Mustard: concept, design and strategy of brand-name commodity packaging

Mustard, produced in Sichuan, was produced in large cylinders and sold for a profit; Shanghainese traded in middle cylinders, sold in Hong Kong, and profited 30%; Hong Kong people replaced them with vials and exported them to Japan and doubled their profits; the Japanese took Vacuum bags replaced it, marketing worldwide, profits doubled.

First, the evolution of packaging concepts:

The traditional packaging concept believes that the purpose of packaging is to hold and protect the product for transport. This concept has its background and its existence is the era of low commodity economy and the market is in short supply seller market. Advances in science and technology have promoted economic development. Since the mid-1950s, large-scale production has become increasingly widespread, and the seller’s market has gradually been replaced by the buyer’s market. This change has exposed the shortcomings of traditional packaging concepts. In the buyer’s market, Packaging not only has the function of protecting products, but also an effective promotion method.

A survey by DuPont, the largest chemical industry company in the United States, showed that 63% of consumers select products based on their packaging. This discovery is known as DuPont Theorem. According to a report from the British market research company, women shopping in supermarkets generally attract more than 45% of their purchases when they go out because they are attracted by exquisite packaging.

Market God's choices and concerns have prompted manufacturers to improve their product packaging. Famous brand manufacturers have always been interested in this area and are committed to it. According to reports from the American Market Association, the annual cost of packaging research and development of famous brand companies in the United States accounts for nearly 3% of sales revenue, and the resulting revenue is about five to ten times the input. This is easy to understand: In the early 1980s, The Coca-Cola Company spent nearly ten billion US dollars to replace its own packaging, in order to maintain the brand image, and get a lasting return. At present, American companies attach importance to commodity packaging has become a consensus, this point can be answered from the output value of the United States packaging industry, the US packaging industry's output value in 1981 reached 50 billion US dollars, the current figure exceeded 100 billion US dollars, becoming the United States The third largest industry.

In contrast, Chinese enterprises are indifferent to packaging, leading to backward packaging technology and undeveloped packaging industry. According to incomplete statistics, the losses caused by poor packaging of goods before 1980 in China were more than 20 billion yuan each year. Take glass as an example. In 1978, the country produced 12.5 million TEUs of glass annually, of which 1 million were damaged due to poor packaging, which was 8%, compared to the output of two medium-sized glass plants.

The backward packaging also affected the sales and selling prices of China’s export products, and at least lost 10% of foreign exchange earnings. Therefore, there is a saying of "first-rate goods, second-rate packaging, and third-rate prices." For example, China's traditional Yixing porcelain originally had only very simple packaging. No one cares about the 25 US dollars in the international market. Later, it was packed into a beautiful satin box. It was unique, and each price of 250 US dollars was in short supply.

Since the 1980s, China has gradually improved its packaging technology and achieved certain results. However, since 1983, the country’s annual losses have remained above 10 billion yuan. The backward performance of China's product packaging is many, such as materials, technology, design, etc., but the most fundamental is the concept of backwardness and short-sightedness. Its main performance is in the two extremes: At one extreme: Some managers of companies consider packaging as an optional element. They think that only good quality and low price, good or bad packaging are not relevant, and even think that packaging is more attractive. Cost, increase the selling price, will have an adverse effect on sales; the other extreme is: Some companies put the packaging as the core of the product, engage in high value-added, high-grade packaging materials, and ignore the quality of the product itself, resulting in the sale of packaging The facts exist. These two extreme concepts fundamentally suffocated the development of China's branded goods, especially since the latter concept is the enemy of the future. It completely misunderstood the purpose of packaging and confused the boundaries between core products and physical products. This is We will pay close attention to our work in the future. In short, to create brand-name goods in domestic and international markets, we must pay attention to the packaging of goods, establish a correct packaging concept that is consistent with the modern market economy, and do not put some basic marketing ideas in order.

Second, the packaging design:

Product packaging is divided into two kinds of packaging and packaging. The outer packaging, also known as transport packaging, is designed with a view to protecting the goods and facilitating transportation. The design of the inner packaging focuses on beautifying the goods, promoting sales of the goods and facilitating their use. In the packaging design of goods should start from the following aspects:

1. Packaging should be adapted to the value or quality of the product. Valuable goods and works of art must show the nobleness and elegance of the goods. For a company's product line, high-middle and low-end packaging can be used to meet the needs of different consumers.

