Creative Packaging

We all know the 5 Ps of Marketing: Product, Pricing, Place (Distribution), Promotion, and Positioning. But there's a subcategory P that I like to think of when devising a marketing plan and that's Packaging. It's a little bit of promotion, a little bit of pricing, and a creative approach to the product. This past Christmas, I saw some creative packaging ideas at Sam's Club that made me smile and say (out loud!), "now that's clever."


This is a three-pack of similarly themed DVDs in a colorful, somewhat stylish carrying case for $23.50. I'm not a fan of baseball movies, so I can't speak to that, but I did like The Devil Wears Prada, and was somewhat amused by Legally Blonde, but never heard of In Her Shoes. The informal math I do in my head says $23.50/3=about $8 per DVD plus a free carrying case... makes a great gift for just a little more than $20. I didn't end up buying this one, but I thought it was a clever way to upsell to people looking to buy a DVD as a gift.



Another set of DVDs took a different angle on the same movie: selling it by the star. In this case, Legally Blonde was sold in a two-pack with Man in the Moon as Reese Witherspoon movies. Desperate, last-minute shopping is vulnerable to the logic of "I know she likes Keanu Reeves..." Other actors in this boat were Jim Carey, Morgan Freeman and Harrison Ford. Not appealing to me, but I'm sure it lured some buyers with it's cheap price point ($8.45) to buy movies that aren't selling that well anymore.


This one was my favorite:

The new release, Hancock, with an "exclusive beanie." When I first saw it, I laughed and walked away. But I liked the movie and the character Hancock reminds me of someone I had to buy a gift for. Sometimes he wears beanies when it gets cold. And this winter was pretty cold. So, after walking around Sam's Club, I came back and bought it. They got me to purchase a DVD when I normally wouldn't have.

$20 from my wallet to theirs. That's marketing!