Fix My Packaging!

Perhaps the number one request that I get is: “Help me fix my packaging.” To which I always reply, “What exactly is the problem?” Surprisingly, very few people can actually answer why their product packaging isn’t working.

It seems simple on the surface but the true packaging problem might be caused by multiple reasons or a host of things that you have not done. I’ve created a short check list to help you determine what might create the problem. So, let’s think through a few potential problem areas that are easy to resolve.

1. Can you define your customer?

Well, let me give you a clue. It’s not everybody (which is a common answer by the way). You should have a target demographic in mind and you have to understand their wants and needs before you can package a product for them. Universal packaging that satisfies everyone. That’s a myth. You can’t be all things to all consumers. More importantly, your packaging needs to be on target to the right audience with the right message.

Drill down to your ultimate customer.

• Who is going to purchase your product and why?
• What is in it for them to purchase your product?
• Are you answers to those two questions evident on your product packaging?

Here are a few examples:

Is the product easy to use or simple to prepare? Are you telling them that on the packaging? Words like easy, simple, ready in X, no assembly needed are crucial to conveying your product’s attributes.

Does the consumer need a solution for a busy on the go lifestyle? What about your product packaging addresses that issue? Is it portable, or easily carried, is it a single serving or portion? Consider this specific example: Campbell’s® Soup at Hand® is a great way to eat right when you’re on the run. Our heat-and-go microwavable cups let you enjoy sippable soup. Campbell’s saw a problem and provided a packaging solution.

2. Why would someone pick up your product off the shelf?

Does it “speak” to your customer or is it tired and dull in comparison to the competition? Is it a different color, shape or does it have a unique feature that differentiates it from another product? Does it intrigue the consumer to take a closer look?

Here is a good example. I recently had occasion to look for some nonstick cooking spray. I went to get my old standby which is PAM. When I got to the shelf I was fascinated by a new entry, Mazola Pure. The uniquely shaped can had a soft subtle textured look that begged me to pick it up for a closer look. The package told me things in simple language: no alcohol, no silicone and fat free. Guess which product I bought?

3. What is your USP (unique selling proposition) about your package?

Are you a “me too” brand? Are you mimicking the competition’s product rather than branding your own message? There has been a plethora of look alike products trading on name brands. Is it working? I don’t think so. First, you may be infringing on someone else’s trademark with “copycat packaging.” Second, consumers are seeking out high quality non-branded products. Private label packaging is on the rise at the expense of branded products.

Think about what message you are conveying. Do you want to look like a cheap imitation or is your product packaging standing on its own merits?

4. How much competitive shopping have you done lately?

When was the last time you walked the store isles? I know we all have an ego trip looking at our product up on the shelf. But I want you to step back and get a fresh perspective. Are you really seeing it from a consumer’s eyes? Shop other categories too. Look for packaging innovations that can crossover into your product category.

Think about how a novel or unique product packaging approach can solve a consumer problem or issue. One of the best innovative packaging examples I saw recently was the introduction of Wish-Bone® Salad Spritzers. They took a prime target (women) addressed dietary and health issues (weight watching) and provided an innovative way to dispense the product (spritzing vs. pouring).

5. What’s new in the world of packaging that you can incorporate into your product packaging?

Does your package smell or talk or do a myriad of things that help differentiate your product from the competition? Does your packaging tell you when it will expire or offer a safe date to give the consumer peace of mind in using your product? Think product recall fears. How can your product packaging allay consumer’s nervousness about product contamination?

The consumer wants to buy your product. That’s why they are in the store. Make it easy for them to decide on your product vs. the competitor. Talk to them through your product packaging. Make it easy to understand, simple to use and allow it to satisfy a need.

Above all, step back and look at your product from a customer’s point of view. What aren’t you doing right that makes your packaging need help?

About the Author:

JoAnn Hines is the Chief Executive Officer at J.R. Hines International, a firm providing consulting services in the packaging industry. For over 30 years, Ms. Hines has been engaged in packaging trends, forecasting, ideation/brainstorming and implementing innovative new packaging technologies.

Need insights on packaging trends that can impact your business? Get the Packaging Diva on your team. Visit PackagingUniversity.com to find out about the latest packaging innovations.

