Another brand, Evian has an extremely loyal consumer base. The bottled-water brand positions itself as the first mineral water from the French Alps, a place suggestive of all things clean and pure. Evian was the first one to package water in plastic bottles (1969) and it instantly clicked; customers to buy the bottle and use it flexibly.  The brand’s packaging graphics prominently feature the Alps; along with text reinforcing the purity message has outstood the brand for decades. It is rated one among the world’s top 25 brands. That’s what packaging does; it has the fortitude of both making of brand and breaking of brand.

Packaging is the science, art and technology of enclosing or protecting products for distribution, storage, sale, and use. Packaging also involves the process of design, evaluation, and production of packages. Packaging can be described as a coordinated system of preparing goods for transportation, warehousing, logistics, sale, and end use. Packaging contains, protects, preserves, transports, informs, and sells.

In pharma business, packaging matters mostly. “In the pharma industry packaging does constitute a significant part of the cost and to that extent makes a major difference. However, there is a renewed focus seen in the industry and people are looking for optimum solutions,” comments Debdeep Bhattacharya, Director, Ess Dee Aluminum. For many years pharma companies were making efforts to save costs in packaging, but with the changes in market scenario in pharma business, companies are looking forward to changing their packaging philosophies by making optimum usage of packaging which of course augments the value of the product. Pharma marketers have realized that compromising on the packaging costs is not going to lead them further. Various sensory characteristics such as color, taste, shape, texture either  in isolation or in combination with each other cause array of sensory experiences which range from repulsive to extremely invigorating. Also, human beings, belonging to different age groups, different religions and socio-cultural backgrounds and different genders, perceive and respond to these experiences in different ways.

Packaging becomes the most important technique of delivering the goods, and its cost represents the significantly total cost of the product. Packaging conveys utilities which the marketers want to communicate to attract the consumers. Marketers through packaging send out important information about the product, price, manufacturer and the consumption precautions; if shabbily designed packaging harms the product’s future and affects the life cycle.

Glaxo Smith Kline’s famous brand Boost the health food drink is a leading brand of HFD in India which bags about 23% of the market share. The brand owes its success to its shrink sleeve packaging style. Boost’s packaging style and design won it the famous ‘World Star Award’ in 1999. The product is packed in sporty, convenient plastic bottle structure with attractive graphics. Brand connectivity becomes very easy because of product packaging and design. The product can be easily distinguished on the shelves due to its dazzling design.

Johnson & Johnson established in 1886, a company which is well-known for its ethical practices, has some winner brands which have created solid platform of the company’s product portfolio.  The company’s brands are still going strong in the market because of its innovative approach to redefining the image of certain products through marketing drives that are closely integrated with packaging and product design. Band-Aid was created nearly 90 years ago; its Baby Powder has been sold for well over a century. The more recent but well established painkiller, Tylenol, was launched as a consumer product in 1960. These brands have maintained a youthful look by using packaging array of designs and aesthetics for ages.

A recent study proved that consumers who are more aware on environmental issues are three times more prone to support their purchasing decisions on a company’s or brands environmental and social track record. The study further points out that the well-informed and socially conscious consumers are also twice as likely to say it’s worth paying more for products and their packages which are environment-friendly. Packaging can be used as a vehicle to teach consumers about environmental issues and eco-friendly packaging materials and sourcing, an important step in gaining and reinforcing consumer trust and loyalty. Terms like recyclable, biodegradable, and recycled content have greater influence on customers. However, newer, more expressive sustainability claims and third-party certifications has increasingly become more important in packaging aesthetics. The packaging should be manufactured from the right materials, ensuring that the product inside is not damaged.

Sudafed is one of the leading brands of Pfizer, Australia. It is a double action congestion & sinus pain reliefproduct. Recently Pfizer to convey its quality packaging leadership went in for direct metallising process which is biodegradable, making it more recyclable than traditional film or foil laminated packs. The new packaging process also completely eliminates VOCs (volatile organic compounds) and HAPs (hazardous air pollutants) for a very positive environmental outcome all round. Pfizer not only used the metalizing packaging for giving a new aesthetic look to Sudafed but also showed the world its thoughtfulness in environmental friendliness by doing so.

Several marketing practitioners have opined that packaging plays a better role than advertising does because it can set a brand apart from its competitors. It promotes and strengthens the purchase decision not only at the point of purchase, but also every time the product is used. A well designed and planned packaging using good colour combination with graphics, typography can influence the customer’s perceived value of a product instantly. Logos and symbols are often applied to packaging, especially by companies that regard their products as a ‘brand’. Branded products often have an advantage over non-branded products.

P&G’s innovative approach in maintaining a supple and elastic marketing mix is most admired. The company is famous for using artistic and a flexible packaging for their brands. P & G is very innovative in their packaging of brands. Their Olay product line is getting bigger day by day. The packaging impact is supported of course by the company’s trendy advertisements. This product of P &G showcases the company’s packaging philosophy, which stresses a balance of design aesthetics, functionality and cost effectiveness. Packages for Olay Quench Body Lotion, a product introduced in North America in early 2005, include a trottle and a pump-dispenser bottle. All the packages feature an exclusive sloped shoulder the bottle with periwinkle color. The Olay Quench package design is very distinctive, but it also uses available technology which has helped in pricing the product effectively.

