introduced energy biscuits have followed the same color. Same scenario is seen in case of Bombay Sweet’s Potato Chips or Lexus biscuit. For brand identity establishment, brand character is very crucial after brand logo. That found in case of M&M Chocolate pack, KFC or Square’s Chashi rice brand packaging.

Written By

S. M. Didarul Hasan

DGM (Marketing)

M. M. Ispahani Limited