The topic I have chosen for my paper is Packaging and Marketing. I want to do a piece on different types of packaging for products and how packaging influences buying decisions, brand associations, and consumer preferences. I also want to investigate the idea of changing product designs as a mechanism for brand revitalization. I am not sure if I want to focus purely on consumer packaged goods or if I want to dive into other types of “packaging” like store layout, logo design, etc. I am also undecided if I want to discuss deceptive packaging (like packages that make you think you are getting more product, etc.). I am unsure if I should talk about the functional benefits of the packages or just the aesthetic principles. Hopefully through research I can decide which of these specific topics I want to cover.
I also want to include a few case study examples. There are so many instances where companies will redesign packages for a given number of reasons and I want to find out the successes and implications of these new packages. Although the ultimate reason for buying a product is what is inside the package, I have a suspicion that the packaging plays a huge part in the consumer buying process. Companies that have introduced new packaging recently and I hope to discuss in my paper are:
-Pepsi and Sierra Mist
-Gatorade (but I am not sure if I want to touch on Gatorade since this was also a case for rebranding with the new “G”)
-Tropicana
-Kellogg
I found an article entitled, “Tropicana Squeezes Out New Design with a Peel” which discusses Tropicana’s struggle with portraying their juice as being fresh squeezed. They decided to design a new package that looked like a real orange to give consumers that “fresh squeezed idea.” The article briefly talks about the design process and the success of the new package. I hope to use Tropicana as an example for how companies can use a package design to enhance consumer’s perceptions of their products and hopefully in turn increase sales.
Hein, Kenneth. Tropicana Squeezes Out Fresh Design with a Peel. Brandweek, 1/19/2009, Vol. 50 Issue 3, p30-30. http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.lib.utexas.edu/bsi/detail?vid=14&hid=3&sid=40d81d1a-615e-4064-a025-19fcfd08c710%40sessionmgr2#db=bth&AN=36240400
I am interested in this topic for a few reasons. First of all, I have always been interested in the Consumer Packaged Goods industry and I feel that packaging is one of the biggest components of these types of products. I am excited to try to understand how the packages of these products relate to customer experiences and how customers select these products based on their packages.
I am also interested in this topic because I hope to one day work in product development and I feel that designing packaging for a product could possibly be just as important as designing the product itself. I am interested to see the process of relating the new product to its new package and what factors influence the package’s design. Functionality, brand perception, distinctiveness, and competition all most likely influence the packaging of a new product and I want to see which of these factors have the most impact on a product’s success. The concept of starting from an idea and ending with a product sitting on a shelf is very exciting to me and I feel that if I have a better understanding of the influence of packaging on a product I can better understand what separates successful products from failures.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Packaging and Marketing
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Failed Products
My roommates and I all cooked dinner together tonight, and when cleaning up, one of my roommates, a fellow business student, mentioned that we had a product under our sink that she learned about in a class as being a failed product attempt- Clorox Anywhere cleaner spray. This got me thinking… With so many products out there, what makes a product succeed or fail? Why are some ideas so harebrain, so successful, and some so simple, such failures? Do products that succeed all have something in common? Is unfamiliarity and novelty a marketing must or is it a recipe for disaster? I then decided to look into a few failed products to see if I could get some idea as to why these products fail.
On walletpop.com, there is a list of twenty five products that failed. Some noteworthy entries include Cosmopolitan yogurt, Life Savers soda, Coors bottled water, and Harley Davidson perfume. One explanation for some of these product flops is the fact that they were not logical brand extensions. No one wants to try Frito Lay lemonade. Although it seems likely that lemonade could be a substitute vending machine purchase of Frito Lay’s popular chips, consumers do not want to drink something that is made by the same company as Doritos. Things also did not work out when Colgate tried to make “Colgate Kitchen Meals.” Even though Colgate has strong brand recognition with toothpaste, the idea of a minty fresh meal just doesn’t sound appetizing. If Colgate had extended their brand to include floss, mouthwash, or even chewing gum, I would bet the results would have been more favorable.
