Take a look around your product category for the true leaders.

Avlon Industries, Melrose Park, IL, a manufacturer of salon and consumer hair products for the ethnic market, is leveraging structural design to assure that hair stylists use its Affirm Cream Relaxer hair salon products correctly. The new package structure also reduces costs.

Lexus promo mailer has the high-end touch

The Global Package Gallery wants your package designs!

You've got limited education budget and time, yet you want the essential information about trends driving packaging that gets results with today's demanding retailers and consumers. If this describes you, Shelf Impact!'s Package Design Workshops are just for you.

I recently struck up a conversation with a manager at a company that helps some major U.S. marketers produce consumer packaged products. Steps for integrating sustainability initiatives are wonderful, this manager said, but they quickly can break down in the "silo" mentality that's still prevalent at so many companies today.

Mass customization is an effective way to solidify brand loyalty, and Miller Brewing Co. offers a novel idea in the beer aisle.

A new book breaks through the clutter to offer practical strategies, tactics, and resources to jump-start your sustainable packaging program. Included are case histories and interviews with leading corporations that have adopted environmental stewardship programs.

Editor’s note: Global Package Gallery is a brand new Web site developed by Shelf Impact! The growing gallery currently contains more than 4,200 high-resolution package images from 37 countries, arranged by product category. Early subscribers include Unilever, Avon, Whole Foods, and a number of package design firms. But rather than us tell you about the gallery, we asked a real designer to review it. Here's what Kevin Saladyga had to say.

“Touchpoints” is a term that’s become popular in marketing and packaging jargon, and I’ve discussed it previously in this space. There are two definitions. In marketing vernacular, touchpoints describe each occasion a brand marketer communicates a brand message to a consumer.

Wonder Tablitz Corp., Walpole, MA, is performing a sustainability sleight of hand with a new line of household cleaning and deodorizing products that yields 96 oz of liquid product per each empty 32-oz bottle sold. The Wonder Tablitz™ line of four cleaning solutions relies on the company's patented effervescent-tablet technology and a custom spray bottle that holds tablet refills to provide consumers with an environmentally friendly and effective cleaning system, the company says.

In order to be truly effective, packaging has to literally deliver the heart and soul of the brand in a way that forges strong, emotive connections with the consumer. The days of delivering a hierarchy of features and benefits on packaging in a dry manner, sans emotion, are over. But where do emotive cues come from?

Too many packages fail to adequately clarify what the product inside does and, by association, declare a price-value relationship that helps consumers confidently purchase the right product.

With consumer markets fragmenting into ever-smaller niches, the need to understand who your consumers are and what motivates them to purchase has never been more important. You can learn about the latest research and strategy development approaches in use today at the ninth annual Proof: Market Research & Strategy Development for Package Design conference.

For Teen Everyday Skincare System skincare products, packaging is the messenger for inspirational messages and a bit of attitude.

In order to be truly effective, packaging has to literally deliver the heart and soul of the brand in a way that forges strong, emotive connections with the consumer. The days of delivering a hierarchy of features and benefits on packaging in a dry manner, sans emotion, are over. But where do emotive cues come from?

Mintel spots two products that make geographic considerations the focal point of product and packaging development.

Counterfeiting in all shapes and sizes has spun badly out of control. In response, packaging and brand protection departments at packaged goods manufacturers are seeking ways to keep counterfeiting from doing further damage.

Brand design is so much more than the artistic veneer it once was. It’s about orchestrating and delivering a total experience based on a deep understanding of what the consumer wants. When orchestrated perfectly, the design provides brand differentiation and delivers an experience that’s positive, memorable, and unexpected. In the fast-moving world of consumer goods, the opportunity for direct consumer experience with the brand is minimal. That is why Procter & Gamble’s previous way of thinking about design—regionally organized package and product design focused on simple aesthetics and technical aspects—gave way to a global design strategy based on the totality of the brand experience.

Over the years, in writing about the business of branding and design, I’ve found that some companies consistently develop products and packaging systems that truly hit home with consumers. One trait that these companies often share is the good fortune of having a top dog who understands the intoxicating power of design and actively nurtures it at all levels within the company’s culture.

How do you sell the value of design to senior management? What do you look for when selecting a design firm? Senior managers from five of the nation’s leading consumer packaged goods companies discussed these two topics in a panel discussion at the Fuse: Brand Identity and Package Design Conference in April in New York. Panelists were:

The package is becoming essential in marketing, and a good brief invites critical thinking earlier from those with packaging savvy.

Expo and conference to spotlight innovation, sustainability, co-packing, and global issues.

Drawing inspiration from brand of yesteryear is now the future

From tamper evidence to production protection to designs with flair, these packages are the real deal.

Six new packages strut their stuff. Packaging has become more closely aligned with corporate business strategies. Increasingly, it has a seat at management ’ s table.

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.

For brands that have earned icon status, the single most powerful marketing tool is an identity that synthesizes authenticity and relevance.

