Don't Ignore Your Packaging

Are you taking time to analyze your Packaging?

Many companies that offer quality products fall victim to ignoring their packaging strategy. As an example I was purchasing some pipe tobacco the other day at my local tobacconist.  I tend to purchase a higher grade of tobacco and pay extra for the privilege.


When I requested a 3oz. measure of tobacco they weighed it and put it into a zip close plastic bag as is usual.  However, the bag quality was of a lower grade and the zipper was difficult to seal.  As anyone who purchase tobacco knows, tobacco oxidizes quickly when exposed to air.  This damages the flavor and shortens the shelf life.  Tobacco like many perishable products is all about freshness.

I asked them why they didn't buy a better quality bag.  There response was the same as I have heard throughout my packaging career.  "We buy the cheapest bags because people don't really care, and we are trying to keep our costs in line."

To this I asked them "how do you know the customer doesn't care"?  The fact is customers who spend their money for a quality product expect to have the package you put it in protect that quality.  Anyone who knows about tobacco understands it is all about freshness. Tobacco oxidizes quickly which damages its flavor. The same way we buy produce and other perishables - Freshness matters!  Packaging matters!  Customers do CARE!!!!

Plus, the added couple of pennies he spends on a better quality bag could easily be passed on to the customer.  If the customer complains about the extra 2 or 3 cents, simply tell them that you are protecting them so as to insure full satisfaction of the product they are buying. 

Nobody quibbles when sellers are trying to give them more.  They complain when the product does not meet their standards.  Quality Packaging Send the Message "I'm Looking Out For YOU!"


If you purchase a $3000 diamond ring from a jeweler and he hands it to you in a paper sack, you are going to have a negative feeling about the quality of the jeweler and the diamond.  The consumer expects a nice velvet lined box.  It's one of the ways in which we all perceive the quality of products.

Pepsi  Cola® spent $3million to advertise on TV during the Super Bowl on Sunday.  They did this because they were able to reach millions of consumers.  Imagine them doing this but cut costs by producing it in a silver can with the bare minimum information printed in Black Ink instead of a well designed colorfully imprinted can.  You would think Pepsi's quality has been reduced.  Even if they charged you less for the product, you would probably be hesitant to buy it.  Coke would send a thank you letter to Pepsi.

The point of all this is to make a very important value statement.  When you ignore the quality of your packaging, you are ignoring the basic desire of consumers.  It is important to make them feel secure that they are making the right decision by purchasing your products.  Packaging plays a major role in this effort.

If you are selling parts and placing them in a plain poly bag with just a computer label with quantity and part description you are missing a valuable opportunity.  Your customer appreciates a colorful printed poly bag with your name, logo, website, phone number and product information.  This not only reinforces their opinion of you as a quality supplier, but also makes it easier to identify your product and reorder when needed.  A quality package sends the message - "Thank You - Please Call Again".

If your packaging supplier isn't suggesting improving your packaging, they are doing you a disservice and you should be seeking a new supplier.  They are not looking out for you.  Great packaging suppliers understand that your success is their success.  Anything they can do to assist you in retaining and obtaining customers improves your business and theirs at the same time.

Avoid Same Old, Same Old
Let me see if I can put this in perspective.  How many times have you heard the expression, "If it ain't broke don't fix it"?  This is a cute turn of a phrase but it refutes the basic facts of life.  In the real world change is all around us.  Changes require us to modify our behaviour. 

Henry Ford achieved great success by developing the first moving assembly line.  However, he also only offered one color for his cars.  BLACK.  To this General Motors responded by offering a vast array of colors with their cars.  Ford inevitably had to comply to the market desire for a choice of colors.  Even though Ford produced a quality product, GM showed the market a better package with more options.  Ford lost market share and went from the #1 to the #2 auto company in short order. So in essance, Ford was "broke" and they didn't know it!

Refusal to examine our methods in business can be the difference in leading or following the industry.  Packaging plays a huge part in the perception customers have on who they buy from and who they reject. 

The moral of this story is you need to constantly examine the quality of your packaging objectively.  Simple changes such as improved imprint, packaging features or ink colors can dramatically improve your market share.  It is ever so subtle and ever so important.  Don't Ignore Your Packaging!

Custom Poly Bag Marketing Tip

Custom Printed Poly Bags should be a part of your overall marketing strategy.  All to often companies analyze the cost of custom printing their packaging in dollar value instead of marketing value.  This is a mistake.  Custom printed packaging is an advertising tool the same as your brochures or other advertising methods.

Your Customer Pays The Freight

The best part is your customer pays part of the advertising cost.  If you advertise in magazines, television or by direct mail, you are stuck for all of the costs.  With custom poly bags you only pay for the bag cost where the freight is paid by your customer.  This is a major deflection of advertising expense.

The reality is, custom printed bags advertise your company effectively.  They are guaranteed to reach the ultimate person that uses your products.  Unlike other media, custom bags go directly to the person that makes the buying decision.  Where else in your marketing efforts can you receive such a guarantee?

A well designed printed poly bag not only displays your name, color and logo; but also provide all of the reorder information your customer deserves.  It provides your physical location, phone number, website and product details. 

Yet there is an even greater value you receive when you custom print your bags.  People are more likely to retain custom bags for other uses more than an unprinted stock bag.  This means the likelihood of other potential customers seeing your name is increased dramatically.

This is particularly true when your bag offers features that encourages customers to reuse them.  For instance Resealable bags and Draw Tape bags are commonly saved by customers for any number of personal uses.

What makes this such a tremendous value to you is your bag becomes a sales tool.  This means that new customers that buy your products are helping to pay for your bags!  In many cases new customers can account for revenues that more than pay for your increased packaging expense.

