Whether or not a product has staying power definitely depends on the product itself and its performance, but packaging plays a role in the success or failure of sales. This can be especially true in a market full of competing and comparable products. Brand recognition and appealing packaging can coax a consumer to choose the most recognizable or interesting product. Packaging can actually make or break product success.
Drink Me
Food and beverages have a long and fascinating history of innovative packaging and according to a June 5th, 2016 article in Adweek, this push continues. Packaging is one of the top trends in food marketing this year.
An iconic example of The Coca-Cola Bottle, which celebrated its centennial anniversary on November 16, 2015, embodies the progression of innovative and changing packaging. First shipped in an easily replicable bottle in 1899, the market was soon inundated with bottles that imitated the design and diluted the brand.
So in 1915, Coca Cola challenged glass companies to design a “bottle so distinct that you would recognize it by feeling in the dark or lying broken on the ground.” The classic contour bottle was born and introduced the following year, ultimately becoming not only one of the most recognizable brands in the world, but a national symbol and a pop culture icon. Sometimes, packaging is everything.
Consume Me
While Coca-Cola has never stopped manufacturing its classic bottle, it has also never stopped playing with packaging. Last year it introduced Coke cans printed with the names of friends and family, encouraging consumers to share a Coke. This summer’s “Share a Coke and a Song” packaging sports recognizable lyrics from chart topping songs such as “Lean on Me” and “We are the Champions,” proving that Coca-Cola still believes that enticing new packaging matters.
(Photo Courtesy of Coca Cola)
Coca-Cola isn’t the only brand that believes packaging matters. Dominos has released a series of pizza boxes that look exactly like red and white domino pieces. If you have a big enough party and order enough pizza, you can play with your boxes.
Innovate Me
Food packaging is also romancing consumers who love innovation this year. According to The Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies, meat is now being sealed with new films that keep meat fresher for a longer period of time. In addition, new labels are designed to “sense” when meat is past its expiration date. Packaging in 2016 has become a tech savvy marketing.
If packaging matters when it comes to food, something we all consume, it stands to reason that packaging matters for every product, whether it’s a bottle of soda, or the way a company packages its latest promotion. What matters is what’s inside, but the wrapping on the present can make you more likely to open it!
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