The Packaging Matrix: Linking Package Design Criteria to the Marketing Mix

Abstract

31,000 new products were introduced by packaged goods companies last year (2002) in the United States and Canada alone. Information Resources Inc., an international sales and marketing research firm based in Chicago has reported, “75 percent of the individual UPCs introduced between November 1996 and November 1998 failed within 2 years of introduction.”

Increasingly, companies need to differentiate their products to:
• Create consumer perceptions of a product’s relative advantage,
• Attract first time sales (it has been estimated by Point-Of-Purchase Advertising International that 72% of shoppers decide to buy something at the Point-Of-Purchase),
• And generate repeat purchases.

Carefully planned and well-executed package design is one part of the promotion mix that can affect consumer perceptions of tangible and intangible product attributes and benefits that result in positive consumer response. While doing this, the package must perform a number of other functions.

This paper presents the “Packaging Matrix”, a simple tool that allows companies to consider the whole host of functions that a package must accomplish in different environments. It is a template of the criteria
to consider for effective package design or reformulation.

Full text

The Packaging Matrix:
Linking Package Design Criteria to the Marketing Mix
By
Laura Bix
Assistant Professor
School of Packaging
Michigan State University
153 Packaging
East Lansing, MI 48825
Nora Rifon
Associate Professor
Department of Advertising
Michigan State University
Hugh Lockhart
Professor
School of Packaging
Michigan State University
Javier de la Fuente
Graduate Student
School of Packaging
Michigan State University

The Packaging Matrix:
Linking Package Design Criteria to the Marketing Mix
Abstract
31,000 new products were introduced by packaged goods companies last year (2002) in
the United States and Canada alone. Information Resources Inc., an international sales and
marketing research firm based in Chicago has reported, “75 percent of the individual UPCs
introduced between November 1996 and November 1998 failed within 2 years of introduction.”
Increasingly, companies need to differentiate their products to:
• create consumer perceptions of a product’s relative advantage,
• attract first time sales (it has been estimated by Point-Of-Purchase Advertising
International that 72% of shoppers decide to buy something at the Point-Of-
Purchase),
• and generate repeat purchases.
Carefully planned and well-executed package design is one part of the promotion mix
that can affect consumer perceptions of tangible and intangible product attributes and benefits
that result in positive consumer response. While doing this, the package must perform a number
of other functions. This paper presents the “Packaging Matrix”, a simple tool that allows
companies to consider the whole host of functions that a package must accomplish in different
environments. It is a template of the criteria to consider for effective package design or
reformulation.

Introduction
The retail arena is increasingly competitive. The number of new product introductions in
today’s market is “more than double the number launched a decade ago” (Anonymous, 2003),
with decreasing timelines to establish relative success. A great deal of academic literature
continues to examine the roles of pricing, marketing communications and promotion strategies,
with little attention to the role that packaging plays in a product’s success or failure. In addition
to a package’s traditional roles for protection from damage during transit, extension of shelf life,
and innovations in product dispensation, packaging can influence consumer perceptions and
make a significant contribution to the product’s brand equity. “Packaging is what consumers see
first in this marketing endgame… this is why package structure will be a key differentiator of
products in the near future” (Arnold, 2003). However, the importance of packaging has been
overlooked by many marketing researchers when they place its role within the domain of the
marketing mix. Additionally, no comprehensive approach to packaging decisions has been
formulated and decision-makers are offered little guidance. Accordingly, more academic
research is needed to expand our understanding of the various dimensions of product packaging
and its role in creating positive consumer perceptions.
The Importance of Packaging to Product Success
When package design is not given appropriate credence, several problems can occur
including: failure to fully protect the product, over-packaging, failure to attract the consumer for
an initial purchase, and failure to serve the consumer. As such, packaging plays a role in the four
p’s of the marketing mix. A package may viewed as part of the product since packages
contribute to successful product performance, including maintaining shelf-life and ease of use.
Package design may be intimately related to product price points. Perhaps most notably,

