CVS Pharmacy introduces at least 250 new private-label products each year. The task of putting these new products, as well as 3,000 existing private-label products, into the right packaging falls to Mike Clark, Brand Design Manager.

CVS uses paperboard packaging extensively. Clark is redesigning packaging for CVS’ entire stable of private-label products, and he likes paperboard packaging’s ease of legibility and stocking benefits in many categories. He makes two requests: more fifth-panel cartons and more windowed paperboard packaging.

If you manage the packaging research and development process in your company, the seventh annual Market Research and Development for Package Design conference is for you. The conference will be Sept. 21-23, 2005, at the W Chicago CityCenter in Chicago.

The conference host is the Institute for International Research, and Shelf Impact! is a media partner.

The prevailing sentiment among the readers who said no was “fat chance!” Your responses painted a dismal picture that clearly indicates that senior management at some CPGs still treats package creation as an afterthought. And, the company culture makes any change in approach unlikely, to put it kindly.

The following reader comment very eloquently stated the feelings of the “when pigs fly!” crowd:

Too often, brand managers who visit trade shows see packages that are interesting, but with unclear value propositions. So they either skim the show, potentially missing relevant packaging innovation ideas, or they rely on whatever information their “techie people” bring back from the show.

Voting has begun for Package Design magazine’s second annual Package Design Makeover Challenge. This year’s design team participants are Brand Engine in Sausalito,CA; Goodwin Design Group in Media,PA; Gravity, Cincinnati; Tin Horse, Marlborough, Wiltshire,U.K.; and a student team from the Michigan State University School of Packaging, East Lansing,MI.

The five teams re-created packages for five SKUs of the Golightly brand of sugar-free hard candy. A number of structural innovations resulted as well. Before-and-after photos and written accounts of each team’s product makeover are presented in the July/August 2005 issue of the magazine, 3D models of each package, and a ballot are available at www.packagedesignmag.com.

Shelf Impact! readers are encouraged to cast ballots online by Sept. 28. “The participants in this year’s Makeover Challenge are the creative cream of the crop in the package design industry,” says Christopher Lyons, Publisher of Package Design.

Cool Dog Inc., Shirley , MA , has field-tested an economical and compact temperature-tracking device for sample boxes of its frozen, individually wrapped hot-dog-and-bun-shaped ice cream novelties.

For years, consumers have requested more functional packaging for sugar. Now, marketers are listening. To satisfy legions of consumers who demand convenience, some sugar marketers are complementing their longstanding paper bags by delivering sugar in resealable stand-up pouches and rigid containers.

Imperial Sugar of Sugar Land, TX, is at the forefront of this trend with two new packages. One of them is a bottom-gusseted stand-up pouch with a resealable zipper. The pouch holds 54 oz of sugar. It’s an adhesive lamination of polyester and low-density polyethylene from Cello-Foil Products, and is reverse-printed gravure in six colors.

Consumers told Imperial Sugar that they prefer the pouch instead of paper bags because the pouch is leakproof and resealable. “First, consumers will make more frequent repeat purchases of the pouch because of its convenience and size,” says Art Saxby, Imperial Sugar Vice President of Marketing. “Second, the pouch won’t tear and leak all over the floor.”

A second new package from Sugar Land puts brown sugar in pre-measured, 1-cup resealable containers assembled into three-packs and held together by a paperboard U-board and clear shrink film.

Distributing prescription medications in specially designed blister packages rather than in bottles may increase the likelihood that medications will be taken properly, concludes a study from Ohio State University.

While “good for you” claims dominate marketing strategies in cold cereal, some marketers are also focusing on another consumer demand: better package convenience and portability. The new packaging is responding to consumer desires for a quick breakfast fix, but it is also taking some cold-cereal brands into the realm of an anywhere snack.

A new report from Mintel’s Global New Products Database cites two examples.

• In Germany, Kellogg has launched Kellogg’s Choco Krispies Complete Cereal, Milk & Spoon. The paperboard carton holds a tub of cereal, a carton of milk and a spoon.

• In Australia, Sunripe Foods has rolled out Breakfast Buddy, a clamshell kit containing separate cartons of cereal and milk, a sachet holding a towlette, and a flexible package holding a hand-held snack.

In the cold-cereal category, Mintel forecasts a sharp increase in the number of products and packaging touting the presence of whole grains, especially in North America. Mintel also predicts more imaginative and original convenient packaging.

Store brands are going ‘uptown’ and reaching the store perimeter. Research identifies paperboard as one desirable material for packages to help in this push.

Private-label products are fast shedding their reputation as coming from “the other side of the tracks.” And according to new consumer and retailer research, marketers should know that paperboard is one packaging material that may be particularly well suited to serving the evolution of private-label brands. Here are two reasons why:

Women make or influence 85% of all purchases. Courting her takes more savvy than pink and a celebrity endorsement.

During one recent month, three California vineyards introduced wine product lines targeted to women. The product offerings bear intriguing names such as “White Lie,” “Mad Housewife,” and “Working Girl White.”

