As marketers, designers and engineers, we all face a common challenge: How do we persuade senior management to invest in packaging? Many of us know from experience that this is often an uphill battle as organizations weigh tangible costs and perceived risks against uncertain returns. In addition, pack innovation often runs against the deeply ingrained caution of individual executives who may feel that they have been burned in the past.
On a broader level, packaging is also fighting for attention and resources against other (and perhaps “hotter” or “sexier”) marketing vehicles such as advertising and web marketing. While most companies have moved beyond thinking of packaging solely as a container and cost center, it remains apt to be overlooked and underfunded as a marketing vehicle and source of competitive advantage. With that thought in mind, we’ll review strategies for making the case for packaging investment and share evidence and perspective gathered from our many years of packaging research.