Some packages coming on the market boast innovative structures and bold graphic treatments that give brands the upper hand by helping to redefine a category.

By Eric Zeitoun

An early trend in 2010 suggests that package innovation will be dictated by the ability to rethink structural design and production choices through the lens of tangible consumer benefits. Graphic innovation on its own might not be enough to showcase package innovation, although when it comes to graphics, simple is beautiful.

Those are two key takeaways from Shelf Impact!/Dragon Rouge’s first quarterly package-innovation survey of the new year. The observations became clear after analyzing the responses of more than 330 brand/marketing managers, designers, and materials suppliers surveyed during January. These professionals reviewed 15 new packages across multiple product categories that were selected by the editors of Shelf Impact! to represent a mix of product categories and package forms. To review an image and brief description of each package reviewed this quarter, go to www.shelfimpact.com/go/5.

The survey respondents made one point clear: Times have changed, and so should package structure. Continuing one of the trends our exclusive survey project identified in 2009, structural innovation still seems to be the most effective way to communicate that a product concept is innovative … or not.

That’s why in this survey, Orca Bay’s frozen seafood cook-in-steam package system, Hardys’ Nottage Hill compact wine dispenser, and Tropical Foods’ microwavable Dipping Chocolate received the highest scores in both “innovative product concept” and “innovative package structure,” two of the five categories that established the criteria for assessing each package (see the sidebar for full particulars on how the survey was conducted).

What these package innovations all have in common is the ability to empower consumers to regain a sense of control in their busy lives by saving time, space, or both. For instance, Orca Bay recognizes that working mothers don’t have time to unfreeze, steam, and cook frozen food. Hence, Orca Bay introduced a proprietary cook-in-steam system that minimizes preparation time with a laminated PET flexible film pack. The package features “micro pores” that enable steam to escape throughout the cooking process.

Or consider Hardys’ Nottage Hill’s new take on wine dispensing. The package saves storage by putting the equivalent of three bottles of wine in a single container (activated with a bag-and-tap system). This clever design requires storage space that is the equivalent of one 750-mL wine bottle.

Meanwhile, new packages for brands such as Aqua Fresh and Minute Maid rated lower on the same measures, even though they received favorable marks for visual design. Minute Maid avoids the Tropicana pitfall in the sense that its new graphic treatment stays true to its graphic equity (black square and ripe juiciness straight from the tree). However, our survey respondents said, the brand misses an opportunity to widen the gap with its competition by sticking to an existing package structure that does little to improve consumers’ lives (think easier opening, pouring, on-the-go format, etc.).

Similarly, our survey respondents concluded that Aqua Fresh relies heavily on graphic design and not enough on structural innovation (e.g. cutouts, see-through, etc.) to convey a sense of innovation in the toothpaste category.

It’s bold graphics, too

This is certainly not to imply that heavy attention to graphic elements is a bad thing. In fact, if innovation is not expressed through package structure, strong graphic treatment certainly will do the job. Simple, bold graphics seem to be the ones that most effectively convey the idea of innovation.

For example, Jackson Family Wine scored the highest among the 15 packages in graphic innovation because of its ability to convey the idea of premium product quality. The package does so with a very clean and nonintrusive design of a palm tree, using a silver-color treatment that can shine in a low-light setting in fine-dining restaurants.

Elsewhere, Weil Baby bottles have mastered the art of simplicity by equating the package and the product. All bottles come with a nonintrusive yet bold logo treatment on colorful and fun backgrounds, resulting in a design that can reassure parents and amuse kids.

At the other end of the spectrum, two chocolate brands seem to be lagging on the graphic innovation scale, probably for the exact opposite reasons that Jackson Family Wine and Weil Baby bottles earned the top spots. Survey respondents indicated that the graphic treatments on cartons of Karl Fazer’s chocolates and for Dipping Chocolate probably are trying too hard to convey a sense of tradition and heritage by using uninspiring imagery, saturated colors, and old-fashioned design elements in a category where indulgent cues are key. This is especially true in the current economic climate, where consumers see confectionery as an affordable and indulgent ritual.

Mind perceived inefficiencies

For all the high praise that a brand like Jackson Family Wine received for its bold and innovative graphic treatment, the brand took a bit of a hit in the “innovative production processes” and “innovative choice of materials” categories. This can happen when consumers perceive that the use of lavish and expensive decorative treatments is out of place. It’s possible that the survey respondents perceived the decorative wine bottle, which uses ink containing platinum flakes, as an over-indulgence. It will be interesting to see whether consumers agree.

Meanwhile, Orca and Godiva got high marks for innovative production and materials choices because the production results translate into clear consumer benefits: easier food preparation in the case of Orca, stable pricing for Godiva, and more sustainable as well as a more transparent package with T-Mobile.

By simply shifting from an imported specialty paper used for its chocolate gift box to printing on special foil metallic-coated paper, Godiva managed to achieve savings of more than 30%. Similarly, T-Mobile reconfigured the blister pack for its pay-as-you-go phone. That package change enabled the brand to reduce plastic use by 45%, trim the use of transport materials by 40%, boost production rates by 20%, and enhance transparency of the plastic for better product viewing. It seems like a win-win.

The author, Eric Zeitoun, is President of Dragon Rouge USA, an international brand and design consultancy. Contact him at eric@dragonrouge-usa.com or 212/367-8800.