Text 7: packaging changes the product

Many years ago people had problems whit table salt, because it would stick together and form lumps whenever the weather was humid or damp. The Morton Salt Company solved the problem by designing a package that kept the salt dry in all kinds of weather. Thus the slogan, "When it rains, it pours". Packaging made Morton's salt more desirable than competing products, and it is still the best known salt in the United States.

Text 8: the growing importance of packaging

Packaging has always been an important aspect of the product offer, but today it is carrying more of the promotional burden. Many goods that were once sold by salespersons are now being sold in self -service outlets, and the package has been given more sales responsibility. As such the package must do the following: (1) it must attract the buyer's attention; (2) it must explain the benefits of the good inside; (3) it must provide information on warranties, warnings, and other consumer matters; and (4) it must give some indication of price, value and uses.

Text 9: different packaging functions

One major function of packaging is to attract the attention of the buyer. To do this a package needs visibility. Visibility is achieved through the creative use of colour, shape, texture design, and size. Using these cues, one can easily identify most of the popular consumer products.

Another function of packaging is to give consumers added convenience for their money. You are already familiar with the convenience that packaging has given products through the use of handy spray pumps, easy open cans, squeezable ketchup bottles, clear plastic wraps, and so forth. In the future we may expect to see more packaging innovations that will enable us to keep meat and milk without refrigeration, to serve instant gourmet meals from speedy microwave ovens and to keep fresh vegetables for months. Recently, Campbell introduced a salad with a shelf life of 28 days.

Another function of packaging is to protect the goods from environmental factors such as rain and sun. Packaging must also protect against breakage, damage, and harm from animals.

Packaging helps the middleman by grouping goods into easy managed sizes. It may be designed, for instance, so that the shipping carton becomes a display rack. Packaging also helps retailers to price items, store them on their shelves, and process the item through their checkout counter. The new universal product codes (UPCs) that were developed for supermarket items and ether retail goods may enable the retailer to reduce checkout time, reduce errors, and increase inventory control and the information flow from retailer to producer.

To summarize the functions of packaging we have discussed so far, remember that packaging (1) adds visibility, (2) adds convenience, (3) protects the goods from damage, and (4) keeps the goods in manageable, controllable sizes. We also mentioned that packaging benefits middlemen as wall as consumers. Branding, like packaging, changes the product by changing consumer perceptions. The name Del Monte on a label makes the product different than one with the label peaches. We shall discuss such issues below.