Packaging Changes

Packaging is I think one of my favorite P, and have written on it earlier also, link

On how it can be a source of innovation, size related issues, the utility it can provide....

But I have also observed the number of changes which companies keep doing with their packaging. As a consumer we start associating the packing and color with the brand itself. So how good is to change the packing and color, .. of your brand..

There are many examples, but a few of the recent ones include, the packaging change of Cadbury's 5Star. These changes force the consumer to spend more time spent on buying the product (and that too in a category which is more of an impulse purchase purchase) as one has to ensure that he is not buying any new variant of 5Star, and thus increases the opportunity for a competitor to gain the attention of you customer...

The latest change which I saw was the packaging of "Britannia Cakes". Earlier we use to have a packaging which was half transparent. Now the latest one is fully opaque and it has visuals of cake on it.

I don't think it's packaging had changed quite a long time, but then making a cake packing non-transparent very little sense , one i have to read the favor, if it is chocolate or fruit or which ever, which earlier i could just see through...

And in things like cake I would like to see if they look fresh and are not broken, rather than relying on the picture on the pack....

Change in packaging and other brand symbols are needed when one is thinking about rejuvenating a brand, but then the basics should remain in place, especially the utility it can provide, visibility as in the case of Britannia Cakes...