BUS101: Introduction to Business

Packaging – the container that holds your product – can influence a consumer's decision to buy a product or pass it up. Packaging gives customers a glimpse of the product, and it should be designed to attract their attention. Labeling – what you say about the product on your packaging – not only identifies the product but also provides information on the package contents: who made it and where or what risks are associated with it (such as being unsuitable for small children).

How has Wow Wee handled the packaging and labeling of Robosapien? The robot is fourteen inches tall, and it's almost as wide. It's also fairly heavy (about seven pounds), and because it's made out of plastic and has movable parts, it's breakable. The easiest, and least expensive, way of packaging it would be to put it in a square box of heavy cardboard and pad it with Styrofoam. This arrangement would not only protect the product from damage during shipping but also make the package easy to store. Unfortunately, it would also eliminate any customer contact with the product inside the box (such as seeing what it looks like and what it's made of). Wow Wee, therefore, packages Robosapien in a container that is curved to his shape and has a clear plastic front that allows people to see the whole robot. It's protected during shipping because it is wired to the box. Why did Wow Wee go to this much trouble and expense? Like so many makers of so many products, it has to market the product while it's still in the box. Because he's in a custom-shaped see-through package, you tend to notice Robosapien (who seems to be looking at you) while you are walking down the aisle of the store.

Meanwhile, the labeling on the package details some of the robot's attributes. The name is highlighted in big letters above the descriptive tagline "A fusion of technology and personality". On the sides and back of the package are pictures of the robot in action with such captions as "Dynamic Robotics with Attitude" and "Awesome Sounds, Robo-Speech & Lights". These colorful descriptions are conceived to entice the consumer to make a purchase because its product features will satisfy some need or want.

Packaging can serve many purposes. The purpose of the Robosapien package is to attract your attention to the product's features. For other products, packaging serves a more functional purpose. Nabisco, for example, packages some of its tastiest snacks – Oreos, Chips Ahoy, and Lorna Doone's – in "100 Calorie Packs" that deliver exactly one hundred calories per package. Thus, the packaging itself makes life simpler for people who are keeping track of calories (and reminds them of how many cookies they can eat without exceeding one hundred calories).