Tweet

Product Packaging The Secret to Selling a Commodity Product

Written by: David Frey

Article Overview: In the world of marketing, perception is reality. You can use that to your advantage if you sell a commodity product. This article gives you a good example of how to package a commodity product for higher profits.

Product Packaging The Secret to Selling a Commodity Product

Last year I was asked to give a seminar to a group of prominent business executives in Nairobi, Kenya.

Seeing as how I'd never been to Kenya, or anywhere close to that part of the world, I agreed to give the seminar.

It was a great experience.

While I Was In Kenya I Was Asked a Great Question

A CEO of a soap manufacturing and distribution company attended my seminar. We landed on the subject of creating a Unique Selling Proposition.

This soap CEO asked me...

"David, we make soap. It's not fancy. They make bars of soap and cut them into small blocks that are sold in retail stores. What can I do to differentiate my product from the other soap that's being sold?"

He pulled out a bar of soap to show me.

Indeed, it was a simple, no frills bar of soap.

He mentioned that his competitors have continually undercut him in price, which frustrated him.

And he didn't know of any way to set his soap apart from the other brands and he asked me what he should do.

Here Was My Advice to the Soap Executive...

Simply package your soap in a bright fluorescent yellow wrapping with a picture of a sun and rays of sunshine on it and call it, "Sunny Fresh."

He was silent for a few moments and then it seemed as though a light bulb went on inside his head.

"Yes, that's it." he said.

Well, I don't know if he ever took my advice or not, but I DO know that packaging can certainly create a perception of difference in the mind of consumers.

A great example of that just popped up the other day.

How a Little-Known Fertilizer Became One of the Fastest Selling Plant Growth Supplements In the World

This week my wife planted three new trees in our backyard. She was looking for some soil fertilizer and was presented with a bunch of options down at the local nursery.

After scanning the shelves, one product jumped out at her like a sore thumb.

The packaging was so compelling that she immediately purchased several bottles of it.

The product is called "Superthrive."

Would you like to see what it looks like?

--> Here's the front of the package

http://url123.com/zhxrm

--> Here's the back of the package

http://url123.com/zhe2p

Here's What Makes This Product Packaging Stand Out

Notice on the front cover how the package uses the following techniques...

1. A very bold headline

"#1 Extra Life"

2. Very powerful words

"World Champion", "Greatest Guarantee", "Proof",

"Vitamins-Hormones", "Science Miracle."

3. Bold colors

Bright yellow, red, and green.

4. A variety of large fonts

5. Photos of healthy plants and trees

And Did You Take a Look at the Back of the Package?

If you examined the back of the Superthrive package you would have noticed that it's as compelling as the front of the package, but in a different way.

There's no bright colors or photos.

It's all text.

But the text is very compelling.

On most bottles of something, the back is filled with cautions, directions, and ingredients.

The back of Superthrive is filled with additional sales copy. Notice how the back says, "EXTRA LIFE for YOUR..." and it lists 10 different things to which Superthrive provides extra life.

Basically the front of this package gives you all the emotional reasons for buying and the back gives you a lot of logical reasons for buying.

It's no wonder that Superthrive has taken the fertilizer world by storm (even though they don't claim to be a fertilizer).

Could Your Packaging Sell Better?

Mine sure can.

A good case in point is my http://www.MarketingBestPractices.com website.

It's ugly.

It doesn't sell as well as it should.

That's why I'm about to roll out a brand new site in about a week from now.

It will look 100% different and will include a lot of my best material - - but it will be packaged in a way that will sell.

So stay tuned.

Take a second look at how you package your products and services. Look at your...

1. Company vehicles

2. Uniforms

3. Website

4. Graphical depictions of your services

5. and especially your packaging if you sell hard

products.


Ask yourself if your packaging is exciting and eye catching. Would it stop the eye if it was sitting on a shelf side-by-side with your competitor's products?

If not, do something about it.

Related Articles
  Packaging… Real Brand Value!
  Packaging… Get your unfair market share!
  Packaging: dressing your product in a fashion conscious market
  The Magnetic Effects of Box Packaging on the Business
  How to Catch the Magic of Eye-Catching CD Jackets?

Article Tags:



Related Forum Posts
Re: What Do You Outsource Mostly? - When building a New Product, I do find it helpful to outsource marketing (articles - blogging - major social network site etc) Otherwise, you may feel bogged down when you should be focused on the overall BIG PICTURE.
Show the Benefits - Offer a free test drive of the Product or Service with a Money Back Guarantee - Take the Risk out. This will help them make the decision but you have to work with them to realize it by explicitly state the benefits they are receiving.
Offer Credit instead - I'm not sure if ChrisH was referring to this but i'll state it more expicitly .. Charge upfront and offer a refund of double the value back in "Credit" towards your Product or Service you have for sale at the end of the event.
Re: what position to request? - What do you think of: Executive Manager? Director of Product Management? I am not interested in working as a freelancer. As I mentioned, the purpose of what I am doing is to get involved into a startup that may become successful in the future. This is a situation when a group of people get together to launch something promising and invest into this their time and energy and even may be money.
Re: Your Gmail Account can be hacked! - Very informative post , thats why i don't like to use free services for My own business , but still i'm using gmail for some Product Promotion and talking with Strangers And after reading your post i'm going to change my gmail setting right now , Thanks again for sharing


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Tips to Take Control of Credit Card Debt

Avoid Burnout: Do the Limbo Regularly

Work Life Balance: Adding White Space

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.