Movie Case Study
It’s the Christmas season and Harry (played by Alan Rickman) has come to shop with his wife Karen. Harry is secretly attracted to his secretary and decides to buy a Christmas gift for her.
Hence he rushes the gift-wrapping process so that his wife can’t find out. In this blog, Learning perspectives will explore the meaning of packaging.
What is Packaging?
Packaging includes all the activities related to designing and wrapping the product. Similar to the scene that we saw, a necklace is wrapped in rather elaborate layers. Packaging, generally has layers, for example, a Lakme Mascara comes in three layers of packaging:
- In a Bottle (primary packaging)
- Inside a cardboard box (secondary package)
- Shipped in a box (Shipping package)
Packaging Example
A package is also referred to as a 5-second commercial. It forms an integral part of the first encounter with the customer. Distinctive packaging is an important part of the branding process too. For example, Indulekha oil decided to convert its packaged bottle into a comb. This is a part of innovative and distinctive packaging.
Objectives of Packaging
- Helps in the identification of the brand.
- It communicates descriptive information about the product.
- Smooth protection and transportation of the product.
- Supports the consumption of the product.
- Helps with home storage.
Advantages of Packaging
Packaging plays a crucial role as a marketing tool for the product. Typically a customer passes close to 300 products in a minute in the departmental store. Effective packaging attracts the customer’s attention, describes the features of the product, and creates a positive impression on the customer. Effective packaging helps the company and its brand image too.
To achieve the above objectives, marketers must choose aesthetic components of packaging. The packaging elements should chime in with pricing, advertising, and other aspects of the marketing program.
Aesthetics relate to a package in the following forms:
- Colour
- Size
- Shape
- Text
- Material
- Graphics
Colors have different meanings for packaging. They are all-pervasive on the product. Think of Cadbury and you will be reminded of the purple-colored wrapper.
Purple color represents wealth and wisdom while red color symbolizes energy, excitement, boldness, and passion. Every color stands for something, hence marketing managers understand the role of colors in visual marketing.
Packaging updates and redesigns can occur to keep the brand relevant. As the salesman (Rowan Atkinson) says ‘this is so much more than a bag’.
