[Abstract] Since the concept of integrated marketing communication was introduced into China in the mid-1990s, it has attracted wide attention and attention from all walks of life. As a key part of the packaging, what role should be played and how should packaging design be positioned? In order to survive and show its vitality under integrated marketing, this will be discussed in this article.
[Key words] packaging and packaging design integrated marketing
Modern packaging design is no longer the designer's self-expression. It must be related to business activities and must be compatible with all marketing links. Because design is not the goal, promotion is the purpose. As a key aspect of marketing, packaging design should combine productivity, sales force, and market opportunities. It should be designed to convey a clear concept of a product, correctly attract a certain consumer group, and generate an expected purchase behavior. The integrated marketing communication provides an effective way to realize this idea. The theory of integrated marketing communication rises in the United States, where the commodity economy is most developed. It is a highly practical operational theory. Since entering the country in the mid-1990s, it has shown great vitality. Its connotation is twofold: one is the consumer as the core, reorganization of corporate behavior and market behavior in the sense of two-way communication; the second is to carry out all marketing and communication activities of the enterprise, such as advertising, promotion, public relations, news, packaging, and product development. Unified integration and restructuring to enhance the integrity of brand appeal. With these two cores, we quickly established the status of product brands in the minds of consumers, established long-term and close relationships between products and consumers, and achieved marketing goals more effectively. Below, the author will discuss the positioning of packaging design under integrated marketing communication from these two points.
"The value that exists in the consumer mental network is the real value."
This sentence comes from "the father of integrated marketing communication" Professor Don.E.Schultz of Northwestern University. He also told us to put products aside, rush to study consumer needs and desires, not to sell products you can make, but to sell someone to determine the products that they want to buy. This is what our packaging design pursues. The design of the packaging is the most convenient for consumers to use. The written packaging text is what the consumers want to know most. The printed packaging graphics are the most appealing to consumers. The packaging texture and the color matching it are the best ones that can cater to consumers' purchase mood. In short, a packaging design is a communication with the consumer's heart, so that consumers have the desire to buy.
Let's take a look at the "White Rabbit" toothpaste at the Hangzhou Toothpaste Factory. Before the launch of the “White Rabbit†toothpaste, the Hangzhou Toothpaste Factory had accumulated more than 20 million toothpastes. After thorough market research, they found that there were 300 million children across the country, and there were very few children with long-term cavities. The company produces children's toothpaste and adds international anti-cavity medicine to produce children's toothpaste. It will have a very good consumer base. Faced with this particular consumer group--children, they put a lot of effort into packaging. They designed a cute cartoon white rabbit as a product "spokesperson." According to children's characteristics, in the toothpaste with popular strawberry, apple, pineapple and other spices, so that lively "rabbit" in the package holding a different fruit as a striking pattern, and with different colors to distinguish, "to prevent The "tooth decay" appears on the packaging, and the shape of the toothpaste also reduces the volume of the toothpaste. The children also get a "dedicated" sense of satisfaction while taking the convenience, and even a series of designs are specifically designed according to the psychological characteristics of the children's love for new things. Transparent plastic packaging toothpaste to show different shades of toothpaste. It can be said that the packaging design of the "White Rabbit" toothpaste on any element of visual communication fully meets its specific consumer group. When consumers' visual impact resonates with their value in the mental network, they are then evoked a sense of purchase. When the purchase behavior is finally generated, the function of packaging design is also achieved. Of course, the children in this case will not buy it themselves, they will say to their mother: "Mom, I want to 'rabbit'."
Taking consumers as the core and seeking value in the consumer's mental network to get the positioning of the packaging design, it is not the imagination and speculation of the manufacturer or the designer. He emphasizes the two-way communication with consumers. Cosmetics with rough packaging design may have the same function and design as delicate cosmetics, but their communication content is inconsistent. Designers need to start with an analysis of consumer needs that has been compiled in a comprehensive database. After the product is delivered to consumers, it must also grasp its true situation feedback and further improve the design based on feedback. This kind of communication takes place in every step of the marketing process. This communication is two-way. The communication information is between the product and the consumer. The designer is good at constantly seizing the information and creating the most perfect. package of.
The needs of modern consumers are rising from quantity satisfaction and quality satisfaction to emotional satisfaction. That is, the quality is not satisfied with the required standards, but it is required to satisfy individual needs and desires. People's judgments on commodities are no longer simply based on whether they are practical, quality is good or bad, and they start from the image of goods and the sense of value. Therefore, while packaging design considers practical value appeal, it should also pay more attention to the symbolic value brought to the product, such as the status symbol, the symbol of economic strength, the symbol of personal achievement, etc., and from the high level and the value needs of consumers. Tacit understanding stimulates their interest.
(to be continued)