Design\/methodology\/approach<\/strong> \u2013 Different influences from actors in the packaging design process are discussed in a conceptual model. A single case study based on five \u201ccorporate stories\u201d about packaging development resulting in a new package are presented and analysed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Findings<\/strong> \u2013 The present study demonstrates influences on the design process of a package from external and internal factors. The outcome of the design process is, to a great extent, dependent on the interaction between the main actors in this process. The study argues for the importance of the interaction with customers for planning and conducting the design. The result of such a process is a package that can trigger customers make a purchase and\/or re-inforce the brand name for a re-purchase of the product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Practical implications<\/strong> \u2013 The main implications for management are that packaging is a vital instrument in modern marketing activities for consumer goods, for example in the competitive food industry. The study highlights a few factors that trigger a customer to purchase a product by designing a suitable package for the product. Packaging design makes it possible to introduce new and better solutions for diverse marketing and logistic problems in a supply chain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Originality\/value<\/strong> \u2013 This paper fulfills an identified need for contributions to more research on packaging and marketing strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Keywords<\/strong> Marketing strategy, Packaging, Product design, Competitive advantage, Food packaging<\/p>\n\n\n\n Paper type<\/strong> Case study<\/p>\n\n\n\n Packaging and packaging design have become an important factor in marketing diverse \u201cconsumer goods\u201d and have a key role in communicating product benefits to the customer. Product packaging is therefore also related to other variables in the marketing mix (Czinkota and Ronkainen, 2007). These are within the control of the company and are means of meeting changes within the business environment (Cateora and Ghauri, 2000). However, packaging design is subject to a complex set of influences from the business environment. Among the main influences, new technology, materials development, logistic requirements, environmental issues, consumer preferences and marketing aspects all play a key role for management decisions on marketing strategy (Packaging Federation, 2004a, b). The importance of the different variables varies among the actors through the supply chain, but is also linked with consumer concerns and product safety. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This paper therefore addresses the way packaging design can be used to meet new challenges within a supply chain. The paper describes and analyses factors driving packaging design and thereby derives suggestions for achieving competitive advantage within a rapidly changing and complex supply chain. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In order to reveal such complexity and focus on the role of packaging design, we have first had to discuss issues regarding different driving forces within the \u201cpackaging market\u201d and second to develop a framework for analysing the interface between packaging and driving forces within the area studied. The analytical problems are inherent in the \u201cpackaging market\u201d since the latter can vary with the packaging material. A change in packaging material at the retail level may be of minor importance, but have a great influence in terms of substitute products or new entries on the supply side of the packaging industry. A sudden change in attitudes among end consumers influenced by the media can therefore lead to a shift in the actual consumption between plastics and paper board materials and have strategic effects on the packaging industry. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In this paper we have concentrated on aspects relating to paper board materials. It is obvious that packaging design and packaging development are subject to dynamic influences originating from many sources and this creates threats but also opportunities for strategic management decisions. In pursuing the aim described above, this paper addresses the following research questions:<\/p>\n\n\n\n The paper is structured as follows. In the first section of the study the relevant literature is reviewed and a theoretical framework for describing and understanding factors that affect different actors with respect to the packaging design process is presented. The following section takes up five \u201ccorporate stories\u201d describing different aspects of product design. The paper then relates its empirical findings to previous research and suggests a model for the design process. In the final section the conclusions and managerial implications are discussed and suggestions for future research are highlighted<\/p>\n\n\n\n Packaging of consumer goods is an area where conditions are continuously changing as a result of internationalisation and influencing factors in the supply and demand side of the packaging industry. In this paper we argue that the key factors determining the success of packaging design can be found in the interface between external driving forces and the ability to assess and transform them into attractive packaging solutions. There is little doubt that packaging design and developed packages is subject to dynamic influences from the surrounding business environment. These influences originate from changes in consumer values such as greater convenience and functionality, but also from environmental issues and food safety, for instance (Packaging Federation, 2004b). Other influences are coming from new requirements of the printing quality within the supply chain (retailing side). Even if packaging has become an important marketing tool for many consumer products in a competitive business environment, relatively few studies and little interest has been directed towards the theoretical work in the marketing literature. Some of the early research was done in the area of general characteristics and role of packaging design and as a variable influencing product evaluation (Banks, 1950; Schwartz, 1971). Other packaging-related research includes studies of the communicative role (Nancarrow et al., 1998; Underwood et al., 2001); ethical packaging matters (Bone and Corey, 2000); packaging as a profit (Wills, 1990); packaging design with respect to the use of material (Lee and Lye, 2003); advertisement and package coordination (Garreston and Burton, 2005) and packaging size and shape (Wansink, 1996; Raghubir and Greenleaf, 2006). Another research study exploring the packaging design management process within a food retailer was conducted by Vasquez in 2003. The multi-function of packaging has been investigated by Prendergast and Pitt (1996) and Rundh (2005). Despite these works, little is known about packaging design and its relation to marketing strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are a number of demographic and lifestyle factors, documented by scholars and companies, that have resulted in various changes in consumer behaviour (Hogg, 2003). The consequences of demographic factors are an ageing population and an increasing number of people living in smaller households. These changes in household size and composition are mirrored in changes in consumer lifestyle. The number of people eating out has also grown to a considerable size in western society (Packaging Federation, 2004b). New services and take- away facilities are adding to changes in consumer behaviour. \u201cHealthy eating\u201d and sporting activities to take care of your own health are other phenomena in our society. Low cost air-fares and more holidays have also contributed to new consumption