Seriously now, how much thought did you give to the package? — That’s too little…

Are you, too, guilty of overlooking the “package advantage”… the plusage that could help you push your product’s sales?

?#packaging #marketing #BtB

For decades, the packaging decision has been an afterthought in business-to-business (BtB) environments. Meanwhile, an increasing number of product managers, product designers and marketing & sales pros are becoming aware of the importance of the package. As consumer goods marketers have always known, the proper packaging decision can make your product a stunning success — or an outright failure.

And while in BtB the impact of the package may not exactly be a matter of life and death in every case, it is nevertheless crucial in an highly competitive, overcrowded marketplace. In fact, the right package can be your competitive edge.

“A good product is its own best salesman.” — Yes, but it’s not its only one!

That’s why it is a mistake to rely on the old saying that “a good product is its own best salesman.” — That may be true, but it’s surely not its only one! There are many other aspects of your product that require your attention.

The package as an integral part of your brand

As anyone concerned with marketing knows, the importance of a well thought-out marketing-mix is crucial for a brands performance. You just can’t isolate the physical product from it’s other components, like the product’s price, the convenience of its use, its availabiliy, its packaging and so on. They all add to or steal from the overall appearance of what you like to call your “product”. So it’s wise to give your brand every (relevant) advantage you possibly can. And one of the more important — and most relevant ones — is what I call “the package advantage”.

While goods are rarely sold from the shelves in BtB, the package has an equally important role here. It can still make or break your product — even literally!

Protect. Present. Promote. How to employ the package advantage

The package not only packages your product, which is obvious. It can also aid economical and space-saving transportation and storage.

It also protects your product. And here, differences begin to emerge in how good your package does this job. It many cases, as with razor-sharp cutting tools, the package also protects the users — and aids them in storing and handling the product safely and ergonomically.

“If you can’t make your product look different, you can still make its package look different.” (Laura Ries)

Then, a good package should allow you to present your product in a most desirable way, e.g. by displaying it through the use of a clear material, or by intentionally “hiding” it, for one reason or another. Presenting your product in the best possible way can also mean differentiating it from competitve makes by intelligent use of colour, shape, material or functionality. As marketing consultant Laura Ries rightly pointed out: “If you can’t make your product look different, you can still make its package look different.”

And finally, by carrying a message (useful information, brand name, slogan or sales message) or by adding a new functionality, a good package promotes your product, a function most often overlooked in business-to-business markets.

The package as your “silent salesman”

Thus, the right packaging can indeed help you sell your product more effectively, by adding a value not inherent in the product itself, or by simply increasing the quality perception of your product. Likewise, a cheap package will tend to cheapen your product too, which is something you will want to avoid.

“…a cheap package will tend to cheapen your product, too.”

Seen this way, it’s easy to acknowledge that the package is more than “just a package”. It is indeed an integral part of your brand and it adds to your customers overall experience. You want that experience to be a “quality” one.

Why cheapen your product when you can give it a quality perception?

For example, just the simple fact that you use a robust, quality hardcase plastic packaging for your sensitive tools or engineering parts speaks volumes about your care for quality and product protection. Compared to inferior conventional packaging methods, customers can easily see the advantages of such an offer. But our experience tells us they are also well aware of advantages and differences that are much more subtle.

Would you rather save a few pennies on the package … or save the trouble and expense that usually come with a cheap one?

Visit our website to see our range of high-quality packagings for cutting tools, industrial applications and consumer products to learn what your perfect package may be that can give you a competitive edge and, most important, to avoid a packaging mistake that may cost you more than just the price of the package: The loyalty of your customers.

Simply use our fast and intuitive new product finder to navigate yourself to a fitting package — or ask us for advice. Our customer service is friendly and hassle-free.

Summary: The “4P’s of packaging”

Everyone knows the 4P’s of marketing — product, price, promotion, place, right? I’d like to introduce the 4P’s of packaging as an easy-to-remember way of the basic functions of your package:

1. Package (and store) the product in a most economical way
2. Protect the product during transportation and storing (e.g. from physical damage, from dust, dirt or humility, from electrostatic discharge, from corrosion etc.); protect users from dangerous products (e.g. sharp-edged cutting tools)
3. Present the product (or the brand) in a most favourable way or even support usage and handling of the product
4. Promote the product/brand by adding a value and enhancing the quality perception

Bottom line: The best package in the world won’t save a bad product, but the wrong package can ruin even the best one.

About the author

Thomas M. Braun is in charge of marketing at rose plastic, the global leader in protective plastic packaging for the tooling industry. He’s responsible for the global marketing of the rose plastic group, including rose plastic medical packaging, specialized on high-quality medical device packaging.

Before joining rose plastic, he was responsible for marketing and product management at a consumer brand and, prior to that, headed his own advertising agency with focus on strategy and creative.

Among his all-time marketing heroes are Rosser Reeves, Jon Spoelstra, Hans-Dieter Maier and Al Ries, the father of “Positioning”.

?2018, Thomas Braun // Pictures: ?2018, rose plastic AG, Hergensweiler/Lindau

If you liked this, you might also be interested in my related article, “This product is doomed for success — for these two reasons…”. In it, I explain an interesting marketing move for a consumer product in which a change of the product’s packaging plays a vital role.