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We work with retail and cell phone companies who want to maximize their brands with innovative, sustainable packaging.
Plastic Ingenuity
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Download this white paper from Zunda Group to learn why the proper color strategy can tap into emotions to drive brand growth. Remember, marketing is about share of mind, it's all perception.
Zunda Group
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With Comp24 technology, you can easily view any design on any structure from any angle in any environment in virtual 3D. It's a cost-effective way to bring realism to websites, presentations... even TV commercials.
Comp24
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Join us for the only international conference & exhibition on bioplastic developments for real market solutions!
Learn about the latest in biobased market introductions, green marketing approaches as well as new resin & process technologies.
NatureWorks LLC
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We're on the road with our Package Design Workshops tour, newly updated for 2010! Package designers, brand and marketing managers, join us to learn about today's consumer, package design tactics and trends that incorporate shape, color, and function to create packaging that sells.
Shelf Impact!
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Our packaging experts help shape the content and provide independent analysis.
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Rethinking structure and production for tangible benefits
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.
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 2010. The observations became clear after analyzing the responses of more than 330 brand/marketing managers, designers, and materials suppliers surveyed online 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.
Read the full article.
The author, Eric Zeitoun, is President of Dragon Rouge USA, an international brand and design consultancy.
View our 2009 survey final results. |
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INTELLIGENCE ON DESIGN
Sauce in a spray bottle: an 'aha' or an 'oh-no?'
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As I looked at the new packaging for Southern Bar-B-Que basting sprays, I nearly fell off my overpriced Aeron chair. At first, I thought it was an homage to the famous Saturday Night Live "it's a floor wax and a desert topping" skit. But no, this was a food product in the same bottle and trigger sprayer that we all have seen lining shelves of industrial cleaners and household cleaning chemicals.
Now I love it when new packaging can be presented using familiar objects. We can see this in such products as Coppola's champagne in a can or even Southern's own barbecue sauce in traditional canning jars. That makes sense. However, in the case of the spray bottle, isn't the creative team forgetting some basic cues that designers have used not only to educate but also to guide consumers so they don't confuse gravy with motor oil?
The manufacturer markets Southern Bar-B-Que's basting spray packaging as "innovative." I suppose this is true if we think of innovative as merely new and different. However, this is the kind of packaging innovation we should think twice about, as it's an extremely misguided innovation. Innovation is about making or doing something in a new way. Southern's basting spray may be innovative, but merely pouring it into another container is not. In fact, I would argue it is inappropriate.
Designers have done a pretty good job of educating consumers (or perhaps it's the other way around) about packaging. We all know that for the mustard to pour, we have to pull off the seal under the lid. We know that to get the Parmesan cheese to come out, we have to turn the little dial on top. And to get at those tasty biscuits, we have to whack the package on the side of the counter. We don't package mustard in a roll-on package like underarm deodorant. We don't put shredded cheese in a can. And we don't put those tasty biscuits in pickle jars.
We do not mix and match these generally understood ideas about packaging, especially when mixing packaging forms associated with food with those associated with non-food items. Perhaps this is another indication of how far our economy and even design thinking has fallen. It seems more like the company flipped through the industrial supply catalog and said "hey, how 'bout we put it in this?"
I just cleaned the shower, shined my car rims, and removed a stain from my carpet. I don't want to confuse my cleaning experience with my cooking experience. It's just not that appetizing, and I'd hate to spray my chicken with Windex because I forgot which bottle was which. In fact, there's probably a reason why Tide has focused on giving us a better stain remover rather than better condiments.
Read the full article. |
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THINKING IN 360°
Private label vs. national brands: Sorting out value in new dimensions
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Who will own the store shelves as the economy slowly begins to wipe the sleep from its eyes? Will it be the national brands or private-label products?
Private label has made impressive gains over the past two years amid a very serious economic slump that has forced many consumers to rethink what products they purchase and why. But those in the private-label industry also say private label's lot previously had been improving for some time, that earlier sales gains owe to more than just being "the cheaper alternative" to national brands, and that private label will continue to make impressive inroads even after the economy recovers.
Perhaps, but I also took note of a report at the beginning of March showing that some consumers might be returning to national brands. Private-label sales rose 3.2% for the four weeks ended Feb. 20, but national-brand sales increased 2.4% for this same period. What's significant about that? The national-brand figure reverses declines of national-brand sales in recent reporting periods.
I got to thinking about these developments during a recent conversation with Candace Renwall, President of the Closure and Container Manufacturers Association. The consumer in Renwall worries whether packages that she brings into her family's house will answer basic functionality needs as the massive Baby Boomer segment of the population ages. And whether those packages not only will be easier to open and convenient to use, but also safe to open and use in the new world of terrorism influences.
Could these issues add new dimensions of value to packaging that would help settle the score between private label and national brands in the battle for shelf supremacy?
