Packaging as an Effective Tool for Product Differentiation in Soap & Detergent Industry (A Case Study of Unilever Nigeria Plc Aba)
Chapter One
OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY:
The objective of the study is critically examine Packaging as an effective tool for product differentiation in soap & detergent industry. Having this in mind, the practice existing in Unilever Nigeria Plc Nigeria, Aba Abia State.
Some years age, packaging was a mirror element in the marketing of product with this in mind; the primary objects of this research have been;
- Promotion, which help to creates awareness and recognition to the product in the market.
- To identify the product so that customers can easily differentiate and patronize the product such as added quality signals through creative use of colour, copy materials and construction.
- Achieve consistency with other consistence colour graphic and product benefits for reinforce the brand image.
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW:
A literature review is the body of text that aims to review the critical point of current knowledge including substantive findings as well as theoretical and methodological contributions to a particular topic.
The selection of available documents (both published and unpublished) on the topic, which contain information, ideas data and evidence written from a particular stand point to fulfill certain aims or express certain view on the nature of the topic and how it is to be investigated, and the effective evaluation of the documents in relation to the research being proposed.
Okoye (2006) opined that literature review is the process of identifying, locating and analyzing of documents on information related to this research problem.
It further indicated that it involves locating, reading, assessing and summarizing of materials from text books, journals, periodicals and previous research works related to the indeed research problem which the research intend to investigate.
The review could be a directed or a non directed type. A directed literature review is the type that is made when the researchers already knows what he is searching for and that will assist him or her in expanding the frontiers of his or her knowledge. For non-directed literature review, that researcher hopes to get some important information that will help in finding solution to the problem in the course of reviewing the material available to him for the purpose.
THE CONCEPT OF PACKAGING:
Much has been written on the functions of packaging rather than defining or stating what package actually means.
Satnton, W.J. (1978) see it as the general group of activities in product planning which involves designing and producing the container for a product.
Packaging is an entire business of marketing which revolves around the idea of relating the producers or services.
According to Maxwell, packaging acts as the last chance in customers marketing at least for a business to fall to a potential customer. Reacting on Maxwell’s view, one can easily say that packaging in the widest sense is broad packaging can help the producers to communicated as many information as possible to the potential customers in particular and to the target market in general this means that the producer may not be around physically, but can pass information to the customers then information passed may be inform of colour size and design of the package.
Brown, (1976) observed that packaging has become such an important part and it is economically to contain product for storage, shipment sale, and trial. Use packaging is part and parcel of creating products and acts as a product itself the promotional function of packaging on detergent helps to pass information to the consumer through size, shape etc. it is often said that packaging serves as a silent sale person.
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research methodology could be said to be specification of inadequate procedures to help solve the problem of inadequate promotion while packaging a product, such that the cost obtained in various level of accuracy and the expected value of information associated with each level of accuracy all minimized.
The various process involved in obtaining analyzing and interpreting the data which yield the necessary information to satisfy the research purpose are described in this chapter.
RESEARCH DESIGN
The researcher use both historical research and descriptive research method in carrying out research work.
Historical research is used to seek out data that are data. It involves gathering the data from the management and the Unilever Nigeria Plc Aba.
This information provides that first data needed by the research and evaluation of personal selling. It is used in understanding and explaining records.
Descriptive research on the other hand seek to find out the condition or relationship that exists, opinion assets that are evident or trends that are developing in carting out a descriptive research, the researcher uses some instrument like questionnaire, interview and observation to collect relevant data.
DESCRIPTION OF DATA COLLECTION INSTRUMENT:
The researcher is concluded to get useful information and facts from the worker of Unilever Nigeria Plc Aba.
This study used secondary and primary source of information.
Primary source of data era the just hand information that was generated by the research through direct contact with the production manager and some staff of the organization who are accessible to be interviewed.
Secondly data were collected from work of previous write up on the topic relating to package. It is equally collected from both the published materials and many textbooks, packaging and also magazines, articles in the dairies professional bodies, from and many other periodicals.
CHAPTER FOUR
PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS OF DATA
This chapter is mainly made to examine the response from the respondents by way of interpreting and analyzing the response. It is important to note that questions analyzed in the chapter have already appeared in the questionnaire. Three hundred and ninety nine (399) questionnaires were administered to both senior and junior staff of Unilever Nigeria Plc Aba, and two hundred (200) questionnaires were duly completed and returned.
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
Packaging is the main way products are advertised and identified. This directive provides for measures aimed at limiting the production of packaging and promoting recycling, re-use and other forms of waste recovery.
INTRODUCTION:
It summarizes, and outlines the importance of the chapter of the over achieving brands from the assessment, the package must complement the product, it is a great way to promote what is inside of it, and it is almost applicable in everything to life.
SUMMARY OF THE FINDINGS:
Packaging as a promotional tools to the marketing of a company’s product he should created, developed and maintain on a mutually advantages basis.
However, packaging should be aesthetically pleasing and distinctive brands on the retail shield. It should also be convenient to handle by the consumers. Packaging brands name and labeling that provide certain kind of information such as weight volume and ingredient that are used by some promotional message to the public.
The input of the observation above is that a package must have prominent either or design in order to catch the consumers, hold his at tension and in state interaction between producers and customers.
A company that wants to improve it’s sales and market share must understand that packaging cannot be left out of as it is difficult to depend on advertisement, personal selling and promotional activities as a means of increasing sales and revenue.
CONCLUSION:
In conclusion, everybody should be involved in packaging. Specialist from each department should involve in packaging. Packaging carries message or other items of information that many shoppers need to make buying decision, e.g. instruction such as corrosive and highly inflammable etc. it is a silent personal and advertisement medium.
It helps to revitalize a product image especially when the product is at it’s death or decline stage, as well as stabilized seeds for existing product.
It is a paramount important that companies should take cognizance of the problem of package and think the way of solving a large market share for their product.
RECOMMENDATION:
If marketing is defined as providing continuing customer satisfaction at incepted profit, then it is evident that packaging is of marketing process because a company product during distribution promotion and profit ability may effect and the effected by it’s packaging therefore it should continue to consider or seriously as any other part of marketing chain.
Although the packaging system of the company is fairly god as indicated in the data, it does not mean that the company operates at 100 percent level of efficiency.
Although companies have tried to bridge the gap between the process of commodities by producing products with less costly pack such as polythene bags. This can easily captured by the market.
Therefore, I will recommend that the company should endeavour to uphold a better way of doing packaging at a very low price.
Furthermore, with the growth of self-service sore, manufacturers should design packages either the special need of this stores in mind.
Packaging is especially information to self-service store because consumer works around and picks up the goods themselves.
Manufacturers should therefore, ensure that packaging meets three special needs.
Firstly, the goods have to be stocked on the top of the other shelve and their package are more suitable if the shop makes them easy stocks.
Lastly, packaging should always show what the product is presented, preservation, promotional, profitability and differentiated marketing process.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
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- Baker, J.M. (1981), “marketing theory and practices” New York: The Macmillan Press Ltd.
- Iwuagwu, E. (2004), “statistic for practice application, Owerri: Nation – wide Publisher Ltd.
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