Advertising
Cartons are part of the advertising mix for products as they are displayed at the point of sale. It is estimated that about 75% of purchasing decisions are made in store in front of the shelf and so a carton can help ensure that a product is seen and so purchased. In a recent study it was established that for the same cost as one full page advertisement in a German women's magazine, over 3.5 million cartons can be bought. This therefore gives a huge visibility to the product and advertises the brand at the point of sale - the point of decision. In addition in a survey with both consumers and experts, it was established that packaging was seen to be the most effective form of advertising to persuade consumers to buy a product again.
"In 1982, two advertising spots in a classic marketing channel such as TV could obtain coverage levels of about 80 percent. In 2007, it would require 80 spots to achieve the same coverage! This fragmentation is expensive, and adds further to the significance of packaging and trade marketing. And one thing our studies on this trend and the point of sale's growing importance prove is: product packaging is the attractor No. 1 for customers. This fact is an invitation to product managers to make packaging even more surprising and convincing and be even more creative in its design."
Michael Schiessl
www.eye-square.com 
