Discussing Product Packaging from the Marketing Point of View

In the market economy and society, commodity producers are driven by their own economic interests. What they care most about is how their products can open up the market, are marketable, and are accepted by consumers. Therefore, in order to study how companies effectively manage the exchange process and exchange relations of their products in the dynamic market and improve the economic efficiency of enterprises, marketing was born in the United States at the beginning of this century. After more than 90 years, marketing studies has experienced several different stages of development along with the development of the objective situation and marketing practices of the company, and eventually developed into the current “social marketing concept”, that is, the target customers of the company and its It is necessary to be central and focus on all the resources and strengths of the company and properly arrange the marketing mix as a means to meet the needs of the target customers, expand sales, obtain profits, and finally achieve the corporate goals. It can thus be seen that in today's market economy environment, all production and business activities undertaken by companies must be centered around the needs of consumers. The packaging activities of goods should also serve this center, that is, the packaging of goods should satisfy consumers' needs for packaging of goods, or that the packaging of goods should play a beneficial role in promoting the sale of goods. Packaging is not just a simple storage and protection of products. From the perspective of modern marketing, the realization of the sale of goods is the fundamental purpose of commodity packaging.

Most of the products (both material and spiritual) must be properly packaged in the process of transition from their production areas to the consumer sector. Packaging of goods is a very important part of the entire process of production and sales of goods. From a marketing point of view, packaging refers to the producer's design and manufacture of containers, packaging, and images of certain products. The packaging of physical products can be roughly divided into the following three levels: The basic package refers to the container that stores the product most directly, just like the Coca-Cola plastic bottle. Outer packaging refers to the protection of basic packaging materials, such as the storage of 12 bottles of Coke's carton, storage of toothpaste cartons, etc. It provides further protection and greater promotional opportunities for the product. Transport packaging is the third level of packaging, which is necessary for the storage, identification and transportation of products. In addition, the label on the product packaging is also an integral part of the product packaging. These labels are generally used to describe the product and paste information or printed on the product packaging, including: patterns, text, numbers and so on. These labels are part of the entire product packaging and are an important way for the product to express its own information.

Commodity packaging has multi-level and powerful auxiliary expression for product information. Many successful companies make good use of this point, and have made their products a great success through novel and unique packaging expression methods. What kind of role does the packaging of goods play in the presentation of information about companies and goods? Modern marketing believes that: As a marketing tool, merchandise packaging is promoted by a variety of factors, and its role in the expression of merchandise information is constantly expanding with the change of objective conditions. Its main functions are as follows.

First, the basic protection function: This is the most basic function, which is to protect, reinforce and classify the product. This function is produced by the nature of the packaging materials used by people.

Second, the potential salesman function: Now more and more goods are sold in self-service form in supermarkets and discount stores, and the packaging of products takes up the task of self-promotion. The packaging of the product itself must be able to attract the attention of customers. Can fully explain the product's own characteristics to promote consumer purchases.

Third, can increase the added value of the product: good product packaging can often bring convenience to consumers, beautiful, reliable and other added value, the extension of this commodity value is also beneficial to consumers. As consumers' living standards increase, they will be more inclined to spend more money to purchase such goods with added value.

Fourth, the establishment of corporate and brand image: Through the pattern, clear-cut packaging, we can often identify at a glance which company's what kind of goods. For example: Coca-Cola's red packaging, no matter where it appears, people will immediately recognize this world famous drink. This shows that packaging can also contribute to the establishment of a good corporate image.

Fifth, innovation on packaging sometimes becomes a special promotion method: Innovation on packaging often leads to great curiosity and interest from consumers, thus inspiring their desire. For example, the best-selling “drinker” wine received the packaging award for its unique packaging bottle. A unique and novel packaging can greatly increase consumers' awareness and cause their desire to purchase.

It is precisely because the packaging of goods has a huge role in promoting sales of goods. We must fully understand the importance of packaging from the perspective of marketing, must adopt correct and effective packaging strategies, and adopt appropriate packaging strategies for different situations. . In general, the main packaging strategies are the following:

First, a unified packaging strategy: This strategy should be used for products with little difference in quality, using the same or similar patterns, colors or other features on the packaging, so that customers can easily think of the same company's products. This can deepen the consumer's impression of the company. The advantage of this packaging strategy is that it can save packaging design costs, increase consumer trust, and strengthen the company's momentum. However, if the quality of different products differs too much, it will increase the packaging cost of low-end products, and on the other hand it will also affect the reputation of high-end products. Therefore, this packaging strategy is suitable for products with similar product quality.

Second, the combination of packaging strategy: refers to the use of a large number of associated products in the same package sold together. This kind of owner is suitable for use in products with high relevance or for sale in new and old product combinations to promote new products. This packaging strategy facilitates the combined sale of different types or specifications of products. It not only facilitates consumers but also increases corporate profits and reduces the cost of separate packaging. When new and old product packages are packaged, they are also useful for promoting new products. However, it should be noted that this strategy should be used on the basis of fully understanding the needs of consumers, and it is necessary to avoid hard collocations, which will adversely affect the sales of the products.

Third, the packaging strategy: This packaging strategy refers to the production of different grades of products using different packaging design, high-end products using more high-end packaging, and general products are used ordinary packaging. This packaging strategy facilitates consumers to purchase products at different purchasing power levels. However, due to the use of different packaging of similar products, packaging costs will increase.

Through the several packaging strategies listed above, it can be seen that different packaging strategies should be adopted for different products in different market environments. However, if it is a new product, a large number of decisions must be made to determine the packaging solution. From a marketing point of view, the determination of a new product packaging program can be divided into the following three steps. The first thing to do is to determine the object and purpose of the package. To make it clear that the new product required for packaging is basically attributed to that product, the main role of packaging is to provide simple protection to the product, or to give the product a new value, or to make it belong to the establishment of the image of the entire enterprise, or some other effect. Then determine the size and shape of the package, determine the materials used, colors, text, and specific branding. This step is based on the specific implementation of the program that is clearly defined in the first step. This step should pay attention to: the packaging of various elements: pattern, color, text, etc., consistent, while packaging and price, advertising and other marketing elements to coordinate with each other.

Finally, after the packaging design is completed, the feasibility of the program must be verified through a series of tests. For example, it is tested whether the package is resistant to wear under normal conditions, whether it is convenient to carry and store, and whether the package goods and consumers respond to the package. This kind of preliminary experiment will help the company avoid large-scale economic and reputational losses, receive timely feedback and correct the plan.

In short, companies must design and implement the correct packaging strategy, and adopt different packaging methods for different commodities. We must combine packaging decisions with modern marketing theories. Focusing on the needs of consumers as the center of their own activities, we use scientific methods to make decisions on packaging design, make targeted decisions on product packaging, and manage product packaging in a targeted manner. “A good product must have a good package” is the market's requirement for the company under the current market economy conditions, and it is also the market law that has been verified numerous times in the fierce market competition. Only when enterprises truly integrate packaging decisions into the correct marketing decisions of the company can they truly adapt their products to the needs of the market and be accepted by consumers.