2. The appearance of the package is beautiful and elegant. The pattern strives to create a vivid image. It is unconventional, avoids imitation and similarities, and adopts new materials, new designs, and new shapes as much as possible. This is the basic requirement for packaging.

3, packaging should be able to display the characteristics of the product and unique style. For products that express their characteristics or styles in appearance or color, such as packaging for clothing, accessories, food, etc., they should try to be able to directly display the level itself to the buyers so that they can purchase them, such as transparent packaging and open sky-type packaging. , Or on the packaging with color photos and so on.

4, the text design on the package should be able to directly answer the customer's most concerned issues. Product performance, use methods, and effects are often not visually displayed and often need to be expressed in words. The text design on the packaging should focus on the customer's psychology. Such as food packaging should be described on raw materials, food methods; drugs should indicate the ingredients, efficacy, dosage, contraindications and whether there are side effects, directly answer the buyer's problems and eliminate their existing concerns.

5. The colors and patterns of packaging and decorating must conform to the norms and cannot be inconsistent with ethnic habits and religious beliefs. The same colors and patterns may have very different meanings for different consumers. Chinese people like to celebrate the festival with red, while Japanese people give each other white towels; Egyptians like green to avoid blue; French people hate dark green (fascist uniform colors) and prefer yellow. In countries and regions that believe in Islam, avoid using pigs in decorative patterns; Europeans think that elephants are dull and Chinese think it is unique; French people regard peacocks as auspicious birds; Swiss people regard owls as a symbol of death; The image is ugly in many countries and regions, and longevity in Japan. Some colors, patterns, or symbols have specific meaning in specific places. As in the former Czech Republic, the Red Triangle is a sign of drugs; in Turkey, the Green Triangle is a free sign. Consumers of different ages also have different preferences. For example, older people like cold and calm; young people like warm colors and are healthy and lively.

Third, the packaging strategy:

In order to play a role in the promotion of packaging, manufacturers have adopted a variety of measures in packaging design, forming a different packaging strategy, mainly including:

1. Similar packaging strategies: All kinds of products produced by enterprises adopt the same pattern, color or other similar features on the packaging, so that customers notice that this is the same company's product. Similar packaging strategies have the same benefits as a unified trademark strategy, such as saving packaging design costs and production costs, enhancing corporate momentum, and facilitating the introduction of new products. However, this strategy cannot be abused. It applies only to products of the same quality level. If quality differs significantly, quality products will suffer adverse effects.

2. A variety of packaging strategies: The use of a variety of interrelated products, into a packaging container, sold at the same time, to meet the needs of a variety of options. For example, cosmetic kits, household kits, high-end gift boxes, and set-tableware, which are widely available on the market, are both easy to use and expand sales.

3. Reuse Packaging Strategy: This strategy is also called dual-use packaging strategy. That is, after the original package of goods is used up, the packaging container can be in a travel mug; the packaging box of candy and biscuits can also be in a stationery box; the packaging of medicines can be considered as a lunch box, a food box, and the like. This type of packaging often leads to group purchases. The advantage is that the packaging container is used as a mobile advertisement. But pay attention to the added value of packaging materials can not be too high.

4. Bonus packaging strategy: This is the more popular packaging strategy at home and abroad. For example, children's toys and foods are accompanied by comic strips or literacy cards; coupons attached to cosmetics packaging can be accumulated in a certain amount to receive additional gifts; some goods take coupons on the packaging, and prizes can be obtained after winning.

5, change the packaging strategy: the improvement of commodity packaging, like the improvement of the product itself, has great significance for sales. If the intrinsic quality is similar to that of competing products and the sales are not smooth, we should pay attention to improving the packaging design. A product that has been packaged for a longer period of time should also be considered for launching new packaging to achieve the purpose of stimulating consumption. The precondition for adopting such a strategy is that the internal quality of the product meets the requirements for use and has a strong competitive edge. Otherwise, merely relying on packaging to change face does not contribute to the expansion of sales.

Source: PACK.CN