Putting a Package to the Test

In the world of packaging, first impressions drive trends and determine success. Consumers breeze through the aisles, passing product after product on the shelves and giving each brand only a split second to make an impact. And because so many of us are brand loyalists who know exactly what we want, it becomes even more difficult for a new brand to grab our attention.

Most brands use market research as a preemptive strike to combat our short attention spans and unwavering dedication to our favorite products. Consumer testing tells product managers what they need to know. Does the package make the consumer want to buy the product? What emotions does the package elicit? These questions are answered during the package-testing process and are a crucial part of a product’s ultimate success in a store.

Passion for Packaging
Earlier in the year, PepsiCo went through a series of packaging redesigns that, for the most part, were rejected by consumers and panned by the design community. It’s difficult to believe Pepsi did not invest in extensive consumer testing before undergoing redesigns for popular brands like Pepsi and Tropicana, but the public reaction speaks for itself. In the case of Tropicana, the redesigned packaging was strikingly different from the original and was quickly condemned by orange juice connoisseurs everywhere. Most felt that the new package cheapened the brand, making it look and feel like a more generic value brand. It stood out less – not more – on the shelf. Regardless of your opinion of this particular design, the public reaction to the change makes it clear that, even for a well-established brand, packaging influences a consumer’s purchasing decisions.

Power To the People
In a label redesign for PPG, Brady Communications used valuable consumer testing results to determine the right look and feel for PPG’s line of Olympic Premium Paints. The respondents weighed in on five labels. Qualities like environmental friendliness and high quality ranked at the top of their list, and labels that evoked these feelings got the best rating. On the other hand, consumers said they were least likely to buy the can of paint with labels that they thought looked “cheap” or “outdated.”

The information drove the design process, and the final label succeeded in combining the target’s preference for a high-quality look, while maintaining focus on the environmentally friendly qualities of the paint.

Seeing Things Differently
Sometimes, the opinions regarding packaging are less about aesthetics and more about function. A recent Wall Street Journal article, “Seeing Store Shelves Through Seniors’ Eyes,” discusses a training program developed to help retailers get a better idea of what elderly customers are faced with when they shop, and the participants discovered that packaging and labels can present some of the greatest obstacles for this group.

As part of the program, product developers and marketers used kits to help simulate a senior’s shopping experience. The kits included items like glasses that mimicked the visual problems (i.e., glaucoma, cataracts) most prevalent in the elderly population and gloves that hindered grip and finger dexterity. The results were surprising to most. The text on packages was unclear and difficult to read, colors were indistinguishable, and it was a physical challenge simply to take some of the packages off the shelf.

The conclusions reached from this testing were incredibly valuable to marketers, designers and product developers. Given the trends on store shelves, it seemed as though the elderly population was largely ignored with regard to packaging design and development. The program was an innovative method of market research in that it replaced the traditional focus group with first-hand experience for the individuals who make decisions about the way items are packaged.

The shopper training program is a great example of how market research can bring consumers’ opinions to the forefront, even without conducting a single interview. And in a case like the PPG Olympic Paints label, the final design was consumer approved before the product even hit the shelves..

So whether it’s focus groups or rubber gloves and eye glasses that provide the information, it’s clear that tapping into the psyche of the consumer can mean the difference in a product being picked up – or passed by – in the store.