Keep Up With Current Trends To Understand Your Target Consumers

by JoAnn Hines

Today's consumer is a moving target. Choosing the right consumer and the right demographic to target is an important decision. Monitoring what is hot—and what's not—can dramatically influence a package design's success or failure. How do you clearly understand the needs and wants of these elusive markets?

The problem today is that one package may not satisfy the needs and requirements of all buyers. There are many niche markets out there and each one requires specialized packaging. So if you are targeting one of those, do your research first. What works for one target market may not work for another.

Tapping into customer trends

There are a couple of important market trends today that will affect who will or will not buy your product regardless of how innovative or well designed it is.

People are buying in smaller quantities. Today's busy lifestyles keep many people from eating at home on a daily basis. Sit-down dinners with the entire family are sometimes rare. The notable exception is the over-50 generation that now has the time to cook and enjoy a leisurely dinner at home.

People are looking for smaller sized packages and are willing to pay a premium. A good example is the recent introduction of quality baking potatoes in a three-pack, which can cost as much as a five-pound bag. Part of the reason these three-packs sell is because often people don't use three pounds of potatoes before they go bad, and they know it.

Time is NOT on your side

Consumers are looking for the quick fix. The market is booming for products that are ready-to-eat or meals that require minimal preparation. People want easy meals that still taste good and are nutritious—not just "fast food." You will notice the shrinking of the fresh meat counter in favor of the pre-seasoned, easy-to-prepare, or ready-to-eat meats. In this category, convenience is mandatory—not just an issue.

More people are becoming health conscious. Consumers are really learning more about what they eat. Pay attention to how packages present ingredients panels and special information tags such as "contains no trans fats" or "only x grams of carbs." Make clear ingredients statements in your package design, and don't confuse or mislead the customer who is trying to make an informed purchasing decision.

More products are available "on-the-run." When was the last time you or your significant other went to the store and purchased everything you needed for the entire week? Consumers are buying products in unconventional places like drive-throughs with take-out service or convenience stores that now offer premium products, often at premium prices. Unconventional types of retail outlets are experiencing strong growth, and convenience packaging innovations are spurring that growth.

People are spending money to treat themselves to a little luxury. Feeling a little neglected or sorry for yourself? You deserve something special, and you are not alone. Luxury purchases are on the rise. People are willing to buy expensive treats for themselves for daily use, not just for special occasions, and statistics document this growing trend.

Food safety is becoming a paramount concern. No longer are tampering and bio-terrorism buzz terms, and product integrity will become increasingly important to consumers. New packaging ideas have been developed in response to growing food manufacturer fears about food safety and tampering. Packaging is likely to perform a key role in establishing and maintaining consumer confidence.

Eco-friendly products are a growth area. Environmentally friendly biodegradable and "sustainable" packaging are on the rise in the U.S. and abroad. This trend reflects consumer and retailer awareness of—and concerns about—the issue of waste disposal and excess packaging materials (see also page 52). A large number of packaging firms are launching products made of 100% recycled materials, and use of biodegradable inks is on the rise.

All it takes is a few early adapters to make huge swings in the use of environmentally friendly materials. When McDonald's switched from an EPS clamshell to a paperboard package for their large sandwiches, the entire packaging climate changed literally overnight.

Niche markets for products are continuously created. Not just small niches, but niches that are large enough to be very profitable. More and more, new products are introduced for specific target markets because one product can no longer capture the majority of a consumer segment. Many of these markets are obscure but very lucrative, and innovation is continuing at a rampant pace.

The over-50 market is the hottest underserved market. Baby boomers will push the number of 50-and-over adults to more than 108 million by 2015. Designing packages for this market means considering convenience, ease of use, and ease of understanding any information conveyed by packaging. Be aware, however, that Boomers would rather be considered "mature," and are sensitive to being spoken to as if they were old.

Dual-purpose products continue to proliferate. Growth can come from unlikely areas. Markets that were once strong have become so diluted they have become unprofitable. New product categories will continue to develop. One category that is hot is "phood," or pharmaceutically engineered and enhanced food. Explore the opportunities for new product introductions that fall under these parameters.

JoAnn Hines, The Packaging Diva, is the founder of Women in Packaging, Inc., an international, non-profit, professional packaging organization. Hines specializes in teaching people how to package products consumers will buy, and can be reached at packagingdiva@aol.com