When you are assessing new packaging for a product, it is important to remember that “liking is not enough”. You will often hear both marketers and product developers comment about a proposed pack design – “Well, I don’t like it”.
This may not be relevant for two very simple reasons:
- The person within the company may in no way represent the target audience in terms of: age, interests or brand preferences. Many marketers are young, white collar workers with relatively high levels of disposable income. They don’t represent target audiences which might include
- A beer brand drunk by predominantly older blue collar workers (50+) for nostalgia and traditional reasons.
- A tea brand drunk mostly by women with children in a lower income grouping who see the brand as aspirational within their lifestyle.
- It may not be a product you have to “like” to buy. It may need to convey feelings of “security” or “safety”, “solid worth” rather than something which you “like”
If you are buying a fly spray, a consumer is not looking for “cosy” packaging. He or she wants to feel that the spray will kill all flies very, very dead so imagery which suggests “death” and “destruction” is more appropriate than softer, more comfortable colours and designs. On the contrary, they want something which conveys efficiency, effectiveness and, above all else, death to flies.
You will have noticed that this style of product has often traditionally used figures of authority (often older males) and given them added scientific “competence” (the white lab coat and sterile surroundings) to reassure us all that the product will kill in the most high-tech way imaginable.
What is critical is that the pack design tells the right story to consumers. It has to convey a message about the product and the brand which is relevant and “truthful” about product delivery.