Packaging Problems

What is your worst packaging experience?

A lot of people say it’s getting the toys out of the box at Christmas or getting those blankity-blank plastic clamshells open. It’s a fact that hard to open plastic clamshells have been so maligned that there is even terminology given to that product category: “Wrap Rage.”

There are lots of reasons why a plastic clamshell is a great solution to your product packaging, but plan to give it some thought before choosing this solution. Consumers hate clamshells, so consider that when developing your product packaging.

Have you done all of your homework and considered potential problems? Does the potential exist for something unexpected to come up and cause your packaging to become a problem?

Take “Fabuloso” for example. What looked like a great packaging concept with great bottles and terrific colors is in trouble. Why? Because consumers mistakenly think it’s a beverage since it looks so similar to sports drinks. Tragically, some consumers have actually drunk the cleaning product.

Or “Cocaine” the energy drink is under attack by anti drug campaigners because it claims to be the real thing even though it’s just a heavy jolt of caffeine.

The latest into the fray is SPYKES, a fruit flavored alcoholic beverage that is giving mothers of teenage children a fit. It is a great packaging concept, but it has problems because of who it’s marketed to.

Let’s go back to Tylenol in 1982. Seven people were poisoned by unsecured packaging and that incident spawned an entire new category of product packaging… tamper evident. See more on tamper evident in the packaging examples section.

You are not immune to product recalls either. How may product recalls have you read about lately that didn’t specify the right ingredients on the product packaging? That’s grounds for instant recall.

Remember the recall that hit Cadbury? Cadbury Schweppes was forced to recall over twenty of its core UK Easter products after failing to display nut allergy warnings on the packaging.

Many times you cannot predict what will happen even if you have done all your homework. I mentioned earlier the Wolfgang Puck’s exploding latte cans that had to be pulled off the shelf. Just remember to expect the unexpected with any new and untested package or a new package innovation.

Try to extrapolate any possible outcomes that could occur before committing your product to the marketplace. It’s a lot easier to correct a problem before it goes out the door. You save yourself the bad publicity that comes from a package that doesn’t work or doesn’t perform up to expectations.

About the Author:

JoAnn Hines is the Chief Executive Officer at J.R. Hines International, a firm providing consulting services in the packaging industry. For over 30 years, Ms. Hines has been engaged in packaging trends, forecasting, ideation/brainstorming and implementing innovative new packaging technologies.

Need insights on packaging trends that can impact your business? Get the Packaging Diva on your team. Visit PackagingUniversity.com to find out about the latest packaging innovations.

We Love Packaging!

Seriously people, packaging makes the world go round.

It’s something that you take for granted every time you brush your teeth, drink a beer or take a pill. All those products are delivered to you for your consumption because of the packaging.

So let’s have a little reality check:

• Who screams the loudest when products are damaged or broken when you get them home?
• Who avoids that damaged or dented container like the plague?
• Who used their microwave this week?
• Who stopped for fast food?
• Who ate an egg or some potato chips?
• Who got a prescription filled?
• Who bought an appliance or an electronic gadget?
• Who had an operation?

I could go on forever about how packaging impacts your everyday life but the plain and simple truth is you wouldn’t be able to do any of those things without the packaging.

If you just spend a few minutes looking around you to see what products you have in your home or your work. How do you think they got there?

Product manufacturing and distribution is a complicated process. One that goes on behind the scenes that you never even think about.

My favorite analogy is to compare packaging to the #2 lead pencil. One company extrudes the leads, one makes the wooden casing, one makes the eraser, one makes the metal banding and guess what someone assembles all the components. That’s packaging!

There are lots of fingers in every process much of which goes on behind the scenes. Stuff that you never consider.

• The seal that you have to pull to open or twist keeps your product sanitary and uncontaminated.
• The hologram that you see when you purchase something authentic keeps it from being counterfeited.
• The zipper that you zip that makes it reclosable.
• The little tray that you place it on that makes it microwaveable.
• Those little carrots that are ready to eat or go in a lunch.

Packaging makes it all possible.

Other packaging facts you may not know that are important…

• Packaging is the third largest industry in the US.
• Packaging employs over a million people.
• There are over 10,000 packaging manufacturers in the US.
• Packaging contributes trillions to our economy.
• 70% of all packaging is food related.
• Packaging for the most part is recession proof.

