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Packaging… Get your unfair market share!

Written by: Anthony Testa

Article Overview: Packaging and Design solutions for small businesses seeking help.

Packaging… Get your unfair market share!

When we think about packaging we don’t realize that everything is packaging or packaged for us. We buy things, we buy brands, some of us unknowingly buy brands, and many of us buy brands of out of habit.

That’s Packaging doing its job, the front line soldier talking to the target market. In every way packaging, is the first line of attack salesman that has something to say to every single shopper, every day, without fail. So what does that mean?

It means you better get the message right if you want to get your unfair share of the market!

So before you even begin to think about how big or fancy or how many colors, think about your product’s fit in the market place. You are not going to want expensive packaging for a $9.99 retail item. So where do we start with packaging, lets start at the very beginning.

What’s your market? Who is the end user, will this product retail for $9.99 or $99.99. Whatever design firm you intend to use you have to understand that when developing packaging, production costs need to be considered before you put pencil to paper. This is what separates the real packaging experts from the studios that want to win awards. The point here is to make you money. If your packaging costs you $4.50 and its retailing at $9.99. You are not making money! Retailers generally look for 50% mark up depending quantities, suggested retail price and cost.

So first thing is know your market! What’s the competition doing, and what price points are they selling at? Where will you position your product, and what price point will you be retailing it at?
Once we have this information we know our design parameters. A good shop will know how to package your product with all these parameters in mind along with production feasibility, because they have strategic suppliers and would have them on board from the get go.

I have seen designs from agencies that didn’t have a chance in hell to be manufactured. They were conceived in the mind of some self absorbed artistic director without a clue as to its feasibility. All because they left the most important piece out of the puzzle… the manufacturer!

So once we know our design parameters, we can begin developing our canvas. Let’s be clear there should always design parameters based on what we’ve learned about our market and feasibility for manufacturing costs.
Now we can think about size, and style.
We can also begin thinking about how can we get more perceived market value?
If the retail price is low, and the product looks good we can tailor the packaging, to have a higher perceived value. By; package innovation, printing process, size, color, branding and many other techniques.
Perceived value is important to the buying public; don’t forget you are competing for shelf space alongside other products.

So now we know where to start!

Your product also needs to communicate to the public how great it is and what problems it will solve, or why you need it. This is what your packaging should do…. (Unique selling proposition or USP)

For example, take a look at As Seen on TV Products. These products are packaging on steroids …These all communicate what the product does, loudly and many times over …new, improved, amazing, easy as 1..2..3.. The brand name is their advertisement with a promise…”
Magik Kleaner”…Cleans like Magic. These may not be the most elaborate produced packaging, but they know their market, and they know their shelf life is short. So they have to grab the consumer’s attention quickly, elicit an impulse, pick me up, buy me., look at what I can do for you…!
The role that packaging has in these markets is to entertain and create market confusion, you think your buying the one you saw on television, but are you sure? You may be buying something similar …

That’s real packaging power!

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Article Tags: artistic director, colors, design parameters, habit, hell, job, making money, pencil, production feasibility, quantities, retail price, soldier, target market, unfair share



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