Think inside of the box, by Mark Blezard

A 'cocky' sales person will tell you that they can sell anything to anyone. Well, if they park their ethics and are prepared to mis-sell products too, this may well be the case.

However, a box has a much better chance of selling anything to anyone. Packaging is pretty much the most important element of sales a corporation has. And I'm not just talking about manufactured parts on a shelf, but services too. It is all about how you package up your offering and how the customer sees/views the benefits from it.

This includes imagery, words, colour, size... the whole lot. Any group purchase with three or more items becomes a 'bundle', a 'kit', a 'collection'.

Products coming towards the end of a successful shelf-life can be reinvigorated by simply reinventing the box. Sure, you mustn't disappoint the customer with wild and exaggerated claims, it is up to R&D to keep the actual product sharp, but we marketeers can breathe new sales into almost anything with a new box!