Packaging and Marketing

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.