Here's a worthwhile exercise: Ask yourself and your package design team, "What If?" The challenge is to use great packaging ideas being introduced elsewhere not as a template for your own projects, but as inspiration for what could be for your packaged products. If you had no budget and no limitations, how would you engage shoppers and create shelf space that really grabs a consumer and makes an impact? Here is a list of "What Ifs" to ponder:

Last month, Shelf Impact! also asked readers this question: “From a creative perspective, what is the reason, most often, that new packaging initiatives fail?” Here are some of the most thoughtful answers we received:

Marketers should focus packaging communications on consumer product uses rather than ingredients, features, and price.

Considering that the venerable bar code’s first commercial packaging application predates the Korean War, one would think the printed zebra stripes are about as cutting-edge as ring-pull tabs on two-piece steel cans.

The paucity of true packaging innovation troubles Jim Goodell, Chief Executive Officer of i4design. Goodell, based in San Francisco, is a world traveler in servicing the branding and package design needs of product manufacturers, and he notes the extensiveness of “me too” packaging dotting store shelves, especially in the United States. Goodell recently sat down with Shelf Impact! to expound on his views.

SI: What do you see that’s new and different in the use of packaging as a marketing tool?

Goodell: I’m struggling to find anything that’s innovative in the U.S. Most of what I’m seeing is occurring overseas. In this country, too many packages lack integrated graphics and structure to deliver an on-target message about their particular brand. Changing the package color is a cost-effective way to do a line extension, but it’s still the same box. Is it really delivering on the message of the new product?

SI: Where do you see innovation occurring?

Goodell: A lot of small companies are driving innovation. They are creating unique designs, including closures, to make the package distinctive to deliver a true experience. Cocktails by Jenn, those four-pack vodka cocktails, started out regionally. People seem to like the single-serve packaging, and the brand has gotten some critical mass and is turning into a national brand. Some bigger companies are driving innovation, too. I like Guinness’ Floating Draught System. Each can of Guinness Draught contains a small plastic ball, filled with liquid nitrogen before the can is sealed. After the can is sealed, the nitrogen vaporizes and pressurizes the can. When the can is opened, the pressure on the nitrogen is reduced, and it comes out of holes in the ball. The result is that the beer, when poured, has a better “head” than other beers and it delivers a consumer experience unique to the Guinness brand.

SI: If you believe that a lot of the real packaging innovation is occurring in other countries, do you see evidence that these packages are serving as a source of design inspiration for U.S. marketers?

Goodell: I see a lot of marketers looking overseas to emulate packages over there rather than letting them inspire their creative thinking. I don’t mean to sound gloom and doom, but there is a lot of looking at what’s already on the market overseas and simply reproducing it here.

SI: Five years ago, the prevailing belief was that a small fraction of marketers really understood packaging’s capability to sell a brand. We’re hearing that today, about 50% of all marketers “get it.” Do you agree with that estimate?

Goodell: It sounds reasonable. The ones who really get it understand that a brand is owned by its consumers. Some marketers that we work with truly understand this, rather than it being a case of them trying to protect the ivory tower. But there’s still a bit of myopic marketing going on.

For a recent successful promotion, Paris, France-based lingerie leader Etam took the unusual step of packaging lingerie and denim clothing in limited-edition, custom metal “tins” from Crown Specialty Packaging, an affiliate of Crown Holdings Inc. The result? The entire stock sold out in 15 days.

Consumers at Etam retailers in France, Spain, and Italy purchased clothing packaged in distinctive 7 1/2 x 5 x 2 3/4 rectangular tins featuring graphics of prominent models and denim clothing. These primary packages were placed in 6 x 9” cylindrical tins with removable bottom ends.

Tin packaging reinforces Etam’s premium brand image, one which is “full of surprises,” says Marjoriie Courtet, Etam Director of Promotional Marketing and Special Events.

Time Direct Ventures found a way to “dress up” the experience of receiving a magazine subscription as a gift. “Our goal was to develop an innovative gift subscription product that consumers would be proud to give and that recipients would be delighted to receive,” says Deede Dickson, Vice President, Business Development, Time Inc.

First, Time created Giftscriptions, a gift subscription program that takes the form of a collectible guide describing 50 magazines and including redemption directions.

Then Time, working with brand consultancy TippingSprung, created a festive red gift carton in which to display the subscription guide.

An in-store point-of-purchase display repeats the graphic scheme on the cartons and signals a holiday-season impulse buy.

Product formulation specialists at Prestone Products Corp. developed several new chemical formulations that led to an advanced level of car-care products in Prestone’s De-Icer line. These include windshield-washer fluid with a dirt blocker that helps repel road spray and other salty, wintery grime.

The marketing department at Prestone set about positioning the new, stronger product formulations that make consumers feel empowered in keeping their car surfaces cleaner. Prestone and Group 4, a branding and design firm, interviewed consumers and settled upon the positioning phrase “Take Back Winter” for the extension of the De-Icer brand.

In the facial tissue wars, packaging is increasingly emphasizing convenience with a focus on the car. According to Mintel’s Global New Products Database, which has identified this trend, a new round of convenience packaging either enables the driver to grab a tissue more easily or the packaging is slimmer and more discreet in size to fit into a car cup-holder. A new focus of attention with convenience-size packaging is the storage well in the car door.

