Package design solutions can deliver brands that fulfill consumers’ inmost desires; reaffirm their values or a feeling of achieved aspirational status, a sense of enjoyment, and a growing relationship. These elements satisfy deep emotional needs. Therefore, brands that embody the lifestyle the consumer has, or aspires to, resonate strongly because consumers identify with them at the deepest level.

In recent televised interviews, separate groups of progressive younger children were shown logos or icons of some of the country’s best-know brands. As the moderator displayed cards Showing each image, she asked the children sitting before her to respond with the name of the brand.

Sustainability is fast becoming a hot area of focus for many consumer packaged goods companies. One of every two respondents to a Shelf Impact! survey in June and July 2006 indicated their package-development process now includes sustainability initiatives--typically using biodegradable and recyclable materials, and reducing the amount of packaging used.

In September, Shelf Impact! also asked readers the following question. From a packaging perspective, how do you define the term “innovative”? Fifty-two readers responded, and here is what some of you had to say:

In a recent reporting period, Europe accounted for 40% and Asia Pacific 26% of new product introductions in the fabric care and detergents sub-category, substantially more than any other region around the globe. During this period, reports Mintel’s Global New Products Database, a growing number of brands have been focusing on healthful benefits; product anti-bacterial claims increased by 33%, and packaging is supporting the marketing claims.

Icon brands that stay relevant and create symmetry between products in the brand “family” continue to endure in consumers’ hearts. Gerber, a long-trusted brand, is a recent example with a new packaging system for all three of its lines, which help consumers to shop the category more efficiently.

Where does Disney Consumer Products get the inspiration for its packaging? Sheila Ullery, Health and Beauty Director, mentioned at the HBA Expo in September that Disney creates the image first and then builds products and packaging around it. This approach is in stark contrast to most consumer goods companies, which create the product first, then try to figure out an image to go with it.

If you make health foods fun through creative marketing, will kids swallow it?

Experience is the best teacher, they say. And because this adage is as true in packaging as it is anywhere else, Packaging World magazine used it as the basis for an exclusive online survey conducted this spring when Packworld.com asked packaging professionals for their wisdom, insights, and “eureka” moments.