This is how, packaging helps in brand positioning. Effective packaging communicates why to buy the product. It also communicates the usability of the product, while creating a shelf impact; it punctuates the brand’s value statement. It conveys what problem the product is going to solve. A well designed package fits into place instantly when it is picked up, since the feel of the package is the first experience of the product with the customer. The structural design of the package is certainly accountable for the first critical introduction of a product. Packaging optimizes the experience of a product if it is used intelligently by the marketers to enhance the marketing mix.

Companies do not exist in vacuum.  They are responsible for the social well being. The customers today expect and perceive brand value beyond consumption. Packaging thus plays the role of silent salesman to sustain and strengthen brand’s credibility.

‘Bells and whistles’ is marketing term which is used to describe products or items that have a full array of additional features added for augmenting sales. Electronic products such as mobile phones and computers come with added features, even cars come with extra features. The phrase originated in the field of electronics and cars. The earliest reference found to the meaning of the phrase ‘bells and whistles’ is in a classified advertisement for a 1969 Buick Riviera, in the Wisconsin newspaper The Capital Times, in June 1971. But it is worth noting that in 18^th and 19^th century the phrase was used to describe fire engines, the Salvation Army, circuses anyone in fact that was trying to draw attention to themselves using a bell or a whistle.

Marketers add lot of unwarranted features sometimes to a product to make it ‘look better’ this is termed as ‘bells and whistles’ in marketing which can be described as added force which might be barely different or improved version of a product on the captive customers who have invested considerable amount of money and time on the product. Over the centuries the aim of bells and whistles have been to attract attention, to communicate to gain a competitive edge by the marketers. More recently, the term bells and whistles is typically credited to additional features, features that differentiate, facilities needed in special circumstances and to additions that make things more commercially attractive. Nothing has changed as Bells and Whistles still accomplishes all these aims by defining, developing and establishing competitive edge through innovative and effective communication solutions.

Bells and whistles phrase goes well with product differentiation. It is used in reference of how a marketer “differentiates” his offering and creates value in a market. It’s about carving out a niche in the competitive landscape. Traditionally, Gillette relied on extensive research and development to create a single product for global distribution. The product was supported by a marketing premise that it would be equally valuable to customers globally. But Gillette set aside its global strategy in India and grew its market share dramatically. Although Gillette entered the Indian market in 1984 and launched its newest triple-blade system, Mach3 in 2004, sales were flat for a long time. The product did not go through any changes and kept its key features – such as long lasting diamond-like coating blades, ‘PowerGlide’ smoothness, ergonomic handles, pivoting precision heads – and premium price, which was 10 times more than its two-blade competitors. It did help the sales to grow to some extent.

I would like to give another example here of Samsung Galaxy S5; there’s more to this flagship smartphone than the heart-rate monitor on the back and the optional fingerprint scanner on the front. Of course, these remain some of the phone’s most defining characteristics, along with its 16-megapixel camera with 4K video capture, and rapid quad-core processor. Beyond there attention-grabbing headlining acts are several new interesting and useful little gems, customized folder colors and keeping multimedia files in a place where only the user can see them. Once the user turns it on in the Settings menu he/she can select any photos, videos, document, or voice file and select the menu choice – Move to Private.

When customers see how a product offering is different from others in the competition, it’s easier to influence the market and win mindshare. Without differentiation, it takes more time and budget to lure the market or to engage with it. As a result, many companies end up competing on pricing strategies alone which is quite tough to fight war with other products in the market. One of the key elements that many small to mid-size companies administer is how they provide value at the highest level; there are three essential parameters for delivering value they are operational excellence, product leadership and customer confidence.

Prior to launching Women’s Horlicks GSK (Glaxosmithkline) took a different route to reach potential consumers. The company conducted quick bone density tests in the big Indian cities and the catchment areas targeting women to educate them on their nutritional requirements, besides using the digital media to reach the targets. Women’s Horlicks is a complete list of micro nutrients for every woman. Women’s Horlicks is recommended by World Health Organization (WHO). It consists of a unique blend of nourishing ingredients, which are scientifically formulated to provide vitamins, calcium and protein. Women’s Horlicks is one of the most profitable brands of GSK.

Look at HUL’s strategy; this one will clarify the Bells and whistles strategy more aptly; women are looking for more than just general fairness, they want clear, flawless complexion too. The relaunch of HUL’s Fair & Lovely did exactly that. Brand innovation and renovation is core to HUL’s business. Brand renovation is aimed at constantly renewing the product equity with the consumer by making it current and contemporary. HUL attempted to do that with Fair & Lovely. It wanted to fight competition with CavinKare’s Fairever and Garnier’s skin lightening products. HUL paid a great deal of attention to the product’s packaging with all three variants of Fair & Lovely – multivitamin, ayurvedic balance and anti-marks which are available in different colours -reddish-pink, brown and blue. HUL recognized that the revamp of the product was necessary as competition is also heating up in the segment. CavinKare, for example, has just repositioned its decade-old skin cream brand Fairever to raise its market share to 10 per cent; it roped in actress Asin as its brand ambassador. Fairever also went in for a repositioning and makeover strategy.

So, Bells and whistles is a product positioning strategy built by adding those features in a product to capture the market share. The brand narrative changes when those few features such as packaging or color, size, essence etc are added to a product. It is a long-term effort to solidify the identity of a company, and its products or services, in a unique space within the minds of the target audience. It is an organized attempt for a brand to set itself apart from the crowd and influence the way their target audience distinguishes them.