Currently there is a lot of packaging bashing going on… less packaging, green packaging, packaging that works and of course hard to open packaging. All of these issues have an element of truth. But packaging professionals did not set out to frustrate and anger the consumer. All these so called negative packaging elements are there for a reason.

Let’s go back to the primary tenets behind the role of product packaging: protect, convey, sell, inform and educate the consumer. Packaging does all of that and more. Those hard to open packages are that way for a reason and its better to err on the side of too much packaging rather than too little. Companies are feverishly trying to rework packaging to remove the excess but when products are damaged and returned it’s the consumer who ultimately pays the price.

So before you get on your soapbox decrying the bane of packaging try to understand what your packaging complaint is really all about. We will try really hard to fix it.

Yes, packaging goes make the world go round. So please don’t hate me because I love it and can’t live without it.

About the Author:

JoAnn Hines is the Chief Executive Officer at J.R. Hines International, a firm providing consulting services in the packaging industry. For over 30 years, Ms. Hines has been engaged in packaging trends, forecasting, ideation/brainstorming and implementing innovative new packaging technologies.

Need insights on packaging trends that can impact your business? Get the Packaging Diva on your team. Visit PackagingUniversity.com to find out about the latest packaging innovations.

Outsourcing Your Packaging Is Good Business

In a recent article in Investors Business Daily, it was revealed that outsourcing has become more than just an easy way to cut costs. It has become a strategic tool that gives businesses flexibility and access to skilled personnel.

Since the advent of the Internet, and the rush to get online, companies have turned to outside professionals for services and solutions. Hiring a full-time IT technician is costly and not an efficient use of resources. Outsourcing allows companies to focus on their core businesses while gaining access to skilled labor when they need it.

• Outsourcing is a way to boost revenue
• Outsourcing is a way to cut costs
• Outsourcing eases labor shortages
• Outsourcing cuts payroll costs
• Outsourcing allows companies to focus on core competencies
• Outsourcing reduces or eliminates some capital expenditures
• Outsourcing also allows businesses to change their corporate culture. If companies have renegade groups that are costly, ineffective, or difficult to manage, that group can be outsourced. This enables employers to change their workplace environment on-the-fly.

Still, most companies outsource projects in order to reduce costs and to gain outside expertise. A survey by The Conference Board indicated the following “Top-10″ outsourcing objectives (numbers are approximate):

• Reduce Costs (40%)
• Access to Expertise (38%)
• Improve Internal Service (37%)
• Focus on Core Business (34%)
• Maximize Resources (27%)
• Internal Flexibility (25%)
• Improve External Service (24%)
• Changing Customer Needs (20%)
• World Class Standards (15%)
• Continuous Improvement (15%)

When deciding to outsource, the real litmus test is whether outsourcing adds value. Does it really reduce costs? Is the investment in in-house training and machinery too great? Does outsourcing a service give you access to people with greater skill sets or companies with more resources available to them?

Bottom line: outsourcing your packaging services is about more than just saving money. It is a strategic option for savvy businesses and entrepreneurs.

How To Become A Wal-Mart Supplier

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. is the world’s largest retailer, with $218 billion in sales in the fiscal year ending January 31, 2002. The company employs more than 1.3 million associates worldwide through more than 3,200 facilities in the United States and more than 1,100 units in Mexico, Puerto Rico, Canada, Argentina, Brazil, China, Korea, Germany and the United Kingdom. More than 100 million customers per week visit Wal-Mart stores worldwide.

Now, imagine having your product sold in their stores.

From time to time we have customers ask us if we know how to introduce products into Wal-Mart or other large retail stores. The answer we provide is, visit Wal-Mart’s corporate site and look under “Supplier Information“.

There, you will find a complete guide to becoming a Wal-Mart supplier. Some of Wal-Mart’s requirements include:

• Completing the Supplier Questionnaire available on their web site
• Listing your most recent financial information with Dun & Bradstreet (D & B)
• Providing a copy of your most recent financial statements
• Providing Wal-Mart with a copy of your product liability insurance
• Providing your Uniform Code Council (UPC) information

In order to allow you the proper opportunity to formally analyze if your product or service fits within Wal-Mart’s corporate strategies or the market as a whole, Wal-Mart requires that you answer the following key questions. These questions are great questions to ask yourself prior to bringing any product to market.

