HP believes that the consumer's first interactions with a new product are so critical that the company's packaging department has a "user experience designer."

When a brand favored by professionals goes mainstream, communication challenges with the new audience can be considerable. The products are usually of premium quality, with a corresponding price point. The right packaging is essential in introducing the brand to mainstream consumers.

If your objective is shelf distinction in your category, do what competing brands don't.

Theft deterrence and product visibility were key requirements in a two-part, snap-fit, thermoformed package for Microsoft's new Windows Vista software sold in select Latin American markets. The use of recycled PET sourced from industrial scrap adds a measure of sustainability to the new pack.

Spartech Packaging Technology makes both the base and lid. The base has a large undercut, into which the lid is snapped once the product has been loaded. A thief would need considerable time and dexterity to separate the lid from the base.

Also important to Microsoft was that the package be easy to load and close using existing assembly and packaging systems. Mission accomplished, says Patti Sullivan, Microsoft Senior Packaging Project Manager.

"As with any design and packaging project, there were rounds of testing and fine-tuning, but from start to finish, Spartech consistently delivered and met required criteria," Sullivan adds.

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.

Hewlett Packard’s move to RPETG gives its club store packs of ink-jet cartridges an environmentally friendlier edgs.

In recordable disks, a commodity category, Maxell brings a new look that’s exclusive to Wal-Mart by keying on current trends in automobile culture.

Blister-corrugated package provides security and a 'neat' appearance.

Toshiba America Electronic Components Inc. is going “eco-friendly” with packaging for its first products at Sam’s Club. The Irvine, CA-based company uses Winterborne’s EnviroShell™ packaging for a trio of memory storage devices.

EnviroShell is a hybrid blister-corrugated package made from 65% recycled materials, including 50% post-consumer content. The packaging uses a combination of corrugated to carry graphics and clear RPET (recycled polyester) to display the product.

A recycled polyester blister is sandwiched and heat-sealed between the folded E-flute corrugated while a lamination of four-color, offset-printed 80# paper carries the colorful graphics.

Contract packager Winterborne developed materials and equipment technology to seal the corrugated material together at certain points around the central blister. The corrugated is also sealed along the edges for an atypically neat appearance and to improve package security by making it difficult to peel the layers apart, according to Winterborne. Per Sam’s Club’s request, “This is a package that takes environmental impact into account. We are using this instead of standard polyvinyl chloride clamshell packaging,” says Tom Gehrich, Toshiba’s Director of Memory Sales.

Motorola wanted a distinctive, upscale package for its Original premium cell phone accessories. It selected a package from AGI Klearfold that combines a fold-over thermoformed tray slid inside a printed sleeve.

A different sleeve holds each of the four accessories. Package printing is done in flexo in nine colors plus rotary screen printing in one color.

A slot molded into the slide of the tray connects with a tab inside each sleeve. The tray folds over and slides into a sleeve, and the sleeve’s tabs lock into the slot in the try to hold the fold-over tray closed. The trays mirror the shape of each accessory.

Link: AGI Klearfold, a MeadWestvaco Resource

Imation Europe is rolling out CDs and DVDs in user-friendly paperboard packs in Europe that consumers prefer to other optical disc cases. The company has opted for DBS Discbox Slider paperboard packs from Stora Enso.

A majority of consumers told the company in a market study that they favor the new packs for their slender size, the configuration of two discs in one case, and the environmental benefits.

“The low weight and slim size of DBS bring savings in transportation costs and shelf space at retail,” says Peter Klinckenberg, EMEA Product Marketing Manager at Imation Europe BV.

Link: Stora Enso

The right package structure can help build incremental sales opportunities for a product when brand managers know how consumers use their product and they leverage that knowledge in creating new “touchpoints” with consumers.

Guys like gadgets. Guys like triggers, toggle switches, and levers. Guys go bonkers over gadgets that incorporate triggers, toggle switches, and levers.

The Gillette Co.’s dome-top, lever-action, energy-drink-can-look-alike package for its Right Guard Extreme Cool Spray Rush appears to be a winner. Here's why.

At the point of purchase, Rush stands apart from its malodorous-fighting counterparts at first glance due to its stature as a squat, round, seamed metal container more common among shaving gels. It weighs 4 oz., but when topped with a domed and ribbed cap decorated in a deep blue, it bears a striking resemblance to the 8.4 oz. “trim can,” popular in energy drinks.