Packaging : A branding concept

Why there is a need for branding? Branding is used for Distinctiveness so that customers can easily differentiate your product with the competitor’s. It is also used for identification so that customers associate intangible and tangible qualities with your brand. The concept of branding is also useful because of reassurance to customers that our product or service is of high and consistent quality and more importantly, it is used to focus all our energy towards advertising.

Branding is so important concept now a days that an apple with a tag of OK TESTED sells at higher price than the non-branded apples. The primary reason for branding is to compete in the real environment. It reminds customers that our product is different from others.

Take an example of Mineral water industry in India. There are some important brands like Bisleri, Kingfisher, Kinley, Neer, Himalayan etc. Most of the bottle covers have blue colour on its bottle to link with the visual association with that of water. But Himalayan kept Pink as a bottle colour, it is so predominant that from 20 feet one can identify that the mineral water bottle kept on a shelf with pink colour is of Himalayan. This is what the concept of branding is.

The role of packaging in managing and extending brand is a key one. Most marketers believe that it is only graphics that contribute to the branding but packaging and design also plays an equally important role in establishing the brands. Take an example of Pringles Chips. The Pringle chips comes in the shape of the box in which they are kept and all chips are of same size and dimensions that is what it makes stand out from its competitors.

As continued with the example of Mineral water packaging, In a highly competitive environment where customers are not loyal towards any brand. Whatever brand of water the shop keeper sells, people normally buys it. In such a case Kinley has taken the advantage by introducing a new shaped water bottle which is easy to grab and that shoots up the sale of the Kinley.

Packaging is very powerful concept that can be effectively used to stand out the product from the rest of the category products. Take the case of Deodorant Bottles, almost all the bottles look alike with same size, height etc. None of them is radically different, so it is just the physical attributes of the product that would help manufacturer to sell its products.

But Instant reaction is like a double ended sword, if the product is not successful and the customers are readily able to recognize your brand then the chances of revamping your product is very minimum. So marketer has to be very conscious in aligning the product characteristics with that of the design of the package.