Custom Packaging Is Subliminal

The advantage of custom packaging is its subliminal nature.  Unlike ads that overtly promote your business and products, printed bags simply verify you as the place to go for your products.  It subtly establishes you as the customers valued source of supply.  The more efficient the package, the more they will accept your products.

Improving your image expands your market acceptance without any conscious effort.  You are simply there in front of your customer at all times.

Therefore, if you are using a stock bag to package your products the simple addition of imprinting your name can be one of the smartest marketing strategies you can adopt.

Sincerely,

http://www.mainpricecustompkg.com

"Effective Packaging at Affordable Prices"

A Money Making Marketing Tip For Your Company

If there is one thing I have found to be true over all other things as a small business owner for over 25 years, it's that small business owners are usually strapped for cash.  There is no time where this is more true than today.  Banks reluctant to lend money and economic uncertainty making it less desirable to borrow; which makes marketing your company a very challenging task.

The secret to surviving in difficult economic times is strengthening and expanding relationships with both your suppliers and customers.  Relationships are strengthened by sending the message that you offer superior products and services that better meets the markets demands. 

While so many companies today are focusing on cost cutting, lowering prices and offering discounts; the savvy marketers are concetrating their efforts on enhancing value.  It is true that most people want a good deal when spending their money, it is an undeniable fact that consumers seek value first and price second. 

The most effective way to maintain a solid market presence and build confidence is through advertising.  Yet advertising can be very expensive and somewhat questionable as to its effectiveness.   The problem is that no matter what method of advertising you choose, there is no guarantee the person you are targeting will actually see your message.

Yet there is one way to put your name in front of your customer with an absolute gurantee that will not miss seeing your name. 

The one thing your customer always sees is the package you send with your product in it.  If this packaging is professional and exudes the quality of your business, your customer cannot help but to be impressed with you.

Think about this for a moment.  When you buy products at your local supermarket, do you select products that are more attractively package?  I do all the time.  I select Kraft sliced cheese over the lower cost supermarket brand because the tear open feature and resealable zipper work better.  I pay almost a dollar more because I perceive Kraft to be better. 

The fact is people buy packaging when choosing products for the first time.  A better package equals a better product in our psyche.  When they receive shipments that are professionally packaged, their buying decision is reinforced.  Before they even use your product they have a positive impression.  The result...

YOU STAND OUT

...in a very possitive way.

The beauty of this is your customers will brag about you and tell others that you are a great source of supply.  They become your affiliate and help you to gain more market share.

Improving your image through custom packaging makes you money and more than pays for the added expense you incur by the upgrade.

The best thing about all of this is...

You're Already Paying For Most of The Cost

...the percentage increase for upgrading your packaging is all you pay.  If you buy a stock bag now to package your product, the only added cost is a quality imprint, tote bag handle or special closure that make your package more attractive.

Remember that in business as in life ...

It's All About Image  

Building Wealth Through Packaging

Many companies miss out on the significant power that they can achieve in the marketplace through a well thought out packaging scheme. 

Although they may be offering the most innovative new gadget or idea in the last decade, it can lose much of its impact on the consumer if it is not professionally packaged. 

Think about this for a minute.  You spend thousands of dollars, possibly borrow from a bank to launch your great product.  Then you hire an advertising company to give you marketing ideas.  Should you advertise on TV, radio, newspaper, magazines and so on? 

The last thing that gets discussed in these strategy meetings is how you are going to package your product.  This is a huge mistake!

The fact is there are 2 parts to every sale.  The first is motivating a prospect to buy your product.  The second is to reinforce the customers decision that he or she made the right decision.  The second part is the one that will bring this customer back to purchase from you again and again.

In today's global economy, less than 20% of all goods are sold to a customer only 1 time.  This means most companies depend on repeat business and referral business for survival and growth.  This means that for all of the money you spend on driving business to your door you are only solving half of the problem.  The other half which is your life's blood, is possibly being ignored.

In reality, your main consideration when selecting your packaging strategy should not be focusing on the lowest cost; but rather the most effective method to reinforce your customer's buying decision.  Rihaz Z Chughatta, President of Equity Packaging  recently wrote great piece on this subject at the Industry of Packaging Professionals website.  He brilliantly describes how you can turn packaging into profits.

An example of how packaging turns profits is a local medical outpatient surgical center in my area decided to upgrade their personal property tote bags from a stock bag to a custom printed die cut handle bag.  They told me that they gained new patients that simply saw the bag from a from friends that were previous patients.  The revenue from the new patients amounted to more than 20 times the additional cost of the packaging upgrade.

In my better than 25 years in the packaging business I have witnessed and assisted in 100 of cases where upgrading packaging revitalized industries. In 1984 I introduced the disposable bank deposit bag on the request of a large bank in San Francisco CA.  They were looking to eliminate using key locking canvas bags as the handling costs were excessive.  Even though the cost of disposable bags created initially a higher cost, the labor savings and ability to use a central depository system saved them hundreds of thousands of dollars per year.  Today disposable bank deposit bags are the standard of the retail banking business

In 1992 at the request of Price Club/Costco stores we converted some of their frozen food products from boxes to barrier quality printed plastic bags.  Although the bags were double the cost of boxes their sales skyrocketed because customers were able to view the contents of the bags where boxes obscured them.

These are dramatic examples but are illustrative of how profits are made from rethinking packaging strategies that focus on you and your great quality.  Simple upgrades such as adding or improving the imprinting on your bag can achieve tremendous results.  Possibly providing a releasable bag rather than an open top bag can offer greater utility and encourage customers to select your product.

Lastly, be aware of your competition.  Even though I have always advocated being the leader in the market, it is always wise to see what others are doing.  If your competition is outselling you, possibly their packaging is playing a role in their success.