Package Design - October 2011 by ST Media Group International

PACKAGEDESIGNMAG.COM BECAUSE THE PACKAGE IS THE BRAND

OCTOBER 2011

Beer Me Craft brewers find new ways to stand out on the shelf

Main Headline Sub Headline ALSO:

Chasing Correct ALSO: Colors Focus onSecondary Aluminum Lines & Metal Materials Spirited Designs Secondary for Lines Liquors Secondary Lines PACKAGEDESIGNMAG.COM Secondary

Lines

Contents

october 2011 Vol. 9 No. 8

COLUMNS 12 Designer’s Corner by Michael Osborne Evolutionary package design attracts new consumers and encourages brand loyalty.

14 Sustainably Speaking by Wendy Jedlicka Wine pouch offers modern approach to a historic wine package format.

DEPARTMENTS 4 Editor’s Letter 6

Features 16

9 Snapshots

The Color of Predictability

29 Product Focus:

New technologies prevent color shifts between designs and final packages.

Metal and Aluminum Containers

35 datebook

Change Is Brewing

35 Index of Advertisers

Consumer buying habits are changing how craft beers are packaged and marketed.

36 GlobeSpotting by Lynn Dornblaser Soda in a spray can takes the U.K. beverage market for a foamy, fizzy spin.

Successful Rebels Brand owners challenge category conventions to create stellar packages.

Luxury and Inspiration

Front Panel

Luxe Pack Monaco sparks brand owners’ and package designers’ imaginations.

This month on PackageDesignMag.com ON THE COVER Finch’s Beer Company cans protect the craft beer contents and create shelf impact with their 360-degree decorating area. (See “Change Is Brewing,” page 24.)

october 2011

Toon-in-a-Can Markets Soft Drinks to Kids http://www.packagedesignmag.com/cartooncan

Chris Cockrell, an IoPP member since 2005, completed Fundamentals of Packaging Technology in January, 2006.

More success. â&#x20AC;&#x153;When I started at FUJIFILM, I had limited packaging experience. I needed formal training focused on packaging that would give me the right tools to make better decisions about packaging and product development. IoPP offered the best educational program to help me gain applicable packaging skills. Fundamentals of Packaging Technology increased my proficiencies and, since completing the course, I was promoted from Engineering Technician to Packaging Engineer.â&#x20AC;? Chris Cockrell Packaging Engineer Graphics Arts Products Division FUJIFILM Manufacturing U.S.A., Inc.

For more information about IoPP and its educational programs, call 800-432-4085. Or visit www.iopp.org.

FROM THE EDITOR

by Linda casey

Brights in the Round S

ometimes less is best. Finch’s Beer Company, whose cans grace the cover of this month’s issue, faced a problem common to many small breweries when placing its first aluminum can order. “The minimum pallet order is a killer,” says Ben Finch, co-owner of the brewery. “Our supplier’s minimum pallet order is 12 pallets of the label, which is about 86,000 cans.” There may be hope for brand owners and package designers who want to produce smaller quantities of aluminum packaged goods. At Graph Expo, I saw two solutions that specifically provide short-run printing of aluminum cans. The first solution came from Inx International. The company’s CP100 cylindrical inkjet printer uses Xaar print heads and an advanced UV LED-curing system to print directly onto round aluminum containers. Cans and bottles are imaged in four-color process using single- or multi-pass printing. The system is already being used by Liberty Bottleworks in Union Gap, WA, to produce printed water bottles in some very small quantities—as low as 100. Because the system is a digital inkjet printer, a package designer theoretically could create a bottle or can design that’s personalized for each end consumer with variable data such as the customer’s name. This was the idea behind the printed can display at Hewlett-Packard’s booth at Graph Expo. The company showed real-life digital labeling applications for cans from brand names such as Sprite and Heineken. Jill Peters, public relations manager for HP’s graphics solutions business, said that graphic designers have long used the Indigo press to produce personalized marketing materials for the commercial printing world and the same technology could easily be used by package designers to create completely customized individual beer cans. This, she notes, can be an excellent opportunity not only for small breweries needing smaller minimum orders of printed packaging, but also for larger brands looking to extend their product offerings with packaging. Breweries large and small could create custom gift sets out of their six-packs. And who wouldn’t want to receive a customized can or six-pack of his favorite brew?