• Who is the customer with regard to age, average income, median family size, geographical location, population size and expected growth?
• Where is the demand for your product going to come from in the future?
• How will this product help position Wal-Mart to take advantage of this future demand?
• How can Wal-Mart gain market share with your product and, at the same time, control the cost of doing business to maximize sales?
• Who is your direct competition in this market?
• Who is your indirect competition in this market?
• What added value does your product have over your competition that can be passed on to the customer?
• How will your product impact other related products in Wal-Mart’s stores?
• How does your packaging enhance the image and appearance of your product as compared to the current Wal-Mart assortment (i.e. how does the packaging sell the product)?

As you can see, there is quite a bit of legwork that has to take place prior to having your product sold at Wal-Mart… but with more than 4,300 stores world-wide, even a small order from Wal-Mart would have to make your day!

Ten Principles Of Marketing

There are four parts to a marketing system and they rest on ten cornerstones.

Marketing results are only as powerful as your marketing systems.

To build your marketing system you need to be able to do four things: attract, convert, leverage and retain. With these four accomplishments and the practice of the ten cornerstone principles of marketing, success will come.

Here are the 10 cornerstone principles to marketing success…

The Principle of Packaging—The way you package your product or service is a deal breaker. If you sell a product, it has everything to do with the packaging, the colors, the box, the container — everything. If you sell a service and offer just one service, there still needs to be packaging. Just a different time. Packaging for a service provider resides in their offer. If you offer one solution which most independent professionals do, like an hourly or day rate, then you don’t have a package. A package is a combination of items that create an offer that support the client in accomplishing their goal.

The Principle of Differentiation—You want to be the red crayon in the box of white crayons. You must know how you are different from your competitors and you must be able to convey that in all your messages in a way that your prospects pick it up simply. If you think you don’t have any competitors, you do. If you know you are different and don’t convey it, you lose. You must leverage your differences.

The Principle of Repeat Business—One-time buying is short-term revenue and requires ten times more work to find new clients. Keeping multiple, a lifelong paying client is your objective. If you offer a one-time event, you do not have a marketing process — you have a single sale. A marketing process sells to clients over and over again.

The Principle of Frequency—The number two reason businesses fail is because they don’t stay in touch with previous clients. Frequency builds trust and trust is a requirement for a sale.

The Principle of Multiple Streams—Having many ways for people to buy from you always provides the desired revenue results. This requires a combination of active sales (where you participate) and passive sales (that sells without your presence).

The Principle of Reciprocity—This principle, also considered an exchange, is about relationships and networks. If you want to be alone, then your battle is gong to be long, hard, and it will fail. Build your vendor team, your Research & Development team, your administrative team, your strategic alliances, your bartering team, and your attraction will multiple. This works on the principle: “you scratch my back and I will scratch yours.” It is not just about relationships, it is about the value of those relationships.

The Principle of Likeability—If people don’t know you, how can they like you? They need to like you before they will trust you and they must trust you before they buy from you.

The Principle of Communication—This is the most valuable asset you have. Communication is like your bank account: when you communicate correctly, you have a deposit, when you fail to communicate you will have a withdrawal. If, on balance they get “insufficient funds,” that client is gone. Always ask, “Am I providing value that creates a deposit?”

The Principle of Perception—Your client’s perception creates the sale. So many business owners think their service or product is absolutely great and they cannot understand why it is not selling. It is because they developed their product or service according to their perceptions and not their prospects’ needs. Perception begins with what your employees think of their job, so start with their job responsibilities and titles. If your receptionist is the main point of contact for your company, change her perception of her position and your client’s impression will alter. Call her the “Director of First Impressions.”

The Principle of Emotion—Eighty-five percent of the buying decision is made from emotions and then justified with logic. This means you must first connect with their emotions and then give them the logic to justify what they bought. You cannot do one without the other.

About the Author

Catherine Franz is a marketing and writing coach specializing in niches, product development, internet marketing, nonfiction writing and training. For more information visit AbundanceCenter.com.

