WHO SHOULD BUY THE PACKAGING WITHIN A COMPANY?

The packaging is an element on which everyone (and nobody) wants to be able to decide. Within a company, the marketing team usually wants to use it as a branding element and ensure that the product travels safely. But it does not usually have sufficient technical knowledge to make important decisions regarding packaging boxes.

For its part, the logistics team tends to bet on a very austere and short- lived packaging, very practical, little aimed at communication or product presentation. And it’s great that they look for effective packaging at the best price; but sometimes they forget that the packaging is much more than a transport box.

Both the outer and inner packaging influence the perception of the brand by the customer. And in the case of online sales companies, the experience of opening the packaging by the customer, called unboxing, is part of the shopping experience itself.  So it should not be left exclusively in technical hands.

So, Who Should Buy The Packaging Within A Company?

The answer to this question may seem simple, but in practice it is not. There are two teams that should buy the packaging within a company: the marketing team and the logistics team.

Working hand in hand, they can and should shape a packaging that has a balance between functional and beautiful, and that serves as an effective transport tool and as a communication and branding tool at the same time.

Why Do We Say That The Answer Is Not Simple In Practice?

Because generally the two teams work separately in the rest of their tasks. The marketing team usually works hand in hand with communication, advertising and media agencies, and internally with the sales and product teams.  But it rarely crosses paths with the logistics team.

The same thing happens to those responsible for transporting the company. Theirs are the trucks, the carriers, the organization of the loads and the optimization of the storage spaces and of the time spent in the transport of products… But rarely do they coincide in some common task with the marketing team.

In addition, they are usually teams with a diametrically opposite approach.The logistics team will always look for cost reduction, efficiency and optimization of available resources. While the marketing team will always try to beautify the product to improve its commercial output, this may involve an economic investment that the logistics team may not understand a priority.

The secret for this strange couple to work is usually in the clear assignment of tasks to each team. If each of these legs of the company is clear about what aspects of the packaging it can decide, it is much easier for the collaboration between both departments to succeed.

On What Aspects Of The Packaging Should Marketing be Decided?

It is interesting that Marketing decides on the following aspects:

• External or internal printing or customization of the packaging by means of some element printed directly on the box.
• Customization (or not) of the outer seal.
• Use of adhesive labels inside or outside the packaging and for what purpose of communication.
• Use of packing to improve the presentation of the product. Ex .: paper shavings, tissue paper or some type of decorative wrap.
• Special design requirements, for example handles to better grip the packaging when transporting it.

On What Aspects Of The Packaging Should Logistics be Decided?

The logistics team knows from A to Z everything that can happen to a box during transport. For this reason, Logistics should decide on everything related to product safety and protection:

• Thickness and quality of the cardboard used to make the box.
• Internal protection packaging: need for corners, bubble wrap , porex , air-filled packaging, etc.
• Choice between standard packaging or custom packaging depending on the volumetric weight of the product or products to be transported and the surface available inside the trucks or vans.

On What Aspects Of The Packaging Should The Material be Decided?

Bet on a 100% recyclable packaging or not (must be aligned with the brand values but also be economically acceptable by the company). Ex .: you can bet on cardboard boxes, which are already known to be recyclable, and combine them with ecological fillings such as Eco Care filling packaging .

Use of special features packaging according to the product being transported. Ex .: isothermal packaging. The correct preservation of the product, especially if it is fresh, is mainly a Logistics task. But it also greatly affects the perception of the brand, so between the 2 teams they should decide if they use it, and what it looks like.

Four-handed work always works better. Therefore, to the question of who should buy the packaging within a company, the answer is clear: Marketing and Logistics in collaboration, of course!