Packaging Your Products For MOMS

Packaging News You Can Use
Tip Of The Week
Issue #1276 - May 10, 2007
Publisher: JoAnn Hines
packagingdiva@aol.com
http://packaginguniversity.com/
http://packagingdiva.com/
http://packagingbootcamp.com/
http://packagingcoach.com/
http://doityourselfpackaging.com

© Packaging News You Can Use
By JoAnn Hines The Packaging Diva


MESSAGE FROM THE PACKAGING DIVA:
Read this carefully if you are into inventions, tea or cosmetic and toiletries I have an opportunity to get your name and product in front of these audiences.
Please email me for more details on partnerning with the Diva.


IN RESPONSE TO MY ARTICLES:
"Is What's On The Outside Of Your Packaging What's Inside?" April 07

Cosmetics: A Fresh Face or Just a Waste?
Consumer Affairs - USAThe cleansers and toners that didn't feature chunky images of fresh fruit on the packaging were instead covered with drawings of complex amino acid chains ...

Plain truth on cigs
Melbourne Herald Sun - Melbourne,Australia... attractive packaging to lure consumers, according to the council, which is calling for plain packaging to become the next weapon to stop people smoking. ...

"I Hate Packaging" April 06
War on PackagingOne Fylde coast MP is, and is joining the growing number of people waging war on excess packaging.
Gordon Marsden, MP for Blackpool South is one of more than 100 MPs who have signed a House of Commons Early Day Motion calling on retailers to reduce packaging and to encourage the re-use of plastic bags.

The motion claims packaging accounts for 17% of the average family food budget and creates 4.6 million tonnes of rubbish in the UK every year.

All Packaging Diva articles are available in the Best Of The Diva Series. Email me for details.


MEET AND GREET THE DIVA:

Packaging Your Invention To Sell or NOT
Even if you have a great invention without the right package it will never sell. Lets face it consumers are a fickle bunch. It doesn't take much to turn them off. If fact, you only have 2.6 seconds to turn them on to your invention through your packaging. Yes, your package is your number one salesperson and once you have lost the opportunity you may never get it back.
INPEX®, America's Largest Invention Trade Show, presents JoAnn Hines The Packaging Diva with her workshop "Packaging Your Invention To Sell"

Join JoAnn Hines the Packaging Diva as she shares packaging insights, tips and technology with inventors on Thursday June 7, at the Greater Pittsburgh ExpoMart in Pittsburgh. The Packaging Your Invention To Sell seminar registration is free with advance show registration.

An award-winning author and speaker, Hines is a renowned expert on packaging just about anything. Learn how to eliminate costly packaging problems and mistakes before they start and how to keep ypur product packaging on track to the right audience with the right message. Find out why some inventors products fail to sell the customer and why that means no profits for you.
INPEX®, The Invention Show, is a unique trade show that showcases new products and innovations. As part of the tradeshow, The Invention Show sponsors INPEX® Inventors University™, a series of seminars, presentations, and panel discussions to provide information that inventors will find useful in pursuing their ideas.

For more information about JoAnn Hinesher progams workbooks and tutorials visit http://packagingdiva.com/ or for INPEX, call 888-54-INPEX or visit http://www.inventionshow.com/.

FEATURE ARTICLE:

Packaging Your Products For MOMS by JoAnn Hines Packaging Diva
So what does Mom really want on her product packaging? What will entice her to pick your product off the shelf? What siren screams "buy me" as she walks down the isle? The answers are not what you might think. Women perceive products differently than their male counterparts. They have different expectations of products. Women say that they product manufactures don't understand their wants and needs either. In fact 59% of women feel misunderstood by food marketers. This market segment accounts for 60-70 of all product packaging. So, how do you get this powerful consumer (MOM) to connect with your packaging?

First, see the product though the woman's eyes not the designer’s or brand manager’s. In my recent research, product attributes such as the shape and color were important to people in the packaging industry but not so important to the average consumer. The mostly highly rated characteristics that both groups agreed upon were convenience, ease of storage, and female friendly elements such as the size of package and handles for carrying.

Second, consider how and where the product will be purchased. External factors can influence the purchasing decision as to how and where a woman shops. Recent studies show that women on average no longer make a big “stocking up trip" to the store. In fact they make numerous short trips to get the essentials for the moment. Today's Moms are under tremendous time constraints and are willing to pay a premium for the privilege of more free time. Convenience is a big selling factor.

Consider lifestyle issues, ease of use, consumer friendly, time saving anything that makes a moms life easier. The more you can demonstrate in your product packaging these attributes the more you can capture her interest in your product. Any new time saving innovation, a solution to a problem, an unfulfilled need product are all prime candidates for moms.