RFID Packaging Primer

In the simplest terms an RFID packaging system consists of a tag (transponder) and a reader (interrogator).

The technology of RFID packaging deals with the remote collection of information stored on a tag using radio frequency communications. The information stored on the tag can range from as little as an identification number, to kilo-bytes of data written to and read from the tag, to dynamic information maintained on the tag, such as temperature histories. The information from the tag/reader combination is either presented to a human operator typically using a hand-held device with a alpha-numeric display or a host computer which automatically manages the information.

Frequency

Critical performance variables in an RFID packaging system involve the range at which communication can be maintained, the size of the information space contained on the tag, the rate at which the communication with the tag can take place, the physical size of the tag, the ability of the system to “simultaneously” communication with multiple tags, and the robustness of the communication with respect to interference due to material in the path between the reader and the tag. Several factors determine the level of performance that can be achieved in these variable. The factors include the legal/regulatory emission levels allowed in the country of use, whether or not a battery is included in the tag to assist its communication back to the reader, and the frequency of the RF carrier used to transport the information between the tag and the reader.

Over the course of decades of RFID package development, industry has evolved RFID packaging solutions that variously trade the regulatory constraints, the signal propagation characteristics of various RF carrier frequencies, and the economics of tag size and optional batteries. These solutions employ only a few RF frequencies around which the vast majority of RFID systems are fielded today. The RF frequencies include relatively narrow bands centered at: 125/134KHz or low frequency (LF) 13.56MHz or high frequency (HF) 433/869/915MHz or ultra-high frequency (UHF) 2.45/5.8GHz or micro-wave (uW).

These frequency values are commonly referred to the RFID packaging technology. Thus, tags and readers combinations are described as employing LF, HF, UHF, or uW technology.

Passive/Active Tags

Within any one technology there is a wide variety in tag performance reflecting semiconductor chip performance, tag antenna size and efficiency, and whether a battery is included in the tag. There are two broad classes of tags with respect to the source of energy used to power the tags: passive tags or those that receive their energy solely from the RF field supplied by the reader, or active tags that have a battery to boost the read range of the tag.

Read Range

In many cases there is a sharp delineation between the read range of two classes of tags employing passive technology, those that have a relatively short read range and those that have a relatively long read range, especially at LF and HE Like many radio systems, short range RFID systems tend to be less expensive and relatively easy to design and build. Long range RFID packaging systems tend to be more expensive and difficult to build. Typically, the range performance of RFID packagin systems is determined to a major extent by the reader, the power of the signal it radiates and the sensitivity of its receiver.

Anti-Collision

In many applications it is desirable to communicate with a tag when other similar tags are simultaneously visible to the reader. In the case of tagging pigs, it is unlikely two pigs will need to be in the read space at the same time. In the case of library books an important design feature is the ability to read and “check-out” multiple books as the same time. The ability of the tag/reader system to talk unambiguously with one tag at a time is determined by the anti-collision algorithm used to identify each tag and establish a communication session with the tag.

Tag/Reader Communication Protocols

How information is communicated to and from the tag has historically been determined by the original designer of the semiconductor device in the tag. These protocols vary widely in the ways the carrier is modulated, the data is encoded, read, write, verify commands are structured, how multiple tags are read without interfering with one another, and whether privacy or security services are provided. These varying protocols have relative advantages and disadvantages, depending upon the application being considered.

Standards

Over time RFID manufacturers and users have typically concluded that while there are advantages to having several communication protocols from which to choose for any application, there would at each frequency be an advantage to settling on one protocol, or at most a couple of protocols, which multiple suppliers could offer chips and readers.

The appearance of these standards is relatively recent and reflects the work of industry bodies including the UCC and the EAN, the International Standard Organization ISO, and national bodies like ANSI in the U.S. Many of these standards are new or are in the process of being defined and there is considerable uncertainty what their form will ultimately be.

Summary

The RFID industry today represents a dynamic attempt by manufacturers and users to build and deploy solutions reflecting trade-offs between a wide range of technical, political, and regulatory constraints. It is in this dynamic environment that SAMSys provides RFID readers which enable end-users, system integrators, and automatic data capture (ADC) equipment suppliers to make timely and safe decisions about how to employ RFID.