patterns. Credit is widely and easily available and consumers are not willing to save before the purchase even if it is a capital product. These changes in household size and lifestyle have important consequences for consumer behaviour, which also affect the packaging industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The environment is an increasingly important issue for all areas in the business. A number of environmental problems have increased the interest of governments, official institutions and international companies around the world in coming up with ideas for solving these problems. Many countries have also introduced legislation or regulations governing the use of certain materials or the implementation of certain trade practices. The European Union (EU) in particular has recognised a need for imposing legislation on the industry to encourage companies to behave in a manner which is more compatible with environmental conservation. This has been declared in a revised packaging directive concerned with the minimisation of waste and the amount of packaging material that should be recycled (EU, 2006). The directive also promotes energy recovery, re-use and recycling of packaging. The packaging directive covers all packaging placed on the market within the EU as well as all packaging waste, whether disposed of at industrial or commercial sites or coming from private homes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The consequences of internationalisation and globalisation are several (Young, 2001). One important topic is the fact that international trade has increased and products and services are in many senses becoming worldwide (Dimitratos et al., 2003). Some international products and their brands can be marketed in a standardised way, whereas most others need to be adapted to local requirements, which also affect the packaging (Cateora et al., 2000). Customers are also bringing back ideas and influences from other market areas requesting new products or setting up innovative businesses <\/p>\n\n\n\n Packaging design is a vital factor contributing to product differentiation especially when it comes to export among different market areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Packaging has provided many new logistic solutions but has also been a key factor for adaptation for logistic reasons. Packaging and packaging design has obviously been a key driver for development of modern distribution systems of dairy products like Tetra Pak and for entrepreneurship within others, such as IKEA with its flat packages. Many packaging solutions<\/a> have also been developed for pallet size, or for containerisation within the exporting sector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Changes in consumer demands and requirements of products and services have put pressure on suppliers to come up with new solutions (Hogg, 2003). This has also been reinforced by strong competition in many product areas. Product and market managers in retailing have pushed for new designs and higher quality of printing giving their packages luxurious or prestigious appeal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n New technology and technological development in coating and laminating has contributed to the enlargement of new materials, but also to the combination of materials with better properties. This has been one important factor in the development of many new packaging products<\/a>. Another obvious driving force has been development and improvements within printing and printing technology. An important contribution to development work in packaging and packaging design has also been made by suppliers of packaging equipment of different kinds. Furthermore development work within the area of radio frequency identification (RFID) technology will create opportunities for many new packaging solutions within diverse distribution systems (So\u00a8rensen, 2006; Widman, 2006). Wal Mart and other big retailers have decided to introduce the new technology, which in turn puts pressure on their suppliers to adopt the technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Packaging design (materials, shape, size, colour, texture, graphics) The challenges that are facing a marketer of a consumer product are many due to influential factors in the actual market. The different actors and processes in the design process are captured in a conceptual model in Figure 1. The diverse external variables influencing the process have been described above, whereas the internal factors (depend on) can be described by the actual product and the processes that evolve as a result of the interaction between the actors in the business network. One such factor is the choice of packaging material<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Market-based packaging design The following section describes a case study about packaging design in a company that has used this instrument for developing the product concept for different end-uses of the paperboard product. <\/p>\n\n\n\nIntroduction<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
A theoretical framework<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Consumer influences<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Environmental influences<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
International influences<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Logistic and distribution influences<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Marketing influences (aspects)<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Technology influences<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Packaging design has become an important factor for marketing various products in consumer markets in the area of grocery products, spirits and perfumes. The actual package can be considered as a part of the product since the packaging can contribute to the product\u2019s benefits and in some cases be vital for the use of the product. In some areas the package is the same as the product (George, 2005). For various products the shape of the package has been an essential factor for success in the marketplace, whereas size and colour are important ingredients in other product and market areas (Wansink, 1996; Raghubir and Greenleaf, 2006). Texture and graphics are also variables that can be modified and contribute to a successful package. Another phenomenon contributing to the development of innovations is special showrooms that suppliers of board, for instance, use to develop new packaging solutions in co-operation with their customers. One innovation is the use of web design where customers can see the suggested package on the computer presented, for example, on a shelf in the store or as a point-of-sale aid in the store. The design studio uses the same technology as in a video game. The proposal can also be sent as a file to the customer or be presented on a DVD for later use. The new technology was presented by SCA at the exhibition Scanpack 2006 in October 2006 in Gothenburg. In this paper packaging design includes all aspects of a package before it comes to the customer, including choice of material as well as printing on the surface of the material. The conclusion from this perspective is that different actors will have an influence on the packaging material or the final package. This paper does not discuss the different steps as such since they are dependent on the particular material and the converting steps that are necessary to fulfil the packaging concept. The challenges that packaging and packaging design are facing in relation to different operations in a supply chain are summarised in Table I. At each stage packaging needs to satisfy diverse demands when products are moving in the supply chain from producer to end customer.<\/p>\n\n\n\nA conceptual model<\/em><\/em><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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