The 4 p’s of marketing includes packaging. This post considers four questions that you need to answer about your packaging.

You can read the two posts that I did on product as a part of the 4 p’s of marketing by clicking on the links below:

4 P’s Of Marketing: Product 1

4 P’s Of Marketing: Product 2

4 P’s Of Marketing Question 9: Packaging - Does the package offer a distinguishing characteristic?

If you create a package that offers something unique and provides value to your product, your packaging can become a distinguishing characteristic. I recently wrote a post about Dutch Boy’s paint plastic container with a spout and screw on lid. At the time Dutch Boy came out with this package, no other paint companies offered the design. Dutch Boy built a marketing campaign around it and increased their sales just because of the paint can design.

4 P’s Of Marketing Question 10: Packaging - Is the package weight and size appropriate for the product?

Your packaging needs to be strong enough to keep your product from getting damaged during distribution. It needs to be shaped so that it stacks well for distribution and storage.

Yet, you don’t want to select a package that weighs more than necessary to do the job. Your distribution costs are partially determined by weight. So the less your packaging weighs, the cheaper you can get your product delivered.

You also want to avoid a package that is larger than it needs to be to contain your product. For example, I take Acidophilus for my Candida, a type of yeast infection. My husband recently bought me three bottles of Acidophilus, but each 6 inch tall bottle contained only 30 pills. They barely took up a 1/2 inch in each large bottle. Plus each bottle was in a comparable size box. What a waste.

4 P’s Of Marketing Question 11: Packaging - Does the package provide enough protection for the product?

Using the above example, a bottle is necessary to hold pills. A wrap wouldn’t provide enough protection so the pills could get damaged. A box might let the pills escape. But was a box and a bottle necessary? The bottles would need a box for distribution and storage, but putting several bottles in one box that could also be used to display the bottles would have worked as well as boxing every bottle.

So the lesson from this example is provide enough packaging to protect your product, but don’t overdo it and increase your costs unnecessarily.

4 P’s Of Marketing Question 12: Packaging - Is the packaging excessive, requiring increased handling?

The pill example is one of excessive packaging. It only required increased handling for the manufacturer to package and for the consumer to open, but some packaging requires additional handling during distribution and storage as well.

All that additional handling further increases costs. And, as you know, when costs increase you either have to raise the price or cut into your profits. So you need to select packaging that requires as little handling as possible from manufacturer through consumer.

4 P’s Of Marketing: Packaging Conclusion

By considering the four questions on packaging, you can save expenses while still protecting your product. Taking the time to make the best packaging decision can increase your profit.

Plus, if you provide unique packaging that enhances use of your product, your packaging can become a distinguishing characteristic, enhance your marketing, and improve your sales.

Packaging is the second of the 4 p’s of marketing covered on this blog. My next two posts will cover pricing and promotion as the final two of the 4 p’s of marketing.

You can access the next post at 4 P’s Of Marketing: Price.

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Posted 6-11-08: 4 P’s Of Marketing:
Packaging

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