Stay in touch with us by: Email: linda.casey@stmediagroup.com LinkedIn: Package Design Magazine Facebook: Packagedesign Mag Twitter: packagedesignmg (no “a” in “mg”)

october 2011

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Editorial Department Editor-in-Chief Linda Casey linda.casey@stmediagroup.com Contributing editor Patrick Henry pat.henry@stmediagroup.com Art Director Laura Mohr laura.mohr@stmediagroup.com Production Coordinator Linda Volz 513-263-9398 linda.volz@stmediagroup.com Sales Department Publisher Julie Okon 317-564-8475 / Fax: 513-744-6909 julie.okon@stmediagroup.com associate Publisher John T. Lyons III 770-955-2923 / Fax: 610-296-1553 john.lyons@stmediagroup.com Corporate Staff President Tedd Swormstedt Design group director Kristin D. Zeit Package Design Subscription Services P.O. Box 1060 Skokie, IL 60076 P: (847) 763-4938 F: (847) 763-9030 PD@halldata.com Reprints / e-Prints / Plaques Mark Kissling 513-263-9399 mark.kissling@stmediagroup.com

PACKAGE DESIGN (ISSN 1554-6772) is published 10 times annually by ST Media Group International Inc., 11262 Cornell Park Dr., Cincinnati, OH 45242-1812. Telephone: (513) 421-2050, Fax: (513) 362-0317. No charge for subscriptions to qualified individuals. Annual rate for subscriptions to non-qualified individuals in the U.S.A.: $48 USD. Annual rate for subscriptions in Canada: $76 USD (includes GST & postage); all other countries: $98 (Int’l mail) payable in U.S. funds. Printed in the U.S.A. Copyright 2011, by ST Media Group International Inc. All rights reserved. The contents of this publication may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the consent of the publisher. The publisher is not responsible for product claims and representations. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: Package Design, P.O. Box 1060, Skokie, IL 60076. Change of address: Send old address label along with new address to Package Design, P.O. Box 1060, Skokie, IL 60076. For single copies or back issues: contact Debbie Reed at (513) 263-9356 or Debbie.Reed@STMediaGroup. com. Subscription Services: PD@halldata.com, Fax: (847) 763-9030, Phone: (847) 763-4938, New Subscriptions: www.packagedesignmag. com/subscribe.

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FRONT PANEL

Paint the Future

Innovative spray can designs point to a bright future for graffiti artists.

Vic Macias

An exhibition wall at the Paint the Future show displays spray can prototypes and the thinking behind them.

october 2011

hat would a spray can look like if it were designed around a professional graffiti artist’s needs? That question, reports Scott Power, founder and managing principal of Man One Design, Los Angeles, led to a creative collaboration between his company and Chicago-based package design firm Studio One Eleven, a division of Berlin Packaging. It was renowned graffiti artist Man One who inspired the collaboration, but he says after a few initial meetings he was kept in the dark until two prototypes were unveiled at his Crewest Gallery in L.A. on September 8. The cans are designated “Paint the Future” and are part of the gallery’s annual Canceptual exhibit, which features used spray cans turned into art. Scott Jost, vice president of innovation and design at Studio One Eleven, says one prototype has a rotating nozzle that offers the user fine motor skills and fingertip-level motor control traditionally employed by an airbrush artist holding an object like a pen. “This can and actuator allow artists to hold it with the center of gravity behind their hands, giving them a lot more control and possibilities to apply spray pattern directly to the surface,” Jost explains. The nozzle can rotate 45 degrees, allowing the artist to hold the can in a traditional configuration in which the spray direction is parallel to the axis of the arm. Jost says this model has an actuator that operates on that same axis, so when you pull back, like the trigger of the gun, you’re actuating the nozzle. “It’s much more intuitive and a lot less fatiguing to use than a traditional spray can,” says Jost. The exhibit also features what Jost calls “ideation sketches,” representing the “evolution of the thought process involved in creating the prototypes, two possible stopping points in the journey.” Man One likes both versions. Graffiti artists, he says, have always adapted spray cans from the hardware store. “For example, we get oven cleaners with very wide tips and use their packaging,” he explains. “Aerosol pressure is often too high, so we hold the can upside down and remove almost all the aerosol to create lower pressure.” If the prototype cans of Paint the Future—or others like them—eventually are manufactured, they’ll benefit spray paint users of all types, not just graffiti artists. —Deborah Donberg

Packing Interest Packaging’s influence grows at Graph Expo 2011. Graph Expo, the largest graphic communications exhibition in the Americas, returned to Chicago’s McCormick Place in September. The show hosted more than 475 exhibitors overall and, for the third year in a row, featured the PackPrint Pavilion. This year, though, packaging’s influence could be found far beyond the 53 exhibitors in the special interest pavilion. Packaging themes abounded, starting with Xpedx’s booth at the front of the south hall. Xpedx designed all its signage to look like prototype packages. The company has recently renewed its interest in this market, with the opening of several package design centers in the U.S. On the other side of the south hall entrance, Xerox was showing its iGen digital printing press with its automated packaging solution. The system enables in-line converting of paperboard cartons directly from the digital press’ delivery. Shortly before the show, Xerox announced FDA approval for its iGen toner. Paul Butterfield, iGen business manager for Xerox graphic communications/inplant group, noted that the approval was largely a legal accomplishment because the technology basically had remained the same. What it does for package designers, he says, is help them feel confi-

