It says ‘An honest product from an honest company…

100% Artificial’

WRITING

Using the same headings as the table below, select other foods and detail the characteristics, packaging requirements and packaging solutions.

Product	Properties of the product	Properties necessary for the package	Packaging solution
cornflakes	light, moisture and oxygen sensitive, fragile, cheap and ha a relatively long shelf-line at ambient temperatures
fresh meat
Instant freeze-dried coffee

Unit7

Packaging in the marketing mix

LEAD-IN

Ex.1. Read the passage and discuss it with a partner.

D ozens of new goods & services appear on the market every day. Frequently, they do not differ from each other. Therefore, attractive packaging is a powerful tool to win customer favour. Actually, up to 70% of all purchases are not pre-arranged. 2 out of 3 customers make their decision spontaneously right on the spot. Therefore, each manufacturer has circa 10 sec to drive customers’ attention and persuade them.

There has to be something unique about the packaging of those products that makes them stand outs. Color? Brand mark? Packaging shape? Photographic imagery or graphics? All of these factors?

Ex.2. Look at the pictures, what category of people are these packages aimed at? How can you tell from the package? Is their design successful or not? Why?

READING AND VOCABULARY

Ex.3. Read the following text and decide which answer (A, B, C or D) best fits each gap. Think carefully about both meaning and grammar.

• TEXT 1.

How packaging can influence consumer buying behaviour

1) _____ with promoting, pricing and advertising, packaging is one of the main marketing strategies 2) _____ by companies in order to sell their products.

Put the same quantity of one product in two boxes, one a plain white cardboard box and the other one in an attractive, colourful box, position them side 3) _____ side on a supermarket shelf and sell them at exactly the same price, 4) _____ which one will sell? This is a simplified example to show you that packaging does influence customer behaviour.

Marketers must carefully study consumers and if they want a product to be successful, adapt the packaging to their 5) _____ consumers: you can have 6) _____ attractive packaging that will appeal differently to different kinds of consumers. A child will go for a popular cartoon character on a cereal box while a mother will more likely buy a product which is clearly labeled as being nutritional (which can cause family 7) _____ in the weekly undertaking of grocery shopping).

It is also important to consider the quantity in which to pack a product: if you target older people who are likely to be living alone or in couple, sell them a product that is packaged in small quantities: they will be more 8) _____ to buy a pack of two slices of ham than a bargain bumper-pack that will probably go out of date before they get to eat it all.

9) _____ of use is also important: the mother of young children will choose a product that is easy to open for her children's lunch-box, whereas a bachelor won't 10) _____ if a jam-jar is difficult to open.

There are a lot of variables to consider when deciding on the right packaging for a product and the main thing for a company to remember when choosing a package is that it must be adapted to consumer's 11) _____ .

1. A. in addition	B. both	C. together	D. either
2. A. used	B. using	C. chose	D. chosen
3. A. on	B. at	C. by	D. in
4. A. think	B. say	C. communicate	D. guess
5. A. favourite	B. target	C. regular	D. best
6. A. equally	B. same	C. rather	D. quite
7. A. scuffles	B. scandals	C. frictions	D. fights
8. A. suitable	B. likely	C. unlikely	D. appropriate
9. A. attractiveness	B. price	C. functionality	D. practicality
10. A. against	B. mind	C. agree	D. argue
11. A. needs	B. account	C. choice	D. purchases

Ex.4. Discuss these questions in pairs.

1. What part does packaging play in the sphere of marketing?

2. Why do the same products have different success in the market?

3. How can marketers satisfy consumer’s wants in packaging?

4. What factors, according to the text, are necessary to take into consideration during the process of package creating?

5. Can you guess any other preferences of various categories of people (age factor, gender factor, occupation factor, income factor, etc.)?

Ex.5. Look at the sentences, giving tips for effective packaging. Read the leaflet, and then look at the packages below. Do you know these products? What helps you to distinguish them from similar goods? Give examples of their alternatives and say what characteristics they have.

1. In order to be effective as a brand builder, the packaging must first leverage the brand’s unique attributes, including its signature color and brand identity to position the product in a differentiated manner. An ownable package structure is very desirable as it refers to the brand, and only that brand, creating immediate recognition and intimate brand associations in the mind of consumers over time.

2. The graphic imagery and photography employed on packaging is another important factor. The right kind of imagery enforces the brand’s key attributes. Does the brand play to a health-conscious audience? A young, hip demographic? A mature customer base? A lifestyle proposition? A luxury customer or a wannabe?

3. Marketers must create value in the minds of increasingly sophisticated consumers for their brands, and the packaging must add to, not detract from, the value perception of the overall product and brand.

Ex.7. Give definitions to the following concepts and provide your examples of them.

1. brand builder

2. brand identity

3. signature color

4. intimate brand associations

5. sophisticated consumers

Ex.6. Match a word in column A with a synonym word in column B.

1. to further	A. to value
2. to price	B. to publicize
3. to advertise	C. peculiar
4. target	D. to promote
5. to leverage	E. to differentiate
6. intimate	F. end
7. to distinguish	G. to strengthen

Ex.7. Fill in the gaps with the correct word derived from the word given in capitals at the end of each line.