Packaging Top Ten Tips

In order to help you develop your packaging more productively, we have generated a series of  FREE short 1-2 minute videos detailing our Tip Ten Tips for getting it right. We will be posting 1 x video per day on this blog site over a 10 day period – so keep a look out for them – they could save you a £££$$$ fortune in the long run!

DAY 4 – Tip No4: What route to market will you take? Direct via the Internet? Through a wholesaler? or through a retail store? All have their own peculiarities and requirements, which will affect your pack design. Find out more on the video…

Have fun packaging.

Cheers Chris

Today’s Video:

Packaging Tip No4 – Market supply chains – by Chris Penfold – Design Cognition

Look out tomorrow for Tip No 5 – Manufacturing & production constraints…..

Follow the link below to read an interesting FT.com article which talks about the expected development & impact of the following topics on business:
1. Blue-sky computing
2. Work longer, work older
3. Information does have a value
4. Greed isn’t as good as we thought
5. Energy sources get smarter
6. Generation Xers come into their own
7. Gain from the pain of failure
8. Do more with less
9. Jump on the hedge
10. Deliver us from shopping

So what do you think that this means for 1.the packaging design process (i.e. HOW we design) & 2. packaging design itself (i.e WHAT we design)?

Some will have a major impact and others less so.

The 3 that stand-out for me are:
1.Blue-sky computing - which will have a fundamental affect on the way we work & collaborate over the internet in both the design process and the interactive shopping process.

8. Do more with less – is already having an affect every day on packaging design as we try to balance the need to add ever-more information on the one hand with the need to reduce materials & pack footprint from a sustainability point of view, on the other hand.

10. Deliver us from shopping – will provide interesting & surreal opportunities as internet shopping ‘comes of age’, ‘pick-up’ areas are introduced by stores such as Wal-Mart and as web and mobile phone technology converge.

Read the FT.com article by following this link & let us know what you think: 10 innovations that will reshape business

Watch this space for my further, more in-depth thoughts on this over the coming days.

Cheers

Chris

Why am I not surprised that only a quarter of consumers are aware of renewable materials in packaging and even fewer have heard of FSC, research from the carton producers association ACE has found. I wouldn’t say that the benefits have been particularly well marketed to the industry, let alone consumers.

Research carried out among 1,001 shoppers for the Alliance for Beverage Cartons and the Environment (ACE) UK found that just 26% of consumers had heard of renewable materials being used in packaging, while 16% knew of the FSC chain of custody logo.

Although I’m aware that mixed material cartons are now collected at some supermarkets (in the UK), it seems to be ‘patchy’ to say the least. The Tetra pak website provides some useful information, but I for one am not convinced that widespread and adequate infrastructure is in place to process these once collected, what impact processing has on the environment and what real usage there is for the recovered materials afterwards. Tetra Pak state that materials can be “used in furniture, to generate energy or even separated out into pure aluminium and paraffin.” But I wonder how much of that actually happens?

Cartons may well state that “purchasing this FSC certified carton from Tetra Pak supports responsible forest management worldwide”, but there are no statements about the other materials that need to be separated.

So come on FSC, if you’d like to provide us with the relevant information so that we can all make an informed judgement as to the pros & cons, we (in the industry) can help you spread your message.

Chris Penfold

Here you can read the rest of the article: ‘Three shoppers in four ‘unaware of renewable packaging materials’: study‘ Dated 25th January 2009, Via Packaging News website.

The use of Multisensoric for confectionery packaging on the increase

By Jane Byrne , 15-Dec-2009

Appealing to consumers’ five senses through innovative packaging techniques can result in increased brand loyalty and greater impact at point of sale, and it is a key driver in confectionery packaging, according to the organisers of the 2010 Pro Sweets trade show.

Multisensoric is an approach to packaging design that allows packaging to stimulate and arouse emotions in consumers to encourage purchase and examples include such elements as striking colour schemes, windows to view the product, exciting rustling sounds and foldout trays.

The Pro Sweets team said that, as a result, the confectionery industry is increasingly focused on touch, sight and sound finished packaging elements such as foil lamination, textured embossing, and varnishes.

via Multisensoric trend key to confectionery packaging, claims German group.

I suppose there are pros and cons – is it better to protect the food with more packaging so that it can be stored for longer and there is less food waste – or better to scrap the food and save on the packaging?  I think if they can find a way of making the film from a biodegradable material then this has the potential to be a real step forward.  It would take some selling to the general public though, there appears to be a large number who believe that all packaging is evil, regardless of it’s use or benifit. (Jane)

Health-conscious consumers bananas are a welcome part of a convenience store’s offering. That is, until they turn brown. Which is why Del Monte developed a new plastic wrap for bananas that promises to more than double their shelf life by keeping out air and moisture. 7-Eleven has been trialling the second skin in 27 of its Dallas-area stores. If the trial is successful, the bananas-in-bags could be stocked in the majority of the chain’s 5,787 shops by early 2010.