dent about using digitally printed paperboard cartons for food and pharmaceutical products. Across the aisle, traditional litho press manufacturing behemoth Heidelberg was highlighting the first digital press under its new partnership with Ricoh. The company previously had a noncompete agreement with Kodak after it developed the NexPress. With the expiration of that agreement, Heidelberg is now looking to digital printing technologies as part of its growth strategy. But that doesn’t mean that it believes digital printing is the best solution for packages. “Customizing every package is exactly what you do not want to do,” says Jorg Dahnhardt, product management director for the company’s very large format group. “When most package printers are talking about shorter runs, they’re talking about 10-, 15-, and 30,000 impressions.” The Roland booth featured packaging samples that played up coatings used for tactile effects and metallic inks for high-impact results. Metallic packaging was also the highlight at the GMG booth, where the company unveiled its new rapid prototyping machine that uses a metallic substrate as a base. (continued on next page) Attendees stream into McCormick Place’s South Hall in Chicago for Graph Expo 2011.

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Other inkjet news comes from Mimaki, which demonstrated its tabletop size UJF-3042 and unveiled the UJF-3042F model. The compact UJF flatbed printers use eco-friendly, low-VOC inks and are compatible with white and clear inks for printing on transparent, heat-sensitive, and noncoated materials up to 2 inches thick. The FX model introduces the ability to use flexible ink for added applications. Epson brought its WT 7900 printer, with a new EFI raster image processor and a significantly lower suggested retail price of $6,995. The printer can produce physical prototypes on clear film, rigid plastics, and paperboard as thick as 18 points. Digital printing debuts were not limited to carton converting. INX International Ink Company unveiled its NW140 UV digital narrow web press, with an integrated Spartanics’ X140 laser cutting station. Package designers creating labels with this system can produce applicator-ready, full-color labels. Rich Egert, general manager of the strategic technology provider business group for OKI Data Americas, showed Graph Expo attendees the short-run, just-in-time possibilities of the company’s proColor printers. This included the OKI Data’s pro510DW digital web press, which he says is ideal for brand owners who are frustrated with minimum orders for labels and their associated economic and environmental costs. According to Simon Lewis, director of strategic marketing for the Indigo digital press division of Hewlett-Packard’s graphics solutions business, the digital label market has not yet reached saturation,

at least not for the 10-year-old HP Indigo press. (HP first announced its intention to acquire Indigo N.V. and its technology at the PRINT 01 tradeshow.) Since the acquisition, HP has greatly expanded the Indigo acceptable substrate range. Labels and packages printed using HP Indigo presses can include flexible packaging, shrink sleeves, paper labels, and cartons. Lewis remarks that HP Indigo presses are helping package printers more effectively use their flexo press time by letting them dedicate longer run jobs to those presses. Another company that’s looking to further the smart use of flexo printing is Kodak, which showed package printing applications that used their Flexcel NX plates. John Anderson, from Kodak’s graphic communications group, noted that more brand owners and package designers are losing gravure printing options. “In North America, there’s not a lot of gravure left,” he says. The company’s Flexcel NX plates enable designers and printers to expand the color gamut of flexo-printed package designs. This enables brand owners to chose from more print providers and can result in faster speed to market and more flexibility in run length. Not all the package design solutions shown were squarely in the manufacturing arena. EskoArtwork showed its Studio Toolkit for Shrink Sleeves, which recently won a Printing Industries of America InterTech Technology Award. The software enables package designers to create 3-D mockups of shrink-sleeve packages, unitize them, and draft the shrink wrap for the units.

BOOKS

A Nose for Design Glamour Icons: Perfume Bottle Design by designer Marc Rosen is a celebration of the most iconic perfume bottles throughout history, as well as an insider’s look at this brand of artistry. Rosen, who considers the bottles he creates to be “small pieces of glass architecture,” describes the design process from original sketches to the “theater of the launch,” while also sharing personal reminiscences and industry back stories. On October 20, Luxe Pack Monaco will host a cocktail reception at Zelos at the Grimaldi Forum in celebration of Rosen’s new book. At the invitation-only reception, he’ll be signing copies of the book, with proceeds benefiting the Marc Rosen Scholarship Fund for Packaging by Design at New York’s Pratt Institute. PD

october 2011

SNAPSHOTS

More than Good Looks Historic cues pack charm and labeling performance into a relaunched bourbon brand.

