Importance of Packaging and Point of Purchase (POP)

Importance of Packaging and Point of Purchase (POP) If in the book The Little Prince of Antoine de Saint-Exupà ©ry The essential is invisible to the eyes in marketing (and while planning a strategy to catch the consumers attention) this concept unacceptable and it can even decide the entire future of a companys brand, turning it into a successful or a painful experience. In short terms: What the consumer needs must be highlighted by a powerful magical potion which basic ingredients: an attractive packaging design presentation, a carefully planned display of products and often most important the front cover of the product , which must be as appealing as the product itself. So, the essential must be visible to consumers eyes at first sight, smell and even touch. Figuring this combination out the success of a product should happen, but thats not all. So how it is possible to turn a brands concept into a sales example-to-follow and what is the role played by packaging and design in the marketing planning and how it can affect consumers choice? Lets find out more about it! IMPORTANCE OF POP Self service shopping environment Proliferation of packs on display More decisions made in store Shoppers less brand loyal Last chance to make a difference Low involvement= need for cues POP (Point of Purchase) is the place where sales occur (retailers, market, malls, and even virtual commerce) mostly created and prepared by the manufacturer for distribution to wholesalers or retailers who sell the manufacturers merchandise. Nowadays POP play a very important role in marketing strategy because most of many buying decisions are made in the area surrounding the counter, exactly at the same place where customers pay for their goods, at the so called point of sale. In these terms self service can be described as a way to reduce staffing costs for retailers, suppliers, to improve efficiency in manufacturing and distribution allowing access to a larger market. For customers for example it is a faster and cheaper way to buy with less personable interaction and in some cases obtaining more satisfying results, with less frustration resulting from human contact, which explains the tendency to self service proliferation in the last years. So instead of concentrating in reducing costs with staff retailers can focus on other aspects like logistics, negotiating with suppliers as well as planning the merchandise available according to the shoppers. But before any step is taken a market research is necessary to determinate if is there any actual demand for the product that is going to be presented to the public, even if possible several items should be tested and only after available for purchase. Some strategies can be helpful in testing a products demand in a POP: Quantity discounts offering 2 products by the price of one or offering a discount in the purchase of 2 complementary products; Complete a purchase POP advertising can be used to guide customers to purchase accessories; Offering free samples / promotional items obtained in manufacturers; Creating an excitement feeling in customer constantly by mixing the merchandise and fresh approaches. How to insure that a product is wanted by a customer in these last minute purchasing decisions? Unique/ high quality products easily available to the consumer as entering the store; Emotional connection and loyalty to the brand before and also after the POP ; Bonding with customer, brand Identity has to be easy-to-understand and easy-to-see using appealing packaging ,shape, size and colours ; Using the POP has a effective mean to communicate with the consumer : it should reveal what makes the real difference in the brand including its superior value (doesnt mean a lowest price) ; Retailers: metrics and motivations should be considered while developing product programs A good relationship with retailers will ensure that the products will be more visible inside the shop POP insure: Dynamic selling Fast way of recovering investment Low cost and effective way to present products information to customers (with low cost materials like Corrugated board, Cloth, metal, plastic, glass Appealing and quick way to interact with customers for example presenting the product in a separated stand using an outpost display this way customers can easily see and purchase the items. Effective and persuasive way to draw customers attention to new or existing products leading to impulsive purchase Establishment of popularity regarding a specific product or brand (the customer will associate the point of sale to the place where we can come back to buy it again) wich is good for retailer, wholesaler and product manufacturer Evaluate Packaging One of the most important 4 aspects in marketing should include packaging besides thinking of product, place, promotion and price. The same way a book can be sold just by its cover, flashy colours and by recurring to well known sources to make comments about its content any other product can be sold with the right wrapping. The consumer will be mostly attracted by the package but thats not necessary all, it will be just the calling card for whats coming next: the product itself, and that should include the concernment for the quality also and not just presentation. Although packaging is one of the most crucial steps in business is mostly neglected, but only if the product is a good one will customers become loyal to that brand, otherwise sales wont be repeated no matter how much the budget is applied on marketing and sales promotion and how much buzz is created around it. An intelligent packaging scheme should make possible for client to interact with the product to the point that the product becomes an object of desire, of evaluation, to be touched, smelled and finally bought. Necessarily quality packaging should be considered for it might make the difference between buying or simply ignoring a product, thats why for some companies this point is so important that they spend more money on packaging than in the product itself, others consider designing the core aspect, sometimes changing completely the products image or making only small changes or special editions. For example Coca-Cola since 1931 launched the famous Santa-Claus to celebrate the 75th anniversary forever changing the image of Santa-Claus and Christmas and catching the publics attention all over the world. It was such an impact caused by these campaigns that a true legion of fans was following all campaigns and even new kinds of packages were created (cartons that covered the bottles co mpletely with a handle at the top allowing consumers to take more bottles with them). Using view model of evaluate packaging View Model definition: It s a framework viewpoints defining a coherent group if views which can be used to analgise a system. Components of the view model Visibility how much attention does it attracts at POP Information supposed benefits, slogans, and any additional information printed on the package, usage instructions Workability package way of functioning instead of how it communicates: does it protects the product, is eco-friendly, fits on shelves Emotional Appeal How able is the package to evoke a desired feeling or mood. Applying the view model components to Bloom Project: In terms of visibility it should catch customers attention by its colourful packaging, being easy to handle and to carry anywhere. Information: the benefits are clear as improvement of the skins health and appearance, each product has its own label and specific instructions for usage according to age group. Speaking about