packaging has been the focus of designers seeking to protect products through their channels of
distribution, and promotion decision makers seeking to position and communicate product
benefits.
Customer trial, satisfaction and repeat purchase, may be a direct function of packaging
for many consumer non-durables, and perhaps some durables as well. Packaging that fails to
fully protect the product has the potential to result in excess damage and waste, diminished shelf
life, and loss of flavor or efficacy. Problems associated with insufficient protection are likely to
lead to customer dissatisfaction and negative word-of-mouth advertising. Obviously, attracting
the customer to a trial purchase is insufficient for true product growth and eventual maturity.
The product/package system must generate satisfaction, and poorly designed packages have the
potential to discourage repurchase. Consumers who are frustrated by packages that cannot be
easily opened, or labels that cannot be read without magnification may opt for brands that have
considered the “human condition” in their package design.
Recent examples of product package innovation successes illustrate these points. “In
recent years, three new package designs have grabbed headlines for their innovation and
marketing success, as measured by significant sales increases. The stories behind how Dean
Foods’ Milk Chug, Dutch Boy Twist and Pour paint containers, and Listerine PocketPaks hold
lessons for other marketers looking to duplicate their success” (Arnold, 2003). These success
stories illustrate how packages that facilitate product trial and consumption are essential in a
variety of product categories.

The Packaging Matrix
When all functions and environments are considered simultaneously, packaging becomes
a socio-scientific1 endeavor. When viewed this way, packaging is not just a means to protect or
contain the product, but has the potential to impact the decisions of consumers, and the lives of
those interfacing with it.
Lockhart (1997) has synthesized this concept into a tool referred to as “The Packaging
Matrix.” (see Figure 1)
Figure 1- The Packaging Matrix
Packaging Functions
Protection Utility Communication
Human
Tamper evident features
Child resistance features
Designs that do not require scissors or knives to
open
Reclosable designs
Easy to open designs
Pre measured units
Compliance packaging
(packaging that, by nature of its
design, helps people comply
with medication regimens)
Talking packages
Material
Shape
Configuration
Texture
Brand name
Warnings
Directions
Expiration dates
Storage information
Graphics
Material
Shape
Color
Configuration
Texture
Photographs
Text
Biospheric
Amber Color to protect from UV damage
UV Absorbers to protect from UV damage
Water Vapor Barriers
Oxygen Barriers to protect from oxidation
Oxygen absorbers to protect from oxidation
Antimicrobial films to retard microbial degradation
Water Vapor barrier to protect from Moisture Loss
or Gain
Wet Strength Corrugated
Controlled atmosphere
packaging
Modified atmosphere packaging
Edible films
Wet strength corrugated
Time and temperature
indicators
Pictorials
Environments
Physical
(Distribution
Channels)
Cushioning
Shipping containers
Corner posts
Air bags
Materials with Adequate compression strength to
withstand stacking
Stretch wrap
Shrink wrap
Self heating packages
Self cooling packages
Freezer to oven capable
Handles for carrying
Appropriately sized cases
“This side up”
“Fragile”
Bar Codes
Radio frequency identification
“Handle with care”
“Temperature not to exceed
70 degrees Fahrenheit”
Pictorials
Accelerometers

Employing the matrix requires companies to regard all environments and functions when
creating new packages or changing existing designs. It presents visually the complex
considerations involved in package design. The goal of the matrix is to maximize the
intersection of each function and environment without diminishing performance at other
intersections.
For instance, a designer concerned with child safety might maximize the
human/protection intersection by making an extremely effective child resistant closure. This
could be a problem, however, if at the human/utility intersection, the ability of an elderly person
to access the product in the package were significantly diminished. In fact, this is just what
happened with the early designs of child resistant packages. As a consequence, the Consumer
Product Safety Commission launched a multi-year program of research and testing which
resulted in a substantial redesign of the test protocol published in 16 CFR 1700.20 "Testing
Procedure for Special Packaging" (Code of Federal Regulations, 2003). Designers must not only
consider the design’s effect on these two intersections, but on all others as well. The matrix
“forces us to remember that functions and environments interact continuously and
simultaneously,”(Lockhart, 1997) helping us to appreciate the complexities involved and
anticipate difficulties with proposed design solutions.
The Matrix Intersections
When assessing packaging through the matrix, designers simultaneously consider three
functions (protection, communication and utility) in three environments (the biospheric, human
and physical). The following sections give a brief description of each of the nine possible
intersections of the Matrix in an attempt to demonstrate the intricacies of well-attended package
design.