hen premium wholesale liquor distributor Haas Brothers set out to recreate its Cyrus Noble Bourbon brand, creating the ideal packaging was top of mind. The San Francisco-based company, a family business, still had the original recipe and a single bottle of pre-World War II Cyrus Noble that had been ready for sale in 1948. The brand had survived for nearly a century before finally falling out of favor in the mid-twentieth century as consumers’ tastes changed. For the relaunch, “the family wanted to convey that Gold Rush-era spirit of opportunity,” says Philippe Becker, creative director of PhilippeBecker. “But they ultimately decided to add a modern twist to make it even more compelling.” The process started with the label. “The server needs to read the label from across the bar, so we wanted more visual impact than the original,” says Becker. “We ultimately created an engraving effect, like old currency, to build that idea of wealth and prosperity.” The design team also devised a new brand “seal” of a crown atop crossed miner’s tools for both label and bottle. Cameo Crafts ran the self-adhesive labels on a Gallus press as an eight-color job with overall varnish, embossing, spot UV, and gold foil. “The method is rotary offset, which gave us much better quality than we would have had in flexo,” Becker says. “The job was all run inline, so what came off press was the finished label.” For the capsule surrounding the synthetic cork, the team wanted to replicate hand-applied excise tax stamps. “We ended up going with all plastic, but we weren’t happy with the shrink wrapping. So we’re redoing them as paper over foil,” Becker says. The new bottle, supplied by Global Package LLC, also adds contemporary flair while honoring the original’s spirit. Erica Harrop, founder of Global Package, explains: “Today’s interesting bottle shapes weren’t available then, so we decided not to be limited by that.” The biggest issue was how to emboss the new seal on the bottle so that the label would line up correctly. “I had to reverse-engineer the bottle and eventually figured out what we needed: An IV notch, so named for when hospitals used glass IV bottles,” Harrop says. “Now the label lines up perfectly every time.” The initial run of 5,000 cases of Cyrus Noble was filled early this year and will launch for the 2011 holiday season. – Darcy Lewis For articles on similar topics, visit the Wine & Spirits channel on PackageDesignMag.com

While inspired by the pre-World War II bottle, the new package has contemporary features that would have been difficult to form using 1950s glass-blowing techniques.

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SNAPSHOTS

Distinctly Buckeye This elegant bottle’s a celebration of state pride.

Perfectly protected. Sustainable. Efficient.

At xpedx, we extend design strategy beyond the physical package, by helping you find smarter ways to market your products and generate profitable sales — concept to production, distribution to consumption. We call it Packaging Expertise.SM

Are you prepared to go to market? Call toll-free 855 239-1426 or e-mail packaging@xpedx.com today for a Packaging ExpertiseSM Kit.

Watch our Packaging Design video at bit.ly/i9zk3d

s a new company launching its first product to market, Crystal Spirits Distillery of Dayton, OH, wanted a bottle for its Buckeye vodka that would stand out at retail while still reflecting its identity as a smallbatch, premium product. “It’s ultra-pure premium vodka at a midrange price; that’s what makes it unique,” says Jim Finke, co-owner and CEO of Crystal Spirits Distillery. The 80-proof vodka uses distilled water from the Daytonbased Crystal Water Company, owned by Tom Rambasek – Finke’s brother-in-law and Crystal Spirits’ president. The packaging for the Buckeye bottle was put together by Saxco International, Horsham, PA, a global packager for wine and spirits. Jimmy Owens, new product representative at Saxco, says the shape of the 750 mL bottle was selected from a number of stock molds the company presented to Crystal Spirits. The bottle is Bordeaux-shaped with a flat bottom and was coated with an organic spray frost; the labeling used a UV organic spray print. “The bottle’s very attractive,” Owens says. “The white frost gives it a very contemporary, crisp feeling.” Saxco sourced the bottle itself from Owens-Illinois Europe, and the closure from Amcor, St. Cesaire, Canada. Saxco handled all sourcing for the packaging, including the 30x60 steel cap, which is a metal roll-on with customized artwork. It features a red buckeye leaf against a blue cap, and the same red leaf is prominently displayed on the bottle, above the letter “k” in “Buckeye.” The rest of the bottle text is in blue, as is an image of the state of Ohio, which has a red, white, and blue ribbon behind it. The text utilizes both print and script writing. “The font is elegant but not overstated, and we put the buckeye leaf on top to show our state pride,” Finke says. “We also used the patriotic theme with the red, white, and blue.” According to Dan Matauch, founder of Flowdesign, which designed bottle’s graphics, limiting the colors to three also kept packaging costs in check. Buckeye vodka, which still sells only in Ohio, retails at $19.95 for 750 mL, and Finke says the company is planning to release a 1.75-L size early next year. The brand debuted April 1 throughout Ohio, and Finke says sales had already bested the company’s projections by September. PD – Jeff Fleischer

