Your Packaging Scorecard

Recently I’m coming across a variety of new packaging trends or terms and it got me to thinking about how informed the average person is about product packaging. I know you are all busy doing your jobs and it takes a lot of time to keep current of what is new in product packaging or what may influence your products success. It’s hard for me to keep up on a daily basis and that is all that I do for my clients.

Perhaps as a way to ascertain what is hot and what is not you should create your own “packaging scorecard” as way to measure how tuned you are to the latest in the consumer perceptions of product packaging and how it could impact whether your product will sell or not!

Consumers are very fickle about packaging issues. In fact many times they don’t even understand the role of the product packaging itself. Lets take all the hue and cry over green product packaging. You would think consumers are clamoring for more environmentally responsible packaging. But just this morning I read that despite what we read about the desire for more “green” packaging the beauty industry reports that 25% of French women and 20% of British want recyclable beauty packaging, US women just 12%. Slightly higher than that magic 10% of greenies that are already in that space anyway.

So, should this be an issue in your packaging scorecard? Well, that depends upon what your niche is. In any case its a movement to watch and be aware of so I’d add it to your list.

What about “shrinking” consumer product packaging? Will companies reducing the size of the product and keeping the price the same create a groundswell of consumer outrage. The media think so. If I were you I would add this to my scorecard. There is a lot being written about it. If I were a smart marketer I’d figure out a way to add “more” to my product for the price rather than less.

Value for your money is a trend and its not going away. Just look at the growth of private label at the expense of branded products. This definitely would be on my scorecard.

The point is that you can take a few packaging trends and consumer hot buttons and create your own packaging scorecard. It will help you track how close you are tuned into the latest consumer issues.

Just remember the scorecard is not static. It needs to change as issue evolve or are resolved. A few minutes a week is all it takes to stay on top of the needs and issues of your core customer.

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.

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