COMMUNICATING TO THE CONSUMER THROUGH PACKAGING DESIGN

Discussion Paper No. 0001

January 2001

COMMUNICATING TO THE CONSUMER
THROUGH PACKAGING DESIGN

by

BEN PAUL B. GUTIERREZ

Note: UPCBA discussion papers are preliminary versions circulated privately for critical comments and are not for quotation or reprinting without prior approval. They are protected by Copyright Law (P.D. No. 49)

COMMUNICATING TO THE CONSUMER
THROUGH PACKAGING DESIGN
Ben Paul B. Gutierrez*
This paper focuses on the communication function rather than the traditional protection function of packaging. It provides a comprehensive packaging design overview to the design consultant and product manager. It discusses the package design research tools, classified into ocular and verbal tests, necessary to clearly understand consumer needs and wants. Consequently, the paper elaborates on the elements of a good package design, explores some design issues, and provides illustrations.

The role of packaging has evolved from the traditional function of protecting the product against dirt, damage, theft, mishandling, and deterioration. This functional role is a requirement of all packages. In the modern era, packaging is also utilized as a marketing tool to promote the product, to increase visibility of the product on the shelf, and to provide information to the customer (O’Shaughnessy 1995). n spite of packaging’s use as a growing marketing tool, marketers still view packaging as a container. Known marketing guru, Philip Kotler (2000, p. 418) defined packaging as all activities of designing and producing the container for a product.
In the Philippines, packaging engineers or packaging technologists are a special breed. There are very few organizations with a Packaging Section, most of them multinationals corporations. Some organizations integrate packaging with the product research and development or even the purchasing department. One reason for the apparent neglect of packaging is the absence of a formal school of

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