DESIGNER’S CORNER

by Michael Osborne

Spirited Improvement Evolutionary redesign can be both fresh and familiar.

n evolutionary redesign can be a difficult assignment. What changes are necessary and, more importantly, why? How much visual equity does the original package design have? The impetus for an evolutionary package redesign is typically flat (or declining) sales. Yet brand managers naturally want to protect the loyalty the product has earned with retailers and consumers. Such was the case with FRe, an alcohol-free wine from Trinchero Family Estates. The vintner sells more than 15 million cases of wine every year, through 26 brands including Sutter Home, Ménage à Trois, and Joel Gott.

Difficult to categorize

BEFORE FRe went through a small package enhancement in 2009 to brighten up the label/ capsule and make it have more shelf impact in-store.

FRe alcohol-removed wines are the product of a dealcoholization process called the spinning cone column. This two-step procedure separates and collects a wine’s fragile aroma and flavor essences while removing its alcohol. The result is more than grape juice, but not quite wine. Because FRe occupies an interstitial place between the wine and juice markets, it can be challenging to stock and find in the retail outlets. We found that FRe had been shelved in a variety of aisles, store by store. In different stores of one major grocery chain, for example, we found FRe shelved near the varietals, next to kosher packaged products, on a shelf by the boxed wines, and even in the juice aisle. The good news was that FRe varietals were already being shelved together at most retailers, giving the brand block more strength on shelf. According to the brand manager, the wine aimed to appeal to four types of female consumers in the 30-60 age groups: retirees, pregnant women,

For more information, visit Amcor, www.amcor.com C&E Capsules, www.cecapsules.com Collotype, www.multicolorcorp.com Michael Osborne Design, www.modsf.com

october 2011

after The capsule’s placement of the FRe logo provides a contemporary look while remaining identifiable.

athletes and other health-conscious customers, and designated drivers and other “thoughtful entertainers.” The redesigned packaging also needed a clean look with easy-to-read nonalcoholic/alcoholremoved messaging. It needed more traditional wine cues, plus a look that would help support a price increase to $6.99 per bottle. We needed to make FRe look like a $10-$12 bottle of wine.

Building on what works FRe had been hard to find, and we didn’t want to make it even harder during (or after) the transition.

Fre Package Redesign Brief The Starting Point FRe went through a small package enhancement in 2009 to brighten up the label/capsule and give it more shelf impact. The brand needs a more evolutionary package change to support a future price increase.

The Category Nonalcoholic wine is a very tough, declining category. The biggest challenge is category awareness and being able to find the wines in-store.

Some Specific Objectives • R emove the “alcohol removed” from the logo lock-up without creating too strong a departure from the previous design. Move “alcohol removed” to under the varietal copy. • The label should have more traditional wine cues. • Think contemporary and clean. • Each varietal should have its own unique color label and capsule. • Logo needs to be on the capsule.

We started with minor changes to the existing packaging elements. The color palette already gave the brand the necessary pop to draw the consumer’s attention and helped her identify the different varietals. So while the redesigned wine labels have new type and graphic treatments, the vivid coloring stayed the same. For example, FRe Merlot still sports a large blue color block as a primary graphic element; we worked with label printer Collotype to ensure that the label colors are vibrant and bright. The color coding is carried from bottle label to capsule, where the FRe logo received new placement. The capsules are spun onto screw caps supplied by Amcor, to offer

The redesigned packaging for FRe sparkling has a color palette that better conveys the light nature of the wine.

consumers convenient opening and resealing. Unlike the still wine packaging, the sparkling wine received a completely different color palette from its previous packaging. Most notably, the black capsule was replaced by a light gold capsule, supplied by C&E Capsules. The new color palette conveys the sparkling light nature of the wine better.

Return-on-investment When we started this project, the brand manager vowed she’d kill us if the million-case brand sold 999,999 cases the year after the package redesign. We’re still here, and she’s been promoted. We’d call that ROI. PD For articles on similar topics, visit the Beverage channel at PackageDesignMag.com.