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Registration open for Shelf Impact!'s 2010 Package Design Workshops
 Shelf Impact!'s popular Package Design Workshops series returns for its third year in 2010, bigger and better than ever—and with lots of fresh material. Six workshops are scheduled around the country from April through September, and this year's program promises fresh, on-trend topics and more of the interactive group discussions that make the workshops must-attend events for anyone who needs the most up-to-date shopper and design trend information to maximize their efforts in the earliest creative stages of package design.
The 2010 workshop schedule is as follows:
- April 28, Minneapolis
- May 12, New York City
- June 2, Boston
- June 30, Chicago
- Aug. 25, Los Angeles
- Sept. 22, Philadelphia
The fast-paced, one-day workshops will cover topics including the "new" economy, harvesting design inspiration from other product categories, private-label trends, trends in society, Shelf Impact!'s exclusive innovation analysis, package-design trends and more—all in a roll-up-your-sleeves, interactive, and fun environment.
Cost is $425. Registration is open for each workshop, but seating is limited, so don't delay.
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Package Gallery
A closer look at the newest trends in today's packaging.
La Senza extends lingerie equities into fragrance packaging
La Senza, a well-known lingerie retailer in Canada and 30 other countries, has extended the brand into fine fragrances with La Seduction. The line of five fragrances, interestingly, comes in packaging whose design leverages the company's lingerie lines.
"We wanted packaging that would convey the sensuality of the fragrance itself with a glamorous look and feel that feels super-luxurious," says Felicia Schepis, Vice President of Product and Fragrance Development for Beauty Avenues, owner of Limited Brands Inc., which operates the La Senza brand.
In assisting La Senza with the package design, Bearwood & Co. began by focusing on La Senza's key brand equities: sexy, feminine, sophisticated, and indulgent. Building on these equities, the package design blends luxury and sensuality with a refined look and expensive finishes.
The hand-drawn black-lace pattern on the carton, reminiscent of sexy lace stockings and exotic flowers, is enhanced by embossing and varnish techniques. The La Seduction cartouche acts as the center of a garter band, cinching and wrapping the entire package. The refined serif gold-and-black typography artfully balances the graphic flourishes to communicate messages of "classic" and "expensive" with an understated tone.
A 360-degree wrap lace pattern on the Eau De Parfum glass bottle, decorated by Decotech, adds a seamless decorative dimension and another element of luxury to the package. It is complemented by a vintage-style atomizer, which creates an ultra-feminine classic French style.
Gold hot-stamped typography, black-on-black printing on the massage oil package, and embossed detailing on the outer cartons round out the design across the product family. |
U.K. vintner uncorks sustainable plastic wine bottle
A U.K. wine merchant has launched two new wine ranges packaged in an inventive plastic bottle that has proven to keep wine fresh for at least two years, and also is environmentally friendly.
Roger Harris Wines and Paul Sapin SA, in Mâcon, France, are using the innovative bottle for a French brand, La Perle by Paul Sapin, and a South African wine range, Khulu Sky. APPE Belgium coinjection molds the bottle's preform, which has a PET/Bindox/PET structure. APPE France stretch-blow-molds the bottle, which is available in the 187-mL and 750-mL sizes.
These bottles offer considerable environmental advantages. The MLP bottle is 35% lighter than a full 750-mL glass bottle, equating to loading 10,000 more bottles into each transportation container. A move from glass to PET would therefore cut one in three freight journeys.
Clare Montgomery, Sales Director at Roger Harris Wines, outlines the advantages of the new wine ranges:
"The wine is perfect for venues that have outside bar and drinking areas such as pub gardens, festivals, sports arenas, and holiday parks," Montgomery says. "On the shelf, the bottle looks just like glass, yet it is safe, won't break, and has a plastic screw cap, making it quick and easy to serve then reseal." |
'What's in dinner' replaces 'what's for dinner'
McCain Foods, an international marketer of convenient, frozen-food products, has brought its McCain It's all good™ message to life with new package designs for its frozen pizza, pizza pockets, and potato lines in Canada.
The impetus behind the redesign is McCain Foods' commitment to use ingredients such as specially selected potatoes, real cheese, green peppers, and vine-ripened tomatoes in its products. In addition, McCain has removed unfamiliar ingredients and explained to consumers the reasons behind the changes.
Working with Anthem Worldwide, a Schawk Strategic Design Company, McCain is leveraging package design as the transformation of its product line unfolds.
Research shows that 85% of Canadians are looking for prepared foods that are made with real ingredients they can recognize, and 86% want food companies to be more transparent about the ingredients in their food products," says Heather Crees, McCain Foods vice president of marketing. "We are responding to their need for simplicity and transparency."
The redesign leverages the each package's back panel to bring greater transparency to consumers with more detailed messaging. The text reinforces the simple-ingredients message and helps reconnect consumers with the company's "It's all good" message.
Schawk's printing technologies helped McCain achieve vivid printing to help shoppers see the quality of the food on the front carton panels. A matte finish on flexible bags of frozen potatoes achieves the look of a more natural product. |
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