Another reason products fail is that consumers use them in a different way than the manufacturers intended. I heard about a type of toothpaste that was put in an aerosol can and you were supposed to spray it on your tooth brush. It was supposed to make teeth brushing fun for kids, but the kids had too much fun with the toothpaste and sprayed it everywhere. I also heard about a cereal called “Wheaties Dunk-a-Balls” where the cereal was shaped like tiny basketballs. Children were throwing, passing, and dunking the cereal everywhere causing havoc for parents. One of my favorite failed products is “There’s a Monster in My Bedroom Spray,” which was bubble gum scented “montster spray.” The idea was cute, but it scared children into thinking there actually were monsters in their room so parents stopped buying it and it then flopped.
Some products fail because they are just not made well. Atari launched its ET: Extra Terrestrial video game and the coding was all off so the game was not fun to play. Other technology companies have suffered from this as well. If they are in a hurry to launch a new product, or their technology is too innovative, customers might be hesitant to catch on. A copycat company might actually succeed because they can get all the kinks out and allow their target market to get used to the idea of the product before they introduce it.
Whatever the reasons for product failures may be, they all have one thing in common: failure. Millions of dollars have been spent on research, development, production, marketing, and sales of these products. If we could get to the root of why they failed, then maybe we could avoid making these expensive mistakes.
On walletpop.com, there is a list of twenty five products that failed. Some noteworthy entries include Cosmopolitan yogurt, Life Savers soda, Coors bottled water, and Harley Davidson perfume. One explanation for some of these product flops is the fact that they were not logical brand extensions. No one wants to try Frito Lay lemonade. Although it seems likely that lemonade could be a substitute vending machine purchase of Frito Lay’s popular chips, consumers do not want to drink something that is made by the same company as Doritos. Things also did not work out when Colgate tried to make “Colgate Kitchen Meals.” Even though Colgate has strong brand recognition with toothpaste, the idea of a minty fresh meal just doesn’t sound appetizing. If Colgate had extended their brand to include floss, mouthwash, or even chewing gum, I would bet the results would have been more favorable.
Another reason products fail is that consumers use them in a different way than the manufacturers intended. I heard about a type of toothpaste that was put in an aerosol can and you were supposed to spray it on your tooth brush. It was supposed to make teeth brushing fun for kids, but the kids had too much fun with the toothpaste and sprayed it everywhere. I also heard about a cereal called “Wheaties Dunk-a-Balls” where the cereal was shaped like tiny basketballs. Children were throwing, passing, and dunking the cereal everywhere causing havoc for parents. One of my favorite failed products is “There’s a Monster in My Bedroom Spray,” which was bubble gum scented “montster spray.” The idea was cute, but it scared children into thinking there actually were monsters in their room so parents stopped buying it and it then flopped.
Some products fail because they are just not made well. Atari launched its ET: Extra Terrestrial video game and the coding was all off so the game was not fun to play. Other technology companies have suffered from this as well. If they are in a hurry to launch a new product, or their technology is too innovative, customers might be hesitant to catch on. A copycat company might actually succeed because they can get all the kinks out and allow their target market to get used to the idea of the product before they introduce it.
Whatever the reasons for product failures may be, they all have one thing in common: failure. Millions of dollars have been spent on research, development, production, marketing, and sales of these products. If we could get to the root of why they failed, then maybe we could avoid making these expensive mistakes.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Paradox of Choice
Barry Schwartz had some very insightful ideas about the customer decision making process and how choices can really complicate making decisions. He used the example of the supermarket and how there are seventy five types of salad dressing. Talk about a lot of choices! Imagine making 6.5 million stereo systems from parts at one electronics store. It is no surprise that consumers can be overwhelmed at times.
It makes complete sense to me that when you increase the number of choices, participation can go down. Barry Schwartz described an episode of shopping for blue jeans, and I had a similar experience at the mall with blue jeans. I am not much of a shopper and I sometimes get overwhelmed by shopping malls. I went to Nordstrom in search of a pair of new, trendy jeans. When I got there, there were so many pairs to choose from that I did not know where to begin. I ended up leaving frustrated with no jeans. A few weeks later, I went to another department store where I was helped by a sales assistant who asked me what I was looking for and my size and then showed me about eight pairs. By narrowing down my number of choices I was able to make a decision and left with a pair of jeans that I felt were good for me. I think it is very characteristic of humans to get overwhelmed by choices and just give up. I purposely shop at Randall’s instead of HEB because Randall’s is smaller and is less overwhelming to me. Although some people prefer HEB’s greater selection, I prefer the ease of the smaller grocery store. This is also the case for me with online shopping. There are so many options that I usually end up buying nothing.
