In This Issue

Packaging observations and prognostications "Write an article about trends," the editor said. "Think about the future of package design and consumers. Look into your crystal ball."

Getting animated about cartoon characters and the power of persuasion One thing I noticed while walking through the food aisles of my local grocery store recently is that the products whose packages feature cartoon characters consistently seemed to be more picked over than the food products in plainer packaging.

Package Gallery

AriZona's high-tech bottle gives functional beverages a boost

By Jim George, Editor-in-Chief

For AriZona Beverage Co., the package is the primary method of communication with consumers, so when it introduced RESCUE Water in the functional beverage aisle, the company selected a package that both looked and performed differently from competitors' packages and also conveyed the quality of the product. In selecting the right package, AriZona issued several requirements to its supply chain:

enlarge

1. A panel-less, hot-fill PET bottle that achieves the look and feel of glass.
2. Robustness in the consumer's hand.
3. A package that mimics the appearance of a vitamin packer bottle.
4. Graphics that communicate the healthful product benefits.

AriZona accomplished these objectives by opting for a high-tech, high-touch, 20.5-oz bottle with a full-body shrink-sleeve label. The bottle was designed and developed by Constar using the supplier's X4™ technology, a panel-free design for hot-fill beverages. The bottle imparts the robust, in-hand feel of glass while also optimizing performance during hot filling and labeling.

To provide hoop strength, maintain shape, and align well with the label graphics, three concentric ribs are positioned at the top, middle, and bottom of the bottle.

"AriZona Beverage doesn't want the consumer to feel that the package is cheap," says Donald Deubel, Constar Senior Vice President of Corporate Technologies.

The high-tech geometry of the bottle enables the vacuum that is generated during the hot-fill process to be absorbed in the base of the bottle. That leaves the sides cylindrical, rigid, and smooth, giving the PET bottle an in-hand feel similar to glass. It also avoids the "crinkly" feel of labels that consumers often associate with plastic beverage bottles.

The monolayer bottles also include Constar's DiamondClear® technology, an aggressive oxygen scavenger blended evenly throughout the PET. The benefits are two-fold: protection of product flavor and freshness, and a bottle with glass-like clarity.

AriZona formulates RESCUE Water with the help of Twinlab Corp. The line includes four SKUs featuring AriZona's classic green tea extract for an antioxidant boost. The varieties are Berry Blend, a blend of L-Theanine, green tea extract, and lemon balm extract; Lemon Lime, a blend of guarana extract, green tea extract, and natural caffeine; Orange Citrus with Alpha Lipoic acid, green tea extract, milk thistle extract, and L-Glutathione; and Pomegranate Punch, which combats free radicals with a blend of Arabinogalactin, green tea extract, and elderberry extract.

AriZona uses brightly color-coded labels to differentiate between the flavor varieties.

INTELLIGENCE ON DESIGN Packaging observations and prognostications By Fred Richards, Executive Creative Director, North America Interbrand

"Write an article about trends," the editor said. "Think about the future of package design and consumers. Look into your crystal ball."  Easier said than done. I don't own a crystal ball, and if I had believed everything I watched on the television show "Tomorrow's World" when I was growing up, we all would be vacationing on the moon by now!

I could take the easy way out and wax poetic on the much-dissected topic of consumer opinions, the cliché of recycling and, of course, the 600-pound gorilla in the room—sustainability. Yes, they all are important issues, but hardly groundbreaking. In fact, here's what I see developing in these areas:

• Packaging will have to work harder than ever to compete at shelf.

• The weekly online grocery shopper will increase his or her influence and importance as the technology behind ordering and delivery becomes more sophisticated and convenient. This will become an important factor in brands' package design.

• Category language will shift as a brand's role evolves from mere shelf competitor to that of helper, advocate, enabler, and cache demonstrator within the home.

• Being "green" will continue to drive innovation in package design.

My advice to brand owners: Start working on your sustainability model immediately, before consumers or governments mandate it and you are forced to play catch-up at the expense of lost sales and a deteriorating brand image.

Now that we have gotten the "predictable" predictions out of the way, what else does packaging's future hold? First, I see a movement to smaller portion sizes and a "feel good" factor at shelf around more responsible purchasing. Bottled water will be the first victim of this "less is more" trend. Why on earth are consumers in New York and Paris drinking water from Fiji anyway? Remember the anti-fur coat campaign; a similar backlash may be in bottled water's future.

However, as we are talking about the future, let's be optimistic and positive. Those brands which are able to truly understand their key equities and how best to leverage them will find that they can prosper in new, innovative, non-traditional categories. Could we see a breakfast energy drink from Duracell in the juice aisle, Gillette in the power tools section at Lowe's, Olay sponsoring and supplying facial products to the Red Cross (no longer just hope in a jar but meaningful hope for the world), and Starbucks dispensing healthy tea along with knowledge exchanges (we used to call them libraries!)? Why not? All things are possible, even vacations on the moon.

So when and where will these branding and packaging revolutions begin? Some are already in motion, but my crystal ball reveals only a tantalizing glimpse of the others' future. Of one thing I am sure: Consumer opinion will continue to shape the future of packaging. Like water flowing downhill, consumers will always find a way to make their wishes known.

Read the full article.

THINKING IN 360° Getting animated about cartoon characters and the power of persuasion By Jim George, Editor

One thing I noticed while walking through the food aisles of my local grocery store recently is that the products whose packages feature cartoon characters consistently seemed to be more picked over than the food products in plainer packaging.

At first, I thought, maybe a store associate had recently restocked or straightened the aisle, skewing my very informal research results. But the more I walked down the aisle for everything from cookies to snack crackers, the more I noticed that products in packages that clearly are meant to target kids were relatively picked over.

My hunch about the correlation between cartoon characters and packages that drive sales is supported by some new research. At Yale University, researchers have found that preschool kids definitely are swayed by the power of suggestion in packaging. About 40 preschoolers who were studied said that food "tastes better" when it comes in packages bearing wide-eyed, smiling cartoon characters. And we all know how influential kids can be on mom's and dad's purchase decisions.

• For example, 55% of the kids said cartoon-labeled snack crackers tasted better.
• 52% of the kids preferred gummy-like candies when the carton has a cartoon theme.
• Over in cookies, there are exceptions, of course, but there's no denying kids' adoration of the Keebler Elf.

What does this mean for marketers? If you're in the food business and your target market is younger kids, it might be worth your while to investigate whether cartoon-themed packaging makes sense for your brand's bottom line. You'll score brownie points if your product passes mom's standards for a healthful snack.