Every year, as companies prepare to launch products, there is a flurry of market research done into the planned market these products will be entering. They always look at things like Is it priced correctly? Is there a need for this product? What is the competition like?
There are two big mistakes that can affect anyone when they go to order packaging supplies.
Incorrect Translation
The Gerber Baby Food Company found themselves in a similar situation when they decided to launch their range of products into French supermarkets.
As soon as you cross the border, you also cross a language border and this is where trouble can start because the meanings of words and phrases can change quite dramatically.
The Gerber Baby Food Compnay learnt about this the hard way. The spent large amounts of money, researching the positioning of their product, ordering the french version on their packaging supplies and getting shelf space at the supermarkets.
It was later pointed out by a sheepish French person that 'Gerber', the company name appearing on all their packaging, actually means "Vomiting" in the French language.
Same Word, Different Meaning
This second trap that packaging suppliers can fall into is related to incorrect translation. While having your product becoming a household name is a dream for most retailers, there are instances where it can become a household name for all the wrong reasons.
Unfortunatey this product had the packaging brandname 'AYDS' and as anyone who was around in the 80's and onwards knows about the terminal disease with the same name that became well known amongst the western world.
The worst part about this is that if this happens to your product, its probably not your fault and to compound this, there's not really much you can do to stop people using the particualr terminology. Your best bet here is to cut your losses, change your product name and order new packaging supplies.
These are simple packaging pitfalls that can easily be avioded before launching a product. While you could argue that this falls into the domain of the packaging suppliers, ultimately they are not responsible for the success of your product.
There are two big mistakes that can affect anyone when they go to order packaging supplies.
Incorrect Translation
The Gerber Baby Food Company found themselves in a similar situation when they decided to launch their range of products into French supermarkets.
As soon as you cross the border, you also cross a language border and this is where trouble can start because the meanings of words and phrases can change quite dramatically.
The Gerber Baby Food Compnay learnt about this the hard way. The spent large amounts of money, researching the positioning of their product, ordering the french version on their packaging supplies and getting shelf space at the supermarkets.
It was later pointed out by a sheepish French person that 'Gerber', the company name appearing on all their packaging, actually means "Vomiting" in the French language.
Same Word, Different Meaning
This second trap that packaging suppliers can fall into is related to incorrect translation. While having your product becoming a household name is a dream for most retailers, there are instances where it can become a household name for all the wrong reasons.
Unfortunatey this product had the packaging brandname 'AYDS' and as anyone who was around in the 80's and onwards knows about the terminal disease with the same name that became well known amongst the western world.
The worst part about this is that if this happens to your product, its probably not your fault and to compound this, there's not really much you can do to stop people using the particualr terminology. Your best bet here is to cut your losses, change your product name and order new packaging supplies.
These are simple packaging pitfalls that can easily be avioded before launching a product. While you could argue that this falls into the domain of the packaging suppliers, ultimately they are not responsible for the success of your product.
About the Author:
John McKinnon discusses information on packaging supplies at his packaging supplies web site.
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