workability the packaging protects the quality of the product , both tube or glass container option, also the fact that Bloom Project is eco-friendly: all the glass used is recycled and refillable. Regarding the emotional appeal the search for eternal beauty and for a healthy look is being enhanced by the fact that the products public target are men instead of women, turning the product into a mean to achieve healthier skin along with an anti-aging formula, all the marketing and promotion will emphasize the skin regeneration by using Bloom Project which will be available in the mainly retailer and pharmacies and uptown departmental stores at an affordable price. Theories and models of design packaging A package has two different components: The Structural Component product features and characteristics to guarantee the packages physical and technical requirements i.e. protection, qualities, preservation. The Graphic Component product relevant features and characteristics that attract, inform and motivate a purchase decision. Most important part is the decoration ,material and shape, product attention should be given to the product prior to any consideration of the package design. No amount of clever packaging will sell a product that the consumer does not want. Technical Functions Marketing Functions Graphic Design Basic Size how large or small the object or design i.e. size can be physical. Shape the actual package outline, or body of test. There are two different shapes positive and negative. Length-to-width, boring shape. Colour can attract attention and affects the moods or persona of the package. Tone the lightness or darkness. Icons Graphic design elements or symbols that convey meanings or massage Colour Theories and Package Design : Colour is a basic human needà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦like fire and water, a raw material, indispensable to life. Fernand Là ©ger, painter (1881-1955) The healing ability and symbolic importance of colour goes all the way back to the Ancient Egypt and Greece, coloured minerals, stones, crystals and sanctuaries for treatment, along with the 4 elements (air, fire, water and earth) which were associated with qualities such as coolness, heat, wetness and dryness. For example white colour is the use to symbolise mourning in some parts of India and China and was also used in the Imperial Rome, is the bridal colour in Europe, red is associated to humanitarianism (Red Cross) and in Islamic Countries (in the form of the Red Crescent) regarding the Geneva Convention. Yellow in China represents the imperial colour and power as well as the earth. Green for example was considered the colour of Venus the goddess of love and fertility. Orange in China and Japan means happiness and love while black colour in Europe is the traditional colour of mourning since eleventh century. However colours are not seen in the same way by any individual or group and tastes and opinions about the same exact colour can change depending on the person. On in twelve males is colour blind, women instead have a much lower colour perception deficiency : one in two hundred females (its passed from mother to daughter). It can also be caused in post-birth resulting into retina accidents and brain damages. Also UV can damage the retina as well as some medication. Nearly two million people in the UK suffer of this condition. Defective colour vision was first mentioned by the scientist John Dalton in his 1794s publication while realizing that both him and his brother had this defectiveness, originating the term Daltonism. So using some of the following colours can make the difference if you are colour blind: red/green (to a colour blind the red will change into brown , orange , dark yellow and green into dark yellow , purple and dark blue , this is called Protanopia). If you have Deuteranopiat green becomes brown, purple turn into plain blue. With Ritanopia bright red becomes magenta, orange becomes pink, green becomes blue and purple/blue changes to light blue/maroon. In Monochromacy (lack of colour vision) all is black and white. A recent study from University of British Columbia using the red and blue colours concluded after showing several non-real ads to a students group control the more effective were the ones using the red colour, no matter what kind of product. Instead blue colour would remind them of water, ocean, peaceful thoughts and relaxation, not so fitted state of mind for impulsive purchase purposes. The same study found that for eclectic messages blue works well, instead red is better for accomplishing a specific objective. Some other studies show that the yellow and brown colours may suggest hunger evoking burgers and fries, blue on the other way is less probable to cause hunger feeling due to the fact that not many kinds of food are actually blue. The food industry uses the connection between colours, vision and taste in many ways for example trough colorants to improve the looks of food. Colours used in packaging can transmit messages to customer for example pink and red indicates sweetness while green is associated with mint flavour. Purple , gold or black are associated with luxury and quality. So colours do matter in packaging design (especially in areas like market for foods, pharmaceutical and cosmetics) for they can also stimulate and even influence the consumers choice to the point of stimulating impulsive buying(for example most of products use yellow or red to stand out a new product or an improved one. Following the trend of a more sophisticated and busiest type of consumer nowadays the labelling should be printed in a more silk screening using appropriate size and colour to make reading easier (high-quality colour making it possible to use in any media in any type of material) because ingredients do matter to the consumer. So minimizing the type size on the reverse labels may not be such a wise choice. In order to enhance the natural ingredients of a product many times the labelling uses the wrong colours like gray ink on clear labels, not allowing the customer to satisfy the information need that should be available in the label. The product will lose interest. So even worse if the customer is colour blind it may become impossible to read the labels at all and the product instead of becoming a sale will be returned into the shelf. No wonder that Packaging design is now concerned with more realistic images, visual clarity, bright colours and very clear and recognisable symbols. Also, packages should be odour-free, resistant and compatible with the contents. Summary: In a to buy or no to buy decision many aspects should be considered in order to a product or brand to succeed, for they play a very important role in the consumers decision. Packaging design and POP materials if wisely combined as marketing strategy can inform the customer about the main characteristics of the product, can remind the customer about a product or brand and even can encourage for the selection of a new product. All together manufacturers, retailers and customers gain with this for the markets are stimulated by the constant pursuit to satisfy the customers demand. And as well as the quality and the benefits or the price of the product the packaging and the final appearance of the product (colour, shape, taste/smell) also triggers or not the consumers attention turning it in to an impulsive purchase within this demand market the self service is becoming a very important way to achieve the goal of sales again with the use of POP materials placed mostly at the entrance of the shops where can be easily seen and hopefully bought.