Packaging a product for the mom consumer doesn't mean it needs to be in pink packaging either (a color many marketers have decided is female-friendly). In some cases pink works in many others its completely off target. So consider pink where it make sense to the brand not just because you are marketing to mom.

Moms are influenced by other people too, friends, family, kids. So if you can make a packaging connection to the other people in her life you can capture her interest in satisfying her needs. Products that express healthy lifestyles, or balanced living, nutrition and well being are woefully underserved in the mom community.

Finally, it is imperative to get noticed. How can you grab her attention? Make packaging simple, easy to read, use and understand. Get rid of the gimmicks and the hype. More than 89% of survey respondents said they would not purchase a product because it was endorsed by a celebrity, and those that did were embarrassed to admit it. Cause marketing also scored low on the scale of importance in influencing a purchase as did their concern for the environment.

So listen to your Mom buyers the next time you design a new product, bond with them on an intrinsic level not through gimmicks or the current "in" celebrity. Make your product easy to read, use and time sensitive. By adhering to these fundamentals you will have garnered her attention.

Want more of the latest packaging insights and packaging trends that
drive consumer purchasing? Be sure and visit the Packaging Diva website http://packagingdiva.com/ where you will find, packaging tips, technology
and the latest news.


PACKAGING GREEN WATCH:
Less plastic =greener planet
Napa Valley Register - Napa,CA,USA"The price of petroleum went up and corn plastic didn't go up," explained Steve Levine, the Napa resident who co-founded and co-owns Excellent Packaging, ...http://www.napavalleyregister.com/articles/2007/04/22/news/local/iq_3920714.txt

Paper or plastic?
Monroenews.com - Monroe,MI,USA"Do we really need all that packaging?" she asked. She went on to say that some moves have been made in that direction, like no longer packaging plastic ...http://www.monroenews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070422/NEWS01/104220029/-1/NEWS

Getting a handle on plastic bag consumption
The Daily Yomiuri - Osaka,JapanThe revised Containers and Packaging Recycling Law due to come into effect in April, aims to reduce the use of plastic shopping bags at supermarkets and ...
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20070327TDY04004.htm

Latest in business
Montreal Gazette - Montreal,Quebec,CanadaPackaging giant Cascades Inc. today introduced new "green" food containers that will degrade in three years instead of hundreds. ...
http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/story.html?id=bcd32085-0731-46dd-b4b1-aa7b781605fb&k=32991

Wal-Mart Releases Initial Results Of Packaging Scorecard
WebWire (press release) - Atlanta,GA,USA... said Matt Kistler, senior vice president of marketing, research, and insights for Sam’s Club and captain of Wal-Mart’s Packaging Sustainability Network. ...
http://www.webwire.com/ViewPressRel.asp?aId=29064

Candle maker seeks optimal balance of profits, green goals
ChronicleHerald.ca - Halifax,Nova Scotia,Canada"More young people are becoming mindful of selecting products that are environmentally friendly with minimal packaging." When it comes to green purchases, ...
http://thechronicleherald.ca/Business/560727.html


SPRING GREENING
Globe and Mail - Toronto,Ontario,CanadaThe product line, which includes biodegradable wipes and non-toxic tile cleaner, has the added appeal of sleek packaging, care of uberdesigner Karim Rashid. ...
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20070331.GREEN24/TPStory/TPEntertainment/Style/


THE DIVA'S PICKS OF THE WEEK:

Aussie Invention Ready to ‘Wow’ US Coffee Drinkers
QSR magazine - Durham,NC,USASYDNEY, Australia--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The multi-award winning color changing coffee lid is set to become a worldwide hit after Australian inventors secured an ...
http://www.qsrmagazine.com/articles/wire/story/20070425005069en

Cure for the Common Can Top Clean-Up
PR Web (press release) - Ferndale,WA,USAIt assures market share increases, guarantees a new net revenue source, and addresses the very real concerns of exposed food packaging," says the founder, ...
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2007/4/prweb521230.htm

Sonoco Products Company: The proof is in the packaging
Blogging Stocks - USAMost of us don't give much thought to commercial packaging products, but they are among the important factors allowing maintenance of our well-supplied ...
http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2007/04/27/sonoco-products-company-packagers-extraordinaire/

When cookies catch the cooties
EurekAlert (press release) - Washington,DC,USADURHAM, NC -- Of all the things companies worry about when selling food products, catching "cooties" is probably not high on the list. ...
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-04/du-wcc043007.php

Consumers Site Nutrition as Greatest Health Concern
PR Newswire (press release) - New York,NY,USA... according to a new survey of approximately 3000 consumers by Phil Lempert, nationally renowned food industry expert and trend spotter. ...http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/04-11-2007/0004563442&EDATE=