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A company needs to ensure that the communication of the brand values on the pack Is effective to its target audience, as well as achieving the correct levels of aesthetics. When a company is looking at the packaging and labeling they need to consider two main factors, the selective attention of the target market this was argued by Coffman and Sank (1 983; cited In Macaroon. Wright et al. 1998:114) and what Is detected and what Is registered.
Steps to developing effective communication ‘OFF Bettor you start to KICK at ten promotional actively you need to lambently won your target market is, and the needs and wants of that segment, so for example if looking in the context of a low calorie cereal breakfasts you need to consider, Who will be more likely to buy the cereal? How will they buy it? Where will they buy it? From these questions you then can start looking at the packaging and labeling to communicate across your selling point, if you have good communication on the packaging then you can create demand and attention to the product.
Color and design can take up significance in a market, so the company should perform research prior to deciding on the color as this can affect the communication message. There are four main types of advertising objectives which are, informative, persuasive, comparisons and reminder, when advertising the company will use a combination of these methods. The message of the context needs to be considered, these can fall into 3 categories which are rational appeals, emotional appeals and moral appeals.
The structure of the message is extremely important and is essential to developing effective communication between the manufacturer and consumer, the format of the message whether it be in the context of labeling or packaging should have a practical value to the target audience, it must be interesting (AID Model), must communicate new information about the product or brand, must reinforce or justify the decision to buy and must make an impact, all these are especially true hen you have a lot of competition and segmentation in the market.
In order for a company who is producing many products to have effective communication, the marketers need to take into account the previous perceptions of the consumers; this is especially true when the consumer has a positive image of the brand or company. Packaging and Labeling The packaging of a product has three basic functions these are to; Preserve the product, Protect the product including the transporting of the product, and Promote the product.
According to Vidalia Giovanni, (1995; cited by Emperor, Villa 2006:101) there are here main types of packaging each has a different Job, the first is primary packaging which is in contact with the product, such as the inner plastic seal of the cereal. The second holds one or more primary packages, its function is to protect the product and to identify its functions and purposes, such as the outer packaging of the cereal box, the third type of packaging is tertiary, this contains the previous two and its principle is to protect the products and packaging through the commercial chain.
The labeling of a product needs to comply with regulations and so it should show he following basic legal labeling requirements, in the context of food: Name of the food (this may need some clarification if necessary) List of ingredients (in descending order of weight) Date marking, which can fall in two categories depending; -Use by date or best before date Storage conditions Business name and address of the manufacturer or supplier and/or a seller standalone Walton ten u K Place AT orally Instructions for use if required (E. G for cake mixture, this is not essential but can differentiate products. The above legal obligations were taken from the government Bessie, (www. Olds. Gob. UK/images/food. ) The company needs to make sure that it knows the target audiences wants and needs, and therefore it can make the product seem better that its competitors therefore gaining competitive advantage. Advertising the pros of labeling and packaging in market communications The labeling of a product for marketers is a way to communicate a message to the consumers; advertising on a cereal box through labeling is a good way of market communication as it reaches masses of people at relatively low costs, compared with personal selling.
Labeling can be used as a means of comparison between competitors, therefore nutritional information although not essential could give a company competitive advantage over products which do not have nutritional labeling, the importance of labeling is extremely significant when the cost of the product is higher than its competitors, as you may be able to Justify the price through the labeling given, (this can be both informative and comparison advertising. Due to the nature of advertisements, the promotions the marketers choose is particularly important as it allows for repetition of the message to the consumers, so hen a certain color of writing or slogan is seen they will think of the brand, for example when you see “There Aggregate! ” you think Frostiest, Kellogg. (Reminder advertising) You can use the packaging and labeling of a product to build up a long-term image of the company and brand, by using the repetition of colors for certain brands you make a consumers think of your product when they see that color, for example a red ‘K’ and people think the brand Kellogg Special K.
According too study carried out in Europe showed “a lack of labeling on production was preventing nonusers from shifting towards such products. ” Schmitt and Simonton (1997; cited in Wells, Farley et al, 2007:1) argued that products are expected to have high quality taste, and consumers are making their initial purchasing decision on aesthetics, therefore the packaging of a product is extremely important and can give a company competitive advantage. This is one of the main reasons why companies are spending so much money on the design packaging and labeling off product as it can convey an image to the buyer.
The packaging off product has been labeled the “silent salesman” as it informs the purchaser of the unifies of the product we can expect if we buy and use the product, a statement argued by Vidalia Giovanni, (1995; cited by Emperor, Villa 2006:101) Within supermarkets in particular the food market, brands need to make their products stand out from its competitors and it needs to be able to clearly communicate its message across to its target audience.