Michael Osborne is president and creative director of the San Francisco-based graphic design firm Michael Osborne Design, Inc. PACKAGEDESIGNMAG.COM

SUSTAINABLY SPEAKING

by Wendy Jedlicka, CPP

Wine Packaging Comes Full Circle A wine maker goes back to the future with flexible packaging

look at wine packaging is a lot like a look at the history of packaging itself. First appearing in ancient times in clay vessels for storage and animal bladders for personal portability, fermented beverages were an important part of maintaining the health of a community where water-borne diseases were a constant threat. As civilizations matured, new forms of packaging came into play to preserve and transport their most critical of storable goods: wine, beer, oil, and grain. As the quality of packaging options and understanding of package/product interaction increased, so did the number and variety of packages. In the case of wine in particular, amphorea and animal bladders made way for barrels and glass bottles—forms that offered a more controlled storage environment, as well as portability, durability, and more predictable product/package interaction. Today, we’re seeing even more options that go beyond these basic needs to leverage opportunities to increase profitability as well as sustainability. Today’s wine packaging looks to take advantage of a variety of features such as increased recyclability, material and size reductions, and, most significantly, lighter transport weight. Examples of The stand-up pouch, these efforts include materialssupplied by Astrapouch, reduced glass bottles made by has an 80% lower carbon Kingsland for Tesco and cans footprint and results in 90% less waste than two extruded by Ball Packaging Europe glass bottles. GmbH for Barokes Wines, both of

For more information, visit Astrapouch, www.astrapouch-na.com Ball Packaging Europe GmbH, www.ball-europe.com Kingsland Wines and Spirits, www.kingsland-wines.com Tetra Pak, www.tetrapak.com

october 2011

which are made from infinitely recyclable materials, and lightweight aseptic cartons converted by Tetra Pak for Cordier Mestrezat that contain a high percentage of renewable materials. Others, such as the Climber Pouch by Clif Family Winery & Farm, have a small pre-fill footprint, fitting more packages into each truck to the winery, as well as requiring less food-safe dedicated space at the winery before filling. While some purists obsess over whether wine “should” be delivered in anything other than a glass bottle with a natural cork, emerging winemakers (and established brands looking to penetrate new markets) are eagerly experimenting with the wide variety of options opening up to them. More and more consumers, too, are receptive to new packages. Owned by the same people who deliver environmentally conscious Clif Bar products, Clif Family Winery & Farm’s new Climber Pouch is a good example of innovative wine packaging. Taking advantage of the company’s profile in a more progressive consumer market, the firm looked for a way to better connect their product with their target market—physically active adults. Putting themselves in their customer’s shoes, the company realized that after spending the day hiking, canoeing or otherwise soaking up the great outdoors, a bit of wine by the campfire might be just the thing. Going beyond convenience, the Climber Pouch is a double-gusseted, stand-up flexible pouch supplied by Astrapouch. It has an 80% lower carbon footprint and makes 90% less waste than two glass bottles. It’s also lighter to carry than glass, recloses easily, and allows air to be released, which helps the wine stay fresh for up to one month after opening. When the wine’s gone, the package folds down into a fraction of its filled size, making it easy to leave the campsite (or wherever your trails lead you) better than you found it. It’s also a nice nod to ancient solutions for flexible wine packaging, and a good inspiration for all sorts of liquids packaging options. PD For articles on similar topics, visit the Wine & Spirits channel on PackageDesignMag.com.

WEBINAR: Save the Date

Designing for a GREENER FUTURE > Presented by Package Design magazine > Tuesday, December 13, 2011

This webinar will explore strategies for designing packages that protect the product, the environment and the bottom line. Look for additional information each month in Package Design or visit packagedesignmag.com.

Sponsored by:

THE

t wouldn’t be correct to call color management a solution in search of a problem—the problem is well defined, and the technology’s ability to solve it is beyond dispute. Packaging professionals who’ve seen the benefits for themselves say that no quality-control technique does more than color management to bring about a pleasing and thoroughly predictable outcome on press. The tools are certainly there, and so are a host of good reasons to take advantage of them in all forms of printed 16

OCTOBER 2011

olor

packaging. “Color management” is a blanket term for software applications, instrumentation, and prepress procedures that, when used systematically, assure that the appearance of color will be accurate and consistent at every stage of reproduction. That means keeping in close touch with press color at all times, never displaying or outputting to proof any color that the final printing device isn’t also capable of producing. In a color-managed workflow, the proof or the image on the monitor

always simulates, as faithfully as it can, the eventual output of the press. In a workflow lacking the guidance of color management, the picture on the screen could be misleading. Worse, the press run might have to be “tweaked” to make the final product conform to an equally misleading—but client-approved—contract proof.

Expectation, meet reality Color management saves everyone from this kind of frustration by “aligning

By Patrick Henry

basic routines have been elements of package design and production for decades. Because it’s a discipline as well as a technology, color management rewards its most scrupulous practitioners with the most consistently satisfying results.