For more information on the RFID packaging, please contact:

Bar Code Specialties
12272 Monarch Street
Garden Grove, CA 92841
1-844-411-CODE

RFID Packaging For Wal-Mart

Do you do business with Wal-Mart?

Soon, all suppliers to Wal-Mart will be required to affix special radio frequency identification, or RFID tags onto all cases and pallets.

Many of the top suppliers are still trying to figure out all this out. How will these new tagging requirements affect them, as well as the effort necessary to meet the goal? Several leading suppliers acknowledge it will be a huge effort.

Once again contract packagers across the national may be called upon to assist in this tagging challenge. As these new scope of work requirements are really no different than changes in the marketplace during the 1980’s when Sol Price opened the first Price Club warehouse stores. Clients are asking for something a little different and until they can find or develop manufacturing systems to handle the problem contract packagers may have the least cost, most effective, and quickest solution to manage the opportunity.

Wal-Mart has identified several key advantages to having these RFID tags used…

• Better tracking and moving of inventory
• Faster receiving and shipping
• Improved quality inspection
• Fewer out-of-stock items resulting in improved shopper satisfaction
• Greater predictability in product demand
• Better value for shoppers as efficiencies occur
• The right products, in the right stores, at the right prices

The RFID tags are not without problems today and Wal-Mart has advised their 20,000 suppliers that they will work with them to address and potential problems:

• Tags cost thirty cents today and Wal-Mart hopes that the price will be driven down to the $0.10 range as more and more suppliers purchase them
• Lack of agreed upon industry standard
• Smart Tag technology is far from perfect, as about 20% of today’s tags do not function properly
• Physical limitations of tags still exist, as tags can not be read through liquids or metals
• Nylon conveyor belts and other radio frequencies can disrupt the tags transmissions in warehouses

Wal-Mart is pushing the envelope of today’s tag technology before this technology is mature. Suppliers too are challenged by the equipping of warehouses and trucks with devices to read data from the tags. These devices will have to have integrated readers that can return real-time information to corporate computer networks. This means that there will be additional costs related to hiring tech consultants and additional hardware.

Wal-Mart is asking nothing more creative than Sol Price did when he started selling multi-packs of product or larger size containers. These companies have pushed the edge of the envelope out for the whole industry.

Contract packagers were there providing special handling and multi-pack services for warehouse club stores then, and many within our industry will be there this year for Wal-Mart’s RFID tags special handling services as well. Finding solutions for uncharted new packaging technology is what many contract packagers, including Aaron Thomas Company, do best.

CNBC reported through MSN Money recently wrote, “Do you speak RFID? Get used to it. This is the tech acronym most likely to get big media play in 2004. It stands fro Radio Frequency Identification Tracking, and with Wal-Mart, the Pentagon, Visa, and American Express behind it, the technology will generate a lot of excitement.” Sounds a lot like what we read about Y2K a few years back.

Four public companies were identified to watch: Zebra Technologies and Printronix as they are both bar-code printer makers that are expanding into RFID printing, Checkpoint Systems a maker of integrated systems for retail security systems, and Symbol Technology a maker of the wireless networks needed to collect data from RFID tags.

The Psychology Of Packaging, Part III

In this final edition of our packaging series we’re going to look at some more marketing strategies of packaging where what you see on the outside is not necessarily what you get on the inside.

When you think about it, some of the most interesting packages are those that are actually part of the product itself.

Take deodorants.

There is one in particular that is so fancy looking you have to wonder if what’s inside is not only going to keep you from stinking like a pig but also cure your baldness and pop a genie out of a bottle. I’m referring to Caix Extreme. The cap is kind of a dome shape that looks like something out of “The Day The Earth Stood Still”, the lettering on the bottle itself is hard to describe but appears to be a combination of cartoon and south sea island font, and the colors are blue and pink on a brown bottle. Actually it looks more like something you’d pour in a glass.

Then there is the Caix For Girls. This is a pretty light blue color to the bottle with lettering that looks like something out of a Barbie Doll commercial. Plus there are some little flowers pasted on the bottle for good measure. This is definitely not something you would ever find a guy using. At least you wouldn’t think so.