A company which has taken on board the effectiveness of packaging to convey an image and use the packaging as a “silent salesman” is Multi-grain Cheerios, they produced a product which is a low calorie Dreariest cereal, ten packaging AT ten cereal Dog was Transliteration, Instead AT ten go standard shape, the sides of the cardboard box are curved in resembling a silhouette of a waste line.
The packaging of the product reinforced the image of the cereal and the benefits the product can bring if used; (www. foodandbeveragepackaging. Com) The company has used the AID model to its advantage as the packaging and labeling have created attention, the box stands out from the others due to its shape, it creates interest as people will want to use the product to see if it can create a slim line waste, it has created desire for the product and the action would be the consumer buying the product.
In this instance the most important communication method is attention, especially as there is so many low calorie breakfast cereal bars in the market, so the box and packaging is extremely beneficial, the box then clearly states the nutritional levels of the breakfast and the benefits you can gain from eating the cereal.
As you can see from this product in particular the company has looked at and identified its target market, it has used the AID model to create attention and desire through its labeling and packaging, It has a clearly structured message in place and it informs the consumers of the gains and information on the product, it has used non personal communication methods, as you can see this company has developed effective communication via its packaging and labeling of the product.
Beagle (1991 ;cited by Emperor and Villa, 2006:2) and Peters (1994; cited by Emperor and Villa, 2006:102) consider packaging may be the most important communication method for the following reasons: It reaches almost all the buyers in the group, It is present at the moment when the purchase is made, Purchasers are involved with the packaging as they look at the labeling extracting the information required.
Why Companies advertise via packaging and labeling A study carried out by Wells (1986; cited by Macaroon, Wright et al 1998:110), recorded 9 out of 10 shoppers occasionally buy on impulse, showing that the packaging and labeling of a product can influence the consumers buying pattern, this was backed from the study by Phillips and Bradshaw (1993). Engel and Blackballed defined impulse buying as “a buying action undertaken without a problem previously having being recognized or a buying intention not being formed before entering the store. According to the Henley centre, for perishable goods such as eat, fish and dairy products 73% of buying decisions were made at the point of sale (therefore no prior thought was given to the purchase before entering the shop. ) This shows the importance that the packaging can have upon purchases. Promotion mix strategies In the past there was no cereal breakfast which were catered for people which wanted to loose weight, it was seen to be a children’s breakfast, from this there was a gap in the market and people wanted to have a breakfast which was healthy and tasty, the producers came up with many varieties of products such as Special K,
Lapel without sugar, Wholegrain, the communication that wholegrain use is based on the emotional appeal of the consumers as the message is making people feel guilty Ana thank tout malignantly a near EAI y Nils was argued Day Molten in Wells, Fairly et al, 2007:1) as he said consumers are becoming more demanding in the quality and choice of products, meaning that consumers know what they want and what they expect, thus the advertising and communication through packaging and labeling is extremely important.
When you are targeting a health conscious market you need to make sure promotion is consistent with the labeling as they are ore likely to look in detail at the labeling and ingredients of the product. This was argued by Brick (1992; Roberts 1991 and Taylor Nelson, 1990; cited by Macaroon, Wright et al, 1998:112) Many companies on cereal brands will reward loyalty, and so on the pack they will give coupons and once you have collected so many you can send off for a gift (etc. ) How important is Packaging and labeling A survey carried out by Nielsen 2006, (wry. Billions. Mom) stated that about half of American households are purchasing luncheon meats sold in pouches, whilst sales of he same product in a different type of packaging have fallen; this shows the importance of packaging on buying and competitiveness. Within Packaging and Labeling there are some key elements which should be considered, which are the color used, font, shapes and images. This is because as previously discussed, colors may have a significant meaning and provoke certain thoughts, these are hard to change and so it is important to perform research into the sector before you consider a color.
If the correct advertisement is in place and it conveys the correct message and images to the consumers then the company may be able to gain high ales levels and brand loyalty. Limitations to advertisements on packaging and labeling The message can be impersonal especially as you are trying to attract the attention and make the message appealing to as many consumers in your target audience as possible. There is only one way communication, however nowadays communication on packaging and labeling is backed by media advertisements and occasionally personal selling.
Conclusion Although there has not been a lot of in-depth studies and research carried out under the section packaging and labeling and how it can give competitive advantage, I feel hat it plays a significant part in the decision process of the buying decision, we are influenced by many factors such as the labeling, the size of the product, price, aesthetics (etc) therefore to ensure that your product is competitive then you need to make sure it is appealing to your target audience and that you can communicate your message that you want to present to the audience.
You need to have a clear set of principles in place ensuring that your message is communicated to the widest base of consumers possible, and you need to understand the market before you try to create an effective communication tool.