Consumer-Based Research: Walter Landor and the Value of Packaging Design in Marketing

Abstract

This chapter focuses on émigré Walter Landor from Germany, a packaging designer who worked for large American corporations in industries ranging from food and beverages to airlines and financial institutions. Landor’s design work, it argues, hinged on the integration of systematic consumer research. His firm exemplified the growing importance of corporate image and product personality in mid-century marketing, connecting consumers to a brand. Responding to the rise of supermarkets and an increasingly visual consumer culture, Landor’s packaging and graphic designs accentuated the fine line between integrating consumer tastes and preferences, on the one hand, and creating emotional appeals that guide and direct our buying behavior, on the other.