As a child, I loved being the first person in my family to break through the seal of any new package. It was a constant battle between my little sister and I that soon became a parental bargaining tool to separate and reward us. Be it pushing a spoon through the seal under a jar's lid, zipping open a foil pouch, or pouring that first cascade of corn flakes from the box, there was something special about that moment.

Truth is, there still is. The opening ceremony is, sadly, becoming a lost art within the package-design world. Tamper-evident packages are dominating the market, with little to no thought given to the precious first pour and subsequent uses.

Celebrating a package's opening is a precious consumer connection with a brand, a moment akin to opening a gift each and every time. Certain ceremonies can even become so ritualistic in terms of usage that opening the package becomes an inherent part of the brand experience.

The Nivea and Altoids brands are prime examples. With Nivea, the foil inside that keeps the product from evaporating is carefully peeled back and the cream is then gently scooped out with the fingers. The foil is never fully removed and discarded. Rather, it is meticulously repositioned each time prior to the cap being replaced.

With Altoids, the sheet of paper inside the tin is never removed. There is something special about pushing the two loose leaves of paper aside to search for the hidden mints beneath them that adds to the brand experience.

The opportunity here for package designers to strengthen the brand-consumer connection is huge. The opening ceremony is one of the few occasions that a brand has to engage all of a consumer's senses when he or she has the product in hand. Everything is at its pristine best; there's that "new" smell, texture, and weight of the package, the crinkling sound of the wrapper, and the visual beauty of the package's label and other aesthetics.

Include a "grand opening" in your package-design process and you will open the door to greater success at shelf.

By Dyfed "Fred" Richards, Executive Creative Director, North America, Interbrand