From the perspective of consumer health that’s a thumbs up, but some have criticized the extra packaging as environmentally unsound. After all, bananas come wrapped in their own protective layer. Del Monte is looking to develop biodegradable packaging, but also stresses that the new plastic wrapper reduces the overall carbon footprint by enabling a reduction in deliveries. The company is also introducing specially packaged bananas in vending machines, underlining the wider context of increased consumer demand for food that’s both healthy and convenient. (Related: Vending machines for healthy food — Vending machines for farm produce.)

via New packaging prolongs shelf life of bananas – Springwise.

Interesting article and data  on the importance of continued investment into innovative packaging and graphics (Annie)

Year long survey consistently finds that structure might best communicate innovation, especially with supportive graphics. Materials and production also are good barometers. In any economic environment, innovation is key to growth. But, during a recession, many companies are tempted to reduce spending on innovation to save money. Luckily, this is not an absolute rule. Daring brands still pushed the boundaries of packaging innovation in 2009.Earlier this year, Shelf Impact! and international brand consultancy Dragon Rouge formed a partnership to ask branding and packaging professionals to evaluate recent product and packaging innovations. Each quarter, we asked a sample of hundreds of Shelf Impact! readers, from brand managers to designers to materials suppliers, to rate a selection of packages on matters of innovation. View an image and brief description of each of the 10 packages reviewed this quarter.

via Shelf Impact: “Achieving attention-getting innovation” Filed In:.

This is a really interesting insight into the diverse nature of retail outlets across the globe and it’s good to think for a  minute (or three) about the affect that has, not only on the shopping habits of consumers, but also on pack design. All four of the markets mentioned (Brazil, Russia, India & China) work to a totally different supply-model and designers should be aware of this when developing market-specific packs for each of those regions. Even in the same market (e.g. India) there is a huge difference between the requirements for packaging in the huge new department stores sprouting up and the small ‘mom & pop’ stores that exist out in more rural areas. Just think for a moment about the different requirements for each ‘outlet’ in terms of information:

1. The need to read bar codes in some areas and not in others

2. The requirements of self-selection in a department store versus an ‘endorsement’ by ‘mom & pop’ in the smaller stores

3. The greater degree for branding & shelf stand-out required in the bigger stores, where products are ‘fighting’ against  a far bigger range of competing products

4. The more stringent shelving requirements in department stores in terms of  shelf height, ‘facings’ and fit on gondola ends.

To name but a few…. and then there are the different transit & product-protection requirements to get to the store and to be ‘managed’ therin. I.e. The use of an automated (potentially) delivery & stock-handing system in a modern department store to that of  ‘horse & cart’ delivery & manual booking in system to a store in the outer reaches of Goa.

Food for thought – Chris Penfold

Changing retail landscape helps define cosmetics in BRIC markets

The fast-changing retail landscapes in Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC markets) are creating new opportunities for cosmetics and personal care players to market products.

Although the retail landscapes are developing in quite different ways in each market, the key to successfully marketing personal care and cosmetics products will be determined by how effective companies are at tapping into these channels.

Speaking at the recent HBA conference program, held in New York City last month, Kline Group’s Carrie Mellage lifted the lid on each of these markets to show how the retail channels are evolving and to describe how companies are taking advantage of this.

By By Simon Pitman, 05-Oct-2009 www.cosmeticsdesign-europe.com

You can read the full article here: http://tinyurl.com/ydyggt4

It’s an interesting idea and definitely one to keep an eye on.  Whether the consumers will really have the influence to change much remains to be seen but it’s certainly an idea on how to generate interest in the general public.  I hope they will be vetting panel members to ensure that they don’t work for a rival store! (Jane)

Supermarket giant Asda is to consult its customers directly on packaging design as part of new plans to earn long-term loyalty from shoppers.

via Asda to consult customers on packaging in transparency drive | packagingnews.co.uk.

Josh Brooks, packagingnews.co.uk, 05 October 2009

Josh Brooks, packagingnews.co.uk, 24 September 2009

Ireland’s plastic bag tax is to double under new laws expected to be published next month.

The current 22 euro cent tax on every single-use carrier distributed would double to 44 cents, around 40p, under the proposals.

Comment: It’s great to see the Irish government taking initiatives to reduce POS use of plastic bags, but I still believe  that targeting plastic bags is a political stunt that takes everyone’s eyes off the ‘bigger picture’. There are ‘bigger fish to fry’ such as the 30% food waste generated every day by most households, which used huge amounts of energy and resource to grow it, farm it, transport it, package it, take it home, store it in the fridge – only to be thrown away – let’s get a sense of perspective here! Chris Penfold

Read the full article here: http://tinyurl.com/ydpcrrn

Simeon Goldstein, packagingnews.co.uk, 25 September 2009

Six UK DIY retailers and brands have signed up to a Courtauld-style voluntary agreement to reduce packaging and waste to landfill.

Argos, B&Q, Focus, Henkel, Homebase and Wickes have agreed to achieve a 15% packaging reduction and halve waste to landfill by the end of 2012

Read the full article here: DIY sector gets its own ‘Courtauld’ commitment | packagingnews.co.uk.