This is probably going to sound like a “no, DUH!” rant, but have you ever stopped to think about how you market to your market?

In my job as a wanna-be Design Police Commissioner, I see a lot of bad design, good design, and everything in between. Same for marketing. I’ve seen some pitches that would melt hearts, and some that wouldn’t sell a starving man a steak. But the good pitches and designs all have one thing in common – they all target their market with a look and feel – and message – that is appropriate for the people they are trying to reach.

Think about that for a second.

That is actually huge. It is actually possible to miss your target because you didn’t market to them appropriately. Case in point: packaging.

Packaging design tells consumers a lot – it not only holds the product securely for transport, but it tells consumers what the product is, how it works, how to use it, and why you’d want to buy it. It’s the ultimate sales and marketing tool. In many cases it’s both the first and last line of defense for reaching a prospect and turning them into a consumer. Now let’s consider packaging design in relationship to price points.

I’ve designed a lot of product packaging, mostly in the software arena. I learned (the hard way) that the size and design of a package has a huge effect over the perceived value of the product. Let’s take two packages – a big productivity suite (say, Microsoft Office) and a single-purpose utility that comes from the shareware space.

If you’re going to spend more than $399 for a product, you expect it to be substantial – a big box, some heft to it (in the form of documentation…paper’s heavy), and some attractive design. You’d pay $399 for that, right? For an inexpensive utility, you expect a smaller, much lighter box, less packaging, no printed documentation, and design that’s not nearly as attractive and expensive-looking.

Now consider what might happen if you put the MS Office stuff in the utility packaging and the utility in the MS Office box.

Nobody would buy either. Here’s why…

Your packaging has to match the narrative. If your packaging looks cheap, it reflects on the product. Nobody’s going to look at MS Office as being worth more than $399 if the packaging looks like some shareware product. Conversely, if your packaging for a small utility well exceeds it’s image, people will not think, “boy they spent some buck to up-market this product.” They’ll think, “what’s wrong with this application? Why would they sell something that looks this pricey, this cheap?”

Now lets consider some magazines. Ever seen the Thrifty Nickel? It’s basically a bunch of classified ads, some with pictures. It’s printed on newsprint, and looks to be made as cheaply as possible. Would good graphic design help this publication? No, because it appeals to people looking for bargains. Good design is NOT oriented towards bargains.

On the other hand, there’s an “entertainment monthly” published here in Amarillo that could stand a major redesign. If they did a look and feel makeover, I believe they could charge more for ads, and get a lot more respect. (In fairness, they’d have to improve their writing, too.)

Now think about your own marketing. Who are you trying to reach? Are you going after the high end of the market with a low-rent design? Are you trying to go after a price-sensitive market segment with a look and feel that is decidedly neuveau riche? Neither will work. Target your design to your market, as when marketing matches the message, you can get far more resonance. Marketing resonance is like sympathetic vibration – it makes your message louder.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 8th, 2008 at 2:18 pm and is filed under advertising, design, marketing.You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.