A Look at Madison Avenue and What They Do Best - Packaging

Think about what you've done since you began: you've identified the market segment; familiarized yourself with your market segment; identified an image, a theme and objectives; and listed a number of promotional activities designed to reach your population. But how do you communicate an image that is an overall picture, but intangible? How the image will be presented, how it will be contained, and how it will look is called packaging.

Before we go on, we're going to take a quick look at the history of packaging. Prior to the nineteenth century, the concept of packaging was limited to a container such as a wine cask which held and transported a product. No thought was given to preservation or protection of the product. With the advent of the metal can (patented in 1810) and the glass bottle (patented in 1899), the package not only contained the product but preserved and/or protected it at the same time.

What happened next was a dramatic alteration in marketing strategy incorporating the growth of brand identification. If the product is going to be packaged, why not have the container say something about the product? Packaging then became the keystone to marketing and consumer response.

Under "Name," think of some products with names that really express what the product is. Think of Bold — Gleem — Scope — Hefty — Slice!

Then think of what colors communicate: red draws attention; blue is cold, dramatic; oranges and yellows are warm.

Next, think of your image at the same time you think of labeling and the kinds of graphics you want. If the cola "Jolt" is available in your area, look at those graphics and the jolt of lightning. Is there any doubt what the product does, even if you can't read?