So you’ve developed a new product, organised your packaging supplies and are now looking at which countries to ship it to. Knowing about packaging supplies is the key.
There are two big mistakes that can affect anyone when they go to order packaging supplies.
Translation Problem
Wow, your product sure does look great written in Spanish, but you don’t speak spanish… do you really know what its really saying to native Spanish speakers?
As soon as you cross the border, you also cross a language border and this is where trouble can start because the meanings of words and phrases can change quite dramatically.
Now i’m no food critic, but even i’m pretty sure that you wouldn’t buy food that was produced by a company called “Vomiting” down here, as was the case in France.
Nothing. With almost no-sales, Gerber went into panic mode. It was at this stage where they were told by a native French speaker that the company name ‘Gerber’ actually translated into “Vomiting”.
One Word, Two Meanings
This second trap that packaging suppliers can fall into is related to incorrect translation. While having your product becoming a household name is a dream for most retailers, there are instances where it can become a household name for all the wrong reasons.
What was the cause of this, well it might have been outdated packaging supplies… but most probably because the product was called AYDS. Yep, the disease that had a huge awareness campaign across the western world shared the same name as this diet product.
This product gained a firm hold in the 60’s, had continued success in the 70’s however in early eighties, their sales dropped sharply and the brand was everntually discontinued.
The worst part about this is that if this happens to your product, its probably not your fault and to compound this, there’s not really much you can do to stop people using the particualr terminology. Your best bet here is to cut your losses, change your product name and order new packaging supplies.
If you are out of the cultural loop, its always pays to do some group testing to make sure that there will not be a large negative reaction to your packaging.
Click the links for more information on packaging supplies and coffee cups
