Package for Positioning

Packaging is a million dollar gamechanger, literally. However, many businesses don't pay attention to the potential for this marketing function and lose potential revenue. How do you package a product or a service? What is the cost and how much leverage can it bring you?

Cola wars

The battle of the colas has been raging between Coca-Cola and Pepsi. These two beverage giants makers have contended for decades. Apparently, some blind tests have been made that reveled that consumers can't really distinguish between the two colas.

However,? from the visual perspective, loyalty is a nocompromise area. Infact, this war has resulted in many PR stunts including the ban on Coca-Cola staff from drinking Pepsi (an employee was fired for breaching that code!)

Chocolate

Chocolate is a luxury product. The emphasis is never on nutrition or taste although these are important. Chocolate is not classified as food in the mind of the buyer.? It is luxury, it is love, it is beauty and thoughtfulness.?

All that is embodied in the paper, shape and size of each unit. Everything from the name, fonts, wrapping foil and texture screams luxury. So does the price which deliberately excludes a huge demographic.

Glamourise your offering

While most of us are not in the luxury goods industry, there are lessons that we can draw from it and this way enhance our own brands while changing the pricing model to a more profitable category.

Exclusivity

Rarity is the key to exclusive pricing and increase in demand. A Chanel client bought a pair of expensive earrings. When she wanted to get a pair for each of her two daughters, she was told she couldn't because Chanel has a policy that you can only purchase a maximum of two sets within a period of 12 months!

We have all heard of the custom made products where specific modifications are made so that there is none else like it worldwide.

Positioning

The primary quest for your outbound communication is to access a spot in the mind of the buyer. This is through experiences,? associations and a connection with your brand.

Packaging seeks to create these mental and emotional links. Have you ever noticed that Coca-Cola does not make food, the brand is naturally associated with food. From combo deals with major fast-food brands to the signage at convenience stores. Wherever you find Coca-Cola you can be sure to find food!

In the car industry,? Volvo means safety, Jeep means adventure and Mercedes Benz means luxury. Although each automobile brand has a combination of several elements,? one sticks out to the client. Where this is not achieved, you have a mere car.

Quality

What sets apart a tiara from Temu and Tiffany? Often the difference is imperceptible to the undicerning eye. However, one may be a few hundred rand while the other may be worth hundreds of thousands.

The difference is determined by the quality of the product. This is the value of the craftsmanship, the quality of the material used, the durability of the product and it's aesthetic value.

Service

The hallmark of exclusive positioning is service not necessarily quality. Quality attracts the prospect but service keeps them. Service is personalised and creates a unique customer experience. Service allows the customer to overcome their inhibitions about spending so much on your product or service.

It gives them justification to choose you and not your cheaper competitor. The premium pricing model adopted by the luxury brands market is sustained by this.

The customer is unique and treated as such. In the words of Horste Schulze, the process of loyalty starts with recognition, personalisation and surpassing expectations.

3PE not advertising

The book The Fall of Advertising and the Rise of PR by Al and Laura Ries is a great resource in reconfiguring how to position your offering effectively. The book explores the evidence that advertising fails to convince the prospect about the value citing many examples including Coca-Cola,?Pets.com, General Motors and many other players,?big and small.

Third-party endorsement (3PE) is the concept where someone else speaks positively and recommends your business or product and not yourself. This not only saves you significant amounts of ad-spend but also accelerates the conversion speed.

When your offering is enthusiastically recommended by someone who is not paid to do so, it makes your credibility soar.

How does your packaging position your offering? Can you do better? We can help. Give us a call today for a free assessment of your brand position.

Niqsibanda is a business model expert who works with entrepreneurs and executives creating sustainable business models.