These wine companies deliver the same message: a wine just for women. Demographics drive each of these new product offerings. Why? Women make or influence 85% of all purchases, according to Marketing to Women’s Fast Facts.

Here are three ideas for enticing women with packaging.

1. See the product though her eyes. Women want convenience, ease of storage, and female-friendly elements such as the size of package and handles for carrying.

2. Consider how and where the product will be purchased. Recent studies show that women on average no longer make one big “stock-up” trip to the store. Rather, they make numerous short trips to get the essentials for the moment.

“What’s the best package for my product?”

Since many new products fail, this question is uppermost in marketers’ minds. The right answer may surface if you truly understand your target audience. Increasingly, smart brand managers are recognizing that they’re marketing to smaller niches of consumers and an effective packaging program starts with knowing the needs of their core consumers.

The Curve brands of men's and women's fragrances reflect the rectangular tin cans that hold every product in the line. The newest line extensions in metal “tin” containers, from Independent Can Co., seek to entice a younger audience than earlier packaging in the flagship Curve line, which launched in 1996.

Liz Claiborne uses pastel hues, razor-sharp images, and shimmer on the store shelf, explains Paul McLaughlin, Liz Claiborne Creative Director. Under bright fluorescent store lighting, the colors seem luminous. The shiny surface also reflects shadows of nearby darker objects.

Campbell Soup Co. is 136 years old, but it continues to innovate, as evidenced by its launch of a line of restaurant-style, ready-to-serve soups in aseptic cartons that will be available nationwide in October.

Campbell will be rolling out the Select Gold Label aseptic soups in cartons that carry a shelf life of nine to 12 months.

About two years ago, Campbell launched Gardennay aseptically packaged soups in Canada. One article described the line as “the first shelf-stable, ready-to-serve Combibloc® soup to hit grocery store shelves in North America.”

“We’ve had experience with aseptic soups in France, Australia, and Canada,” explains John Faulkner, Campbell Soup’s Director of Brand Communications. “We’ve been able to demonstrate to the Food and Drug Administration that we can bring aseptic soup into the United States that meets its guidelines. The product is cooked ahead of time, then hot-filled into a sterile carton.”

Rising steel prices forced Olè, a vegetable packer in Morrinhos, Goias, Brazil, to select another packaging material. The company switched to a clear glass jar—and doubled its share of the green bean and corn market in three months.

The company says consumers like that they can see the product through the package.

O-I developed the jars for Olè. They carry the same 200 grams of product as the packer’s conventional steel cans, are competitively priced, and feature specialized easy-open metal closures from Rojek.

Link: O-I

NSI Sweeteners makes its dispensing bottles of its Necta Sweet Sugar Substitute easier to operate by introducing a Flapper closure from Weatherchem. The cap opens halfway and its small lip enables consumers to dispense one or two tablets at a time.

Another improvement in the redesigned package is a lift-and-peel flap on the induction-sealed TE foil liner. Consumers with limited manual dexterity can grasp it easily.

The PET bottle’s polypropylene cap comes from Berlin Packaging. Richmark Label prints the paper label flexo in four colors.

Links: Berlin Packaging
Weatherchem Corp.

SABMiller required a promotion to further emphasize Miller Genuine Draft in South Africa, and pressure-sensitive labels from Spear both highlight the limited-edition package and create the vehicle to execute the promotion.

A UV-sensitive ink “glows” under UV light in a bar or nightclub and intensifies the bottle’s no-label look. A heavy tactile surface over the Miller branding further emphasizes both the brand and its premium position.

A two-ply back label allows consumers to easily peel away the top layer, revealing a hidden five-digit code in an on-pack promotion for gift giveaways.

Gerber continues the trend toward foam-dispenser packaging in personal care products by restaging multiple SKUs with instant-foam-dispensing technology under the Grins & Giggles Foaming Baby Wash for Hair and Body brand.

Convenience drives the package design, which includes a pump from Airspray International and a custom 250-ml bottle, and transparent blue overcap. The pump expels instant, creamy no-drip foam and requires one hand to operate. This benefit eliminates the need for rubbing product into the skin to create lather. It enables parents to hold the baby easily and safely.

A full-body shrink label provides the canvas for White Rock Distilleries to convey the “hot” in its Fire Water cinnamon schnapps. The label, from SleeveCo, also allows the distillery to reduce packaging costs up to 30% while revitalizing the brand’s look.

The seven-color rotogravure label is decorated at its base with flames reaching into the black background. Previously, an external decorator applied a powder coat finish and then painted the clear glass bottle black. Then, paper labels were applied to the front, back, and neck of the bottles.

Link: SleeveCo

Anheuser-Busch Cos. is among a wave of alcohol marketers who are courting a new generation of consumers with atypical packaging for their products. A-B is serving up 16-oz aluminum bottles of Budweiser beer to national markets.

The premium packaging initially targets upscale bars and clubs in major U.S. metropolitan areas.

The aluminum bottles, from Exal USA, offer shelf “pop” as well as quick-cooling properties. Exal’s “coil-to-can” process enables high-quality graphics.

Crown Cork & Seal supplies the metal crown closures.

Links: Exal USA
Crown Cork & Seal Co. Inc.