The following packages reflect this trend:

• In Canada, Irving Tissue markets tissue under the Royale brand that comes packaged in a plastic, cup-holder-friendly container. The container’s snap-off lid provides the convenience of refills. The container’s 50 two-ply tissues dispense through a hole in the lid. The container carries a suggested U.S. retail price of $1.45.

Over the past 32 years, Hallmark has focused on unique shapes and designs to create collector value for each of its 3,000 holiday ornaments. For its 2005 limited-edition ornaments, the collector value comes in the “label,” a festively decorated shrink sleeve.

The labels appear on two different Hallmark ornaments for 2005 The labels, from SleeveCo., are printed in six colors on PVC shrink film.

Link: SleeveCo

Piedmont Distillers, Madison, NC, wanted a distinctive bottle design to introduce its Catdaddy Carolina Moonshine regional brand with special appeal for Jägermeister consumers. It opted for a modern interpretation of a ceramic moonshine jug, created by Flowdesign.

The amber glass on the 750-mL bottle’s domed neck flows downward into a ridge to emulate a moonshine jug. Triple Xs are embossed on the glass below the ridge, and the brand logo is embossed in the label area on the glass.

The wraparound label is a ceramic material that’s sprayed and baked onto the glass. Text is screen-printed onto the label in two colors plus a blended color for the cream background.

Link: Flowdesign

How can a regional brand of honey spread gain national distribution? Position it as a healthful and less-fattening alternative to butter and cream cheese.

That’s what Mel-O Honey Inc., Cannon Falls, MN, has done. It restaged its Mel-O-Crème brand of honey spread by altering the package size and materials, and expanding the package’s available color palette to intensify taste appeal.

“We needed a new brand identity that would not only resonate in today’s market place, but also introduce new peach and raspberry SKUs,” says Curt Riess, Mel-O Honey CEO. “We needed a label that would tell consumers exactly what the product is and why they should buy it.”

Studio One Eleven designed the look of the 7-oz polypropylene tub. The container matches the size of competing low-fat/cholesterol-substitute products and places the honey spread in store coolers. The new design also:

The best packages compel consumers to sense the pleasure in using the product, giving them space to personalize meaning and build relevance.

Great packages communicate so effectively on a sensual and emotional level that a consumer can’t help but pick them up. They lend the product inside a special beauty all its own, so that consumers are drawn to the product because the package has made that product aesthetically pleasing.

Virginia Postrel, author of The Substance of Style, uses the phrase the “aesthetic imperative” to describe this dynamic between the consumer and the package. Following are three packages that reflect Postrel’s thinking.

A traditional supermarket offers 15,000 items. Let’s say the average shopper overlooks half of these during a shopping trip. That leaves 7,500 items.

The typical shopping trip requires 20 to 40 minutes. Let’s split the difference and use 30 minutes, or 1,800 seconds. Divide 1,800 seconds by the 7,500 items that are visible; each item is viewed for .24 seconds, on average.

How can a marketer compete amid all the clutter? The following five tactics can help capture short attention spans and increase sales.

• If a brand can own a color in consumers’ minds, it will easily stand out on shelf. Look at Uncle Ben’s use of orange.

• Often, an effective packaging differentiation strategy needs to transcend color. One option is to create a distinctive graphic element, such as the Tide bull’s-eye.

• Brand characters, such as Mr. Clean, can articulate a brand message and help to increase the package’s “findability.”

Company works closely with educators to develop graphing calculators. Equal attention is paid to packaging that will close the sale.

At Texas Instruments, the Educational & Productivity Solutions (E&PS) business faces the same pressure to increase sales as any of TI’s other entities. But E&PS also operates under two special constraints:

1. A key selling season takes place during a compressed time period—the back-to-school time frame—when shelf clutter dominates retail stores.

“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.

Marketing is a matter of perception over product. Generally, a better-branded, -packaged and -positioned product will get you a higher return on investment (ROI).

Yet, few package development teams work from a blueprint for creating, let alone maintaining, a brand that consumers find desirable. A desired brand creates value and continuous cash flow. But without a process for getting there, new brands and repositioning efforts can fail.

Consider this eight-step process for success for developing a formal process that builds a desired brand.

1. Product and concept research. Refine you idea and show it to consumers. How do they use and purchase the product?

2. Package-check research. Have focus groups check existing branding and packaging in your category. They should identify key visual equities that will be retained and help you understand a category’s “visual vocabulary.”

3. Position and strategy. Leverage your product and package-check research to develop strategies that position your brand in the consumer’s mind. Differentiate in a meaningful way.

Challenge: Directive from senior management to find new ways to merchandise a new line of paint in new packaging.

Action: Rather than take the typical “cherry-picking” approach, Mary DaRif, Director, Marketing Services at Sherwin-Williams, walked the floor of the P-O-P Show, Chicago, with an open mind. She visited nearly every exhibitor booth. DaRif discussed the details of the company’s new packaging and asked each vendor how it could help market her brand message effectively at the point-of-sale.

Result: DaRif returned to Sherwin-Williams with five solid ideas.