Consumers help GE see the light

Three-year project uncovers consumer frustrations in buying light bulbs and responds with a package design that takes the guesswork out of product selection.

A new packaging design for GE light bulbs optimizes how information is presented on labels and the manner in which the products
A new packaging design for GE light bulbs optimizes how information is presented on labels and the manner in which the products

Understanding how consumers shop a category can pay off handsomely when that knowledge results in packaging that guides them through multitudes of product choices in a glutted category. Light bulbs, a middle-of-the-store product, can use this technique, and General Electric’s approach could provide a model for success in communicating both form and function in a commodity product.

GE followed this approach in developing a new packaging and branding program for its bulbs. The results:

• Packaging that eliminates consumer confusion at the point-of-sale by displaying lighting products according to how consumers understand them rather than by technology.

• Packaging that identifies a clear best-application message for each style of bulb. With packaging that avoids communicating in technical jargon, GE believes it has created opportunities to steer consumers toward a more expensive product, a process called “up-selling.”

• A merchandising presentation that guides consumers to the right area in GE’s shelf set, where they can then select the appropriate product.

GE spent three years researching consumer sentiment about light bulb packaging and product merchandising. The results guided the development of its new packaging approach, which leverages color and “scale-of-light” boxes as key communicators about each product. Such a protracted venture may seem unusual for a company that’s the sales leader in the $2.7-billion category. But GE noted that like many of its competitors, its sales were flagging, and wanted to understand why.

GE knew from earlier research that “if we can get consumers to pick up our package, there’s a 70% chance they’ll buy it,” says Robert Stuart, general manager of consumer lighting for GE Consumer & Industrial. But a sale in this category doesn’t guarantee a happy customer or a repeat purchase. Among the questions GE wanted answered was whether shoppers were leaving the store with a bulb purchase that satisfied them and if not, what factors led them to select the bulb they did buy.

Multiple layers of research

GE engaged the San Francisco office of branding firm Landor Associates for the initial phase of the research, resulting in more than 25 consumer studies. As part of the process, GE shadowed consumers as they purchased light bulbs in grocery stores, home centers, hardware stores, and mass-merchandise stores.

This research identified several reasons behind consumer frustration when buying light bulbs. Consumers shop for bulbs just four times per year, and poor packaging communications and confusing product arrangements on the shelf heighten their anxiety. They often wind up purchasing the wrong bulb.

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