Intersection 1- Protection and the Physical Environment
Protection is bidirectional in nature; the product must be protected from the environment,
and the environment must be protected from the product. In the physical environment this may
involve protecting the product from shocks, drops and vibration associated with transit and
handling during distribution; it may also involve protecting the distribution environment from
hazards contained within the package. Adequately protecting the product from damage that
occurs during distribution prevents unnecessary loss and provides customers with product that
arrives in pristine condition.
Intersection 2- Protection and the biospheric environment
In the biospheric environment protection takes on a new meaning; packaging must
protect the product from the biosphere (air, light, moisture, temperature, etc). Several tools are
currently available, and new technologies are emerging in this arena.
Anti microbial films, materials that retard the growth of microbes, are currently used to
extend the shelf life and preserve the freshness of a variety of products. Opaque packages or
materials containing ultraviolet (UV) absorbers may be used for products that degrade in the
presence of light. “Oxygen scavengers”, items which absorb oxygen as it penetrates the
package, may be added to packages containing oxygen sensitive products so that they are
protected against oxidative reactions. All of these represent tools available to designers to
extend the shelf life of products, preserve freshness, and, ultimately, develop a positive brand
image.
Intersection 3- Protection and the human environment
The package can also provide protection in the human environment. Mechanisms for
human/protection include things like child resistant closures, and tamper evident features. Child

resistant closures have been required on hazardous household substances since the Poison
Prevention Packaging Act was enacted in 1970. It is estimated that since the time it was
implemented that the lives of more than 800 children have been saved because of child resistant
packaging 2.
Intersection 4- Communication and the physical environment
Communication in the physical environment ranges from simple to complex. Companies
that wish to understand the types of shocks that their packages experience during distribution,
use accelerometers to collect data about the distribution environment. Accelerometers are
instruments that record changes in acceleration; this information is then used to inform
companies about shocks that occurred to the product throughout distribution so that they can
make informed decisions about package design (cushions, etc).
Communicating in the physical environment also involves conveying messages to
workers throughout distribution about the proper storage and handling of products. These
messages are typically textual or graphic. Text messages such as: “Handle with Care”,
“Fragile”, and “This Side Up” exemplify these communications. These messages are not only
textual; frequently they are graphic in nature. Pictorials communicate handling instructions to
illiterate workers and those that do not read English. Committee D-10, ASTM International’s
Committee on Packaging, has devoted much energy and effort to standardize such pictorials.
They are published in D5445-03a, “Standard practice for pictorial markings for handling of
goods” (ASTM, 2003). See Figures 2 a and b for examples of pictorials developed by
Committee D-10.

Figure 2a *- Symbol for “This side up” Figure 2b *- Symbol for “Fragile”
*Symbols and appropriate placement developed by ASTM International Committee D-10
Intersection 5- Communication and the biospheric environment
Like communication in the physical environment, communication in the biospheric
environment ranges from simple to complex. Time and Temperature Indicators, also called
“TTIs” are frequently used by companies that are concerned about temperature and moisture,
things that can adversely impact certain products as they travel through distribution. TTIs are
indicators that communicate that a package/product system has faced conditions that may have
compromised it (such as an elevated temperature or relative humidity). The inappropriate
temperature may be communicated through a color change of the indicator, or may require that
temperature data be downloaded into a computer and analyzed, depending on the system that is
employed.

In addition to making sure the product has been appropriately handled as it traverses
distribution, companies must also communicate to those handling the product appropriate storage
conditions. Like the physical environment, these are typically indicated both textually and
graphically. Text may indicate things like “Keep Frozen”, “Keep Refrigerated”, or “Keep Dry.”
These have also been translated into pictorials by ASTM International’s Committee D-10 (see
Figures 3 a and b and Figure 4).
Figure 3 a *- “Keep Frozen” Figure 3 b * - “Keep Refrigerated”
*Symbols and appropriate placement developed by ASTM International Committee D-10

Figure 4- “Keep Dry”
Intersection 6- Communication and the human environment
To some extent, all of the aforementioned levels of communication work in the human
environment; it is typically a person that we are trying to inform by transmitting a specific
message. The intersection of human communication can be obvious or subtle. Obvious
communication includes text (brand name, directions and warnings, ingredients, nutritional facts,
etc). Information can also be conveyed subtly through material, shape configuration, texture,
and color, and product positioning. The combination of all of these variables communicates a
complex message that is easily understood. In a very few seconds the package transmits:
• product category: dairy pasta, personal care, automotive part, etc.
• brand differentiation
• values: quality level, home-made, environmentally friendly
• origin: import or domestic

