This activity is important because marketers are increasingly using packaging to not only protect their product for shipping and display, but also to set it apart from its competitors.

The goal of this exercise is to demonstrate your knowledge of how different packaging decisions can help a firm achieve its overall mission and goals.

Read the case and answer the questions that follow.

Imagine that a large producer of consumer health and beauty aids, Marvolo Brands, has developed a new type of hand sanitizer that is just as effective as Purell. The new brand is called Simply Clean.

As the company prepares to launch Simply Clean into the marketplace, it must make important packaging decisions. One of its goals is to present Simply Clean as a product that is as much about function as it is about form$-$hand sanitizers, for instance, do not have the reputation for being fancy or stylish; they're typically packaged in clunky bottles not intended for decorative display.

Marvolo also needs to consider the ease and comfort of the hand sanitizer bottles. Some brands are packaged in heavy, difficult$-$to$-$open bottles whereas others, especially the travel$-$sized ones, are oddly shaped, hard to hold, and tend to open too easily, causing the contents to leak out all over one's bags. Marketing research also reveals that many of Marvolo's customers want bottles that are not only attractive, but that can be reused again for other purposes. Such are some of the considerations Marvolo's marketers must keep in mind as they develop their packaging strategy for Simply Clean.

Marvolo Brands is committed to sustainable packaging. Of the following packaging options, which is the most sustainable, according to the principle of sustainable packaging function and design?

Multiple Choice

a bottle that is made from space$-$age polymer plastics that require consumers to bring the used bottles to their local recycling center

a decorative glass bottle that can be reused or recycled as desired

a plastic$-$coated cardboard container, the plastic will take decades to blodegrade, but the container can be crushed flat and will not take up much space in a landfill

a bottle that is made from $100$ percent postconsumer recyclables and that will degrade in a landfill after being exposed to the sun for $24$ hours