A brief article (albeit a sarcastic one!) highlighting the important role packaging techniques play in the successful consumer perception of any skin care product. Published with direct permission from one of our favourite writers and the modern day guru of marketing!TELLLING A STORY ON THE LABEL Here’s a $20 bottle of soap. Functionally identical to a $3 bottle, so what’s the $17 for?
Let’s assume the people buying it aren’t stupid. What are they paying $17 for? A story. A feeling. A souvenir of a shopping expedition or perhaps just a little bit of joy in the shower every morning. Let’s dissect:
1. The hang tag. It’s special because most soap doesn’t have a hang tag. Hang tags come on things that are a little more special than soap. And hang tags beg to be read. This one says a lot (and nothing, at the same time.) It reminds us that it doesn’t contain SLS. What’s SLS? Is it as bad as SLES?
2. This isn’t soap. It’s mineral botanic. Both words are meaningless, which means the purchaser can attach whatever feelings they choose to them. In this case, the marketer is hoping for old-time, genuine, down-to-earth and real.
3. It’s not made by a soap company. It’s made in a Dead Sea Laboratory. Laboratories, of course, are where scientists work, and the Dead Sea is biblical, spiritual and really salty. The company has a name (Ahava) that is onomatopoeic and reminds you of breathing. Breathe deep and find calm.
4. My favorite part is that it’s made from bamboo and pansy. At least a little. Bamboo because it’s fast growing and Asian and gentle and wood and grass at the same time. And pansy… well… pansy is for girls.
5. Two really good things here. First, it’s for very dry skin. This is brilliant. If your skin is dry, you don’t want to hear that it’s sort of dry, kind of dry, not as dry as that guy over there… No, you want to hear that it’s extremely dry, really dry, so dry it’s like sand. That kind of dry. This bottle understands how very dry your skin is, and it’s here to help. Also, it’s in French! I love that there’s the language of love and sophistication and diplomacy right here on the bottle. I can imagine that models for Chanel are using it on the Rive Gauche as we speak.
6. Did I mention the part about velvet? It took guts to take this packaging so over the top. It doesn’t match my worldview, but it might match yours. There’s not a lot of room for slightly-out-of-the-ordinary.
Read more of Seth Godin’s enlightening insights here. Thanks again to Seth for his permission to include his article in our blog!