Functional communication provides consumers with information that is needed to use,
store and handle products safely and effective, this is important as society becomes increasingly
litigious. The subtle communication of the package form, it shape, its color, etc. is one way to
evoke an affective response, generating sales.
Intersection 7- Utility and the physical environment
Improving utility in the physical environment involves forethought into the systems and
people that will be handling the product/package system throughout distribution. It can be as
simple as appropriately sizing shipping cases so that they are not dangerously heavy for workers,
or providing handles with comfortable grips. Another packaging component that can improve
physical utility is the use of plastic pallets. Plastic pallets are less prone to splinters and rodent
or insect infestation, and are lighter for workers to handle than their wooden counter-parts.
Another packaging material that improves physical utility is stretch wrap. Stretch wrap can keep
palletized loads more stable decreasing the likelihood of damage to the product, and improving
safety throughout the supply chain.
Intersection 8- Utility and the biospheric environment
Utility in the biospheric environment is probably not something that is intuitive to most
users, even those that work with packaging on a regular basis. It encompasses improving a
package’s usefulness in the biosphere. Probably the most direct examples of an improvement of
biospheric utility are Controlled Atmosphere Packaging (CAP) and Modified Atmosphere
Packaging (MAP). CAP and MAP are technologies that allow us to have fresh produce during
the “off season” by carefully controlling the atmosphere surrounding the produce. These are also
the technologies that allow products like salad mixes and cut produce to be possible. By
modifying the atmosphere surrounding the produce, the respiration rates of the products can be

controlled and degradation can be retarded, extending shelf life and allowing products that would
not otherwise be feasible to be marketed.
Intersection 9- Utility and the human environment
The final intersection of the Packaging Matrix is human/utility. Utility in the human
environment is something that consumers are willing to pay for, and companies are taking notice.
One demonstrable success of the value in improving utility is the recent redesign of the Dutch
Boy paint can. Dutch boy began shipping its new “Twist and Pour” container in July of 2002.
The “Twist and Pour” moved Dutch Boy from a “wire-handled, metal dinosaur of round cans to
a side-handled, spout-pourable, square plastic container” that has garnered rave reviews and
“multiple quarters of increased market share” (Arnold, 2003). Additionally, because the new
container has a closure system that does not require a tool and “splash over” is unlikely, it keeps
the product fresher than traditional cans, offering an improvement at the interface of
biospheric/protection as well.
It is likely that the demand for increased human/utility will continue to grow as the populations
of the “developed world” increase. It is predicted that 20% of the US population will be age 65
or older by 2030 and that by 2050, people over 85 will constitute 5% of the population (Federal
Interagency Forum on Aging, 2000). This trend is not unique to the US. There are already 130
million people over the age of 50 in the European Union. By 2020, one in every two European
adults will be over that age (Design Council, 2000). These older citizens are seeking improved
product accessibility through improved package design (increased human/utility)
Besides the effect of the aging population, there are a growing number of people with
disabilities. Census 2000 counted 49.7 million people with some type of long-lasting condition
or disability in the US. They represented 19.3% of the 257.2 million people who were aged 5

and older in the civilian non-institutionalized population, or nearly one person in five (US
Census, 2000).
Old age and mental and physical impairments will never be eradicated; we will all have
to live with them to some extent, and should embrace them as part of the human condition. The
central focus should be striving to minimize the effect that they have on our lives by designing a
world which works for everyone, regardless of ability. It is not just smart business; it is the right
thing to do.
Conclusion
Packaging is ubiquitous but invisible; consumers do not tend to put conscious thought
into packaging until they are dissatisfied by its performance. They may not even realize that
their dissatisfaction is the result of poor package design; as may be the case with foods with off-
flavors or drugs that lack efficacy by the time they reach the consumer. Regardless of whether or
not consumers realize that poor package design is the problem, once they are dissatisfied, it is not
likely that they will purchase and negative word-of-mouth advertising may result.
It is important that designers recognize the power of comprehensive package design and
the complexities involved. The packaging matrix is one solution that simplifies the myriad of
considerations that should be taken into account when considering packaging in your
promotional mix.

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