Advances in color management bring accuracy and consistency to color workflows for packaging.

expectations with what the process can do,” says Patrice Aurenty, global leader, SmartColour group, Sun Chemical. In accomplishing this, he adds, it also eliminates redundant “loops of approval” that complicate workflows where color management isn’t used. A digital technique, color management happens in a mathematically defined space that the color characteristics of monitors, scanners, proofers, and other prepress devices can be “mapped” to. Once their individual color gamuts

have been mapped and reconciled, the devices can work together to render the same press-accurate color throughout the workflow. Part of the goal, as Aurenty puts it, is to “manage color without visual assessment,” thereby eliminating the uncertainties that creep into the process whenever people make subjective judgment calls about the appearance of color. Software tools for color management are relatively new, but some of their

First, get the house in order Mark Causey, director of color technologies at Beck, a provider of graphic reproduction, workflow, pre-media services, and brand color management, reminds packaging producers that color management is only as reliable as the processes it’s applied to. “Without predictable and consistent output, color management won’t satisfy anybody’s expectations,” he says. This means, first and foremost, getting input and output devices under control. Monitors and proofers have to be profiled for performance and then calibrated for stability in color rendering. Presses have to be “fingerprinted” for accurate data that can be used to predict future print runs. “Color management is far more about managing process than it is about color,” agrees Larry Moore, director of software services and business development, EskoArtwork. Now that ISO standards, Six Sigma protocols, and similar quality programs have focused attention on the importance of continuous process improvement, he says, “people PACKAGEDESIGNMAG.COM

know that color management is about managing color all of the time, not some of the time.” At CSW Inc., which specializes in brand solutions for packaging, “no project runs through the house that isn’t somehow color-managed,” says Marek Skrzynski, director of graphics R&D. Color management doesn’t stop in prepress, and in the pressroom, Skrzynski says, it means more than simply controlling densities and dot gain.

october 2011

Color management also comes into play, he says, as a means of supporting the “fusion of art and science” that continues to define the prepress operator’s job. He also notes that color management is more than just a guarantor of color fidelity: It’s a broad strategy for process improvement that shortens package development cycles, reduces running waste, and moderates ink consumption as it underscores brand image and product appeal.

CM software as you like it The earliest color management tools for graphics professionals were the colorspace selection features first embedded in the operating systems of Mac and Windows computers in the mid-1990s. Today, software developers vie with each other to build comprehensive color management solutions for general and packaging-specific applications. This software can be provided as desktop applications, as controllers for RIPs, or

“ Without predictable and consistent output, color management won’t satisfy anybody’s expectations.” – Mark Causey, director of color technologies, Beck

as plug-ins for other software—whatever format best suits the end user’s workflow requirements. EskoArtwork’s primary offering for color management in packaging is Color Engine, a technology that measures color using both colorimetric and spectral data. Spectral analysis, according to Moore, provides more detailed profiles of ink behaviors in specific printing conditions than colorimetric measurement alone. He says that a packaging prepress workflow built around Color Engine takes the ambiguity out of achieving uniform results from press to press—a key benefit for designers trying to assure the consistency of branded and spot colors. At the heart of color management is color space transformation: essentially, sending profiled color data from device to device in the reproduction chain and finding the nearest equivalent of the look of the desired final output at each stop. Mark Welch, director of strategic accounts at GMG, says that the company’s color-space transforming ColorServer software lets package designers and printers achieve consistent color under different press conditions. In this way, the creative intent can be preserved wherever the printing takes place.

Managing metallics Metallic effects are gaining in popularity among package designers, but the printed appearance of metallic inks and substrates can be hard to envision in prepress. Color-Logic’s answer is its Process Metallic Color System, a color communication tool that lets designers create and proof metallic-enhanced images using familiar process inks. Mark Geeves, Color-Logic’s director of sales and marketing, explains that the product’s software plug-ins let designers create the look they want in files that printers licensed and certified by Color-

Logic can output onto whatever substrate has been selected for the package. By laying down CMYK over a silver ink from Color-Logic, printers can provide color charts of 250 metallic effects. These charts serve as swatch books that let the designer know what to expect in an actual production run. A variation for digital printing produces the effects with CMYK and white ink over a metallic proofing substrate. In purely technical terms, color management is about measuring and sharing color data in ways that machines can understand. But ink is a physical product, and in a color-managed workflow, a machine’s best guess about how ink will perform when it hits a printable surface isn’t sufficient. With Sun Chemical’s SmartColour system, says Aurenty, it’s possible not just to predict, but to “really know” how an ink color will look in combination with a specific substrate. SmartColour is a library containing 250,000 combinations of ink, substrate, and printing process. These data sets, Aurenty says, represent about 80% of the color printed in offset, flexo, and gravure packaging. SmartColour combinations can be displayed within color management applications from EskoArtwork, GMG, and other partnering software providers. Aurenty says that designers working with SmartColour will find “that there’s no guess here—it’s not a projection,” but a reliable replica of the final printed result.