The issue of buyer’s remorse can be enhanced by greater choice. If there is only one option, then it is the best option. But if there are a bunch of options, then you start to wonder if you picked the best one. This happens to me constantly when I go out to eat. I always pick out two or three things and then stress out over which one to order. I am the one at dinner who tells the server, “I’ll have the chicken, no, the fish, wait, the chicken.. Oh just bring me the chicken.” Then when the food comes I suddenly wish I had gone with the fish. When my roommate cooks me dinner and tells me we are having pasta, I eat the pasta and am satisfied.
In a world of so many choices, the consumer gets bogged down with the pressure of making a decision. That being said, it is a phenomenon that we must live with if we want to have the freedom of choice. Although I sometimes leave a mall frustrated or wish I had ordered another meal, I am much happier than if I was told what clothes to wear or food to eat. As an American consumer in this day and age, we get used to having millions of choices. We like researching products to pick the one that is right for us. We enjoy having unique clothes and styles. We all have our iPods play the type of music we like. Some marketers even use this power of choice to their advantage. I think Apple’s new “nanochromatic Ipods” are a good example of this. By offereing the standard iPod nano in an array of colors, it allows the consumer to pick their favorite and feel that they have a product that is uniquely theirs even though they are completely mainstream and mass produced. The Nike ID shoes you can customize also use this tactic.
Although I sometimes get overwhelmed by choices, I do enjoy having them. Barry Schwartz makes some interesting points on this subject and I am interested to examine these observations further.
It makes complete sense to me that when you increase the number of choices, participation can go down. Barry Schwartz described an episode of shopping for blue jeans, and I had a similar experience at the mall with blue jeans. I am not much of a shopper and I sometimes get overwhelmed by shopping malls. I went to Nordstrom in search of a pair of new, trendy jeans. When I got there, there were so many pairs to choose from that I did not know where to begin. I ended up leaving frustrated with no jeans. A few weeks later, I went to another department store where I was helped by a sales assistant who asked me what I was looking for and my size and then showed me about eight pairs. By narrowing down my number of choices I was able to make a decision and left with a pair of jeans that I felt were good for me. I think it is very characteristic of humans to get overwhelmed by choices and just give up. I purposely shop at Randall’s instead of HEB because Randall’s is smaller and is less overwhelming to me. Although some people prefer HEB’s greater selection, I prefer the ease of the smaller grocery store. This is also the case for me with online shopping. There are so many options that I usually end up buying nothing.
The issue of buyer’s remorse can be enhanced by greater choice. If there is only one option, then it is the best option. But if there are a bunch of options, then you start to wonder if you picked the best one. This happens to me constantly when I go out to eat. I always pick out two or three things and then stress out over which one to order. I am the one at dinner who tells the server, “I’ll have the chicken, no, the fish, wait, the chicken.. Oh just bring me the chicken.” Then when the food comes I suddenly wish I had gone with the fish. When my roommate cooks me dinner and tells me we are having pasta, I eat the pasta and am satisfied.
In a world of so many choices, the consumer gets bogged down with the pressure of making a decision. That being said, it is a phenomenon that we must live with if we want to have the freedom of choice. Although I sometimes leave a mall frustrated or wish I had ordered another meal, I am much happier than if I was told what clothes to wear or food to eat. As an American consumer in this day and age, we get used to having millions of choices. We like researching products to pick the one that is right for us. We enjoy having unique clothes and styles. We all have our iPods play the type of music we like. Some marketers even use this power of choice to their advantage. I think Apple’s new “nanochromatic Ipods” are a good example of this. By offereing the standard iPod nano in an array of colors, it allows the consumer to pick their favorite and feel that they have a product that is uniquely theirs even though they are completely mainstream and mass produced. The Nike ID shoes you can customize also use this tactic.
Although I sometimes get overwhelmed by choices, I do enjoy having them. Barry Schwartz makes some interesting points on this subject and I am interested to examine these observations further.
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