Of course you’ve also got your fancy deodorants like Tommy Hilfiger. Plain black bottle with plan white lettering that runs from top to bottom instead of from left to right and tilted to the right. They probably think this kind of packaging lends an air of mystery to their product. Most likely what’s inside isn’t much different from your local Shop Rite store brand.

Then you’ve got your really exotic deodorants like Heno di Pravia. The yellow bottle has a shape not too different from a voluptuous female’s. It’s got a nice fancy lettering to it and a logo at the bottom that almost looks like a danger sign for radioactive waste. Thi s is one strange deodorant package.

And then you’ve got the deodorants that go to the absolute opposite end of the spectrum and as far away from commercial looking as possible. A perfect example of this is “The Self Health Resource Center” deodorant. The bottle is in the shape of a medicine prescription bottle and actually looks like a prescription drug with it’s straight laced lettering and formal instructions for use. This stuff better not only get you smelling good but cure your allergies besides. The funny thing about this deodorant is that there’s really no name to it. It just says Deodorant on the top of the label. The Health Resource Center is just who manufactures the deodorant. You’d at least think they’d give the thing a name.

Yes, deodorants have some very strange, exotic and downright puzzling packages that you never get to stop looking at because it’s part of the product itself. This has to further reinforce what you’re looking for the next time you run out to get your next supply. Packaging is an amazing psychological science and as long as we are able to understand what goes on inside the human brain there will always be packages to cater to that brain.

Now if only they’d make packages we could see through.

Oh wait! They already do.

About the Author

Michael Russell is the author of “Your Independent Guide to Packaging.” Read parts I and II of “The Psychology of Packaging” over the next few days!

The Psychology Of Packaging, Part II

Welcome to part two of our three part series entitled “The Psychology Of Packaging.”

In the first installment we focused on some of the products and their packaging and why they’re packaged in that manner. In this installment we’re going to focus on some other packaging schemes.

You’ll understand why these people are paid so much money to come up with this stuff after reading.

Let’s start off with candy bar wrappers.

Take a good look at these things, and there are plenty of them to choose from. Candy bars range from the pure milk chocolate type such as Hershey’s, and Nestles to the candies that are usually filled with something, like Milky Way, Three Musketeers, Mounds, Kit Kat, Reeses Peanut Butter Cups and so on. If you take a very good look at the packages they are VERY colorful. Butterfingers are a nice yellow package with blue lettering. Reeses are kind of a reddish orange package with yellow lettering. Nestles Crunch Bars are 3 colors of red, white and blue. Guess there’s something patriotic going on there. And then you open up these very pretty wrappers and take out this mono color, not very appealing looking hunk of chocolate. The candy never looks as good as the wrapper. Reeses Peanut Butter Cups actually look like light colored mud you’d find out in the street. But boy, that pretty wrapper. Yes, candy bar manufacturers really earn their money from the packaging department with these gems.

So we don’t get too hungry, let’s move on to a different kind of packaging.

Copy paper.

If you think wrapping up dull looking candy bars in all this colorful fluff is interesting just take a look at the boxes and packages that copy paper comes in. I mean, have you EVER seen the package that Georgia Pacific copy paper comes in? The wrapper is brown on top, blue on the side and white covering the remainder except for a photo of a woman working in an office. Oh and underneath in big numbers is the number of sheets in the package, brightness and weight of the paper. I guess they don’t want us to miss these important specs. This is some of the most beautiful packaging you’ll ever see and then you open up this gorgeous package and inside is nothing but white paper. Since this is something that we buy because we need it and for no other reason, did they really think that if they just put the paper in a plain brown wrapper that we wouldn’t buy it? Amazing.

Now Xerox, is a little different. See, they are a very big name in the copy business so their packaging is much plainer, usually one color. What is prominent about the package is the name, XEROX, right up there in big bold letters. It seems that’s all anybody needs to see and they’re sold. After all, if it’s Xerox it has to be the best.

In the final installment of packaging we’ll cover some packages that you’re sure to find very interesting, including some very unusual packaging.

About the Author

Michael Russell is the author of “Your Independent Guide to Packaging.” Read parts I and III of “The Psychology of Packaging” over the next few days!

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