What really is this thing we call packaging innovation, how is it nourished, and how can it be successfully woven into a company's approach to package design? This month, Shelf Impact! continues its discussion with Elizabeth Head-Fischer, Packaging Design Manager at Texas Instruments; Michael Livolsi, Package Design Consultant formerly with Unilever; and Arno Melchior, Global Packaging Director at Reckitt Benckiser.
SI: What internal challenges do you face in conceiving a really innovative package and getting it to market?
Head-Fischer: Innovation, of course, requires coming up with something new. So naturally your innovation team begins thinking outside the box. They begin looking at novel substrates, for example. The internal challenge you then face revolves around keeping team members from each going off in wildly different directions.
Melchior: Getting a fix on the financials is always challenging. Even if your product or package innovation is totally new, there are still products in the marketplace you can compare against. Once you establish that comparable products already in the marketplace cost $2.99, you can't very well price yours at $5.99.
Livolsi: Packaging has to breathe. It can't be too crowded with communication. So marketers and designers on the
innovation team have to agree they will honor the negative space on a package just as much as the positive space that carries brand, color, shape, copy, and package architecture. Another internal challenge is one where a brand manager is so intent on projecting their brand that they become too protective about design elements or images.
SI: Is it necessary to have a director, a leader, a champion on the innovation team? And should this person come from any one discipline in particular?
Head-Fischer: I think an innovation leader is important, yes. Even if that one person doesn't have all of the insights, it's still important to have a captain.
SI: Where do you see package structures trending in the next few years?
Head-Fischer: I've been to some really great conferences lately that make me believe we'll see great strides on the
environmental footprint of packaging. An alternative to PVC is one example. I also see a lot of people trying to think of how a package might not necessarily have to go directly to the waste stream. Compostable materials like PLA is another area where I think we'll see progress.
Melchior: I see lightweighting being looked at more carefully than ever. That may involve design work that makes a
rigid package lighter, or it may be taking a close look at a flexible package in place of rigid. It isn't just the Wal-Mart
sustainable package initiative that will drive this, either. It's also a response to ever increasing petrol prices. I also see continued expansion into bio-based materials.
- By Jim George and Pat Reynold