A good friend to flexo Color management supports all printing processes, conventional and digital. It may be most helpful, however, in a process that used to be regarded as a second-tier solution for quality package printing in color: flexography. Although flexo is renowned for its PACKAGEDESIGNMAG.COM

What Makes Package Color “Pop”? The packaging specialists interviewed for this story were asked to comment on notable trends in color usage and special effects for package design. Here are some of their responses: • Brennan Higgins, senior vice president of strategy for the DePersico Group, foresees greater popularity for metallic inks and substrates; soy- and vegetable-based inks (for “green” credibility); iridescent and holographic effects; and structural printing directly onto packaging surfaces. He also anticipates a rising demand for custom colors as more brands seek their own distinctive counterparts to “Colgate red.” • Mark Causey, director of color technologies at Beck, urges keeping an eye on expanded-gamut printing—CMYK plus orange, green, and blue—for a greater range of reproducible color on press. With the ability to make proofs and separations in up to seven colors, printers can do more color matching with less dependence upon custom-mixed spot colors. This, Causey says, can eliminate press washups, re-inking, and other time-consuming changeovers when color requirements change. • Marek Skrzynski, director of graphics R&D at CSW Inc. and a flexo evangelist, says that this printing method—once a problematic choice for packaging because of technical limitations such as its low lines-per-inch output and restricted color gamut—is being used more often because it now can provide higher resolution, brighter images, and more predictable and repeatable color. Convinced that the process is closing the quality gap with offset and gravure, he declares, “You won’t find another packaging segment advancing as quickly and as fast as flexo.” • Thermochromic treatment—the temperature-triggered color shift that turns the Rockies blue on Coors Light labels—looks like a rising star among packaging effects to Patrice Aurenty, global leader, SmartColour group, Sun Chemical, who also counts textural UV coatings, aroma strips, and even taste strips among the techniques that brand owners will use to lure shoppers. “The more interactions you can have with consumers, the better,” he says. • Larry Moore, director of software services and business development, EskoArtwork, believes that as brand owners and designers become better acquainted with color management, they will begin their creative planning with specific ink sets in mind—a strategy that will give them a much better idea of how the ink will look in production. Moore is also a believer in expanded color gamuts and expects CMYK-plus gamuts to gain popularity in snack foods, beverages, and other packaging categories. • Naturally, the extent to which these techniques will be used depends on brand owners’ willingness to pay for them. “Everybody wants their package or brand to be different,” observes Mark Geeves, Color-Logic’s director of sales and marketing, “but once they find out the cost associated with it, they have a tendency to step back and form a backup plan.” On the other hand, competitive pressure is making it difficult to justify not spending money on enhancements that could make a package stand out on the retail shelf. As Mark Welch, director of strategic accounts at GMG, observes, “It’s really hard to make the red redder and get people’s attention.”

october 2011

ability to print on a wide range of packaging substrates, its reputation for print quality still has room for improvement. According to Welch, “you can hardly find two flexo processes that look alike,” and the inherent variability of the method sometimes stymies color management products when they’re applied to flexo packaging. “That is definitely the master course,” he says. But, says Causey, whose company does about 75% of its packaging print management for flexo, the times are changing from the days when designers had to “dumb down their expectations” because of the shortcomings of the print process. Today, he says, advances in flexo prepress, platemaking, and inks make it possible to color-manage the process to a point where its quality is starting to rival that of offset and even gravure. In Skrzynski’s view, proof that “most software vendors don’t recognize the packaging world as a business opportunity” can be seen in the fact that their color management solutions are built primarily for offset applications, not flexo. He says that even the packagingspecific color management software he’s used “is not flexo-friendly” because its parameters “don’t represent the specific color requirements of a typical flexo press out there.” Nevertheless, Skrzynski thinks that flexo—formerly “a puzzle full of unknown missing pieces”—is becoming more amenable to color management thanks to improvements in inks, plates, and anilox composition. Better tools and tighter process controls make it possible, he says, for package designers and printers to get closer to an accurate forecast of what ultimately will come out of a flexographic press. Flexography has seen many technical advancements, and inks, says Aurenty, “have to adapt to it.” Sun Chemical continues to seek better flexo ink performance with improvements in rheology (flow), resins, and pigmentation. The company also has introduced WetFlex, a high-resolution printing

“ Color management is about managing color all of the time, not some of the time.” –L arry Moore, director of sof t ware services and business development, EskoArt work

method that Aurenty describes as a wettrapping, electron beam-cured process carried out on a specially adapted Comexi flexo press.

Fixing “a big disconnect” For all of its demonstrated benefits, color management has been something of a hard sell: initially, few printers and even fewer designers and brand owners knew what it was or understood why using it could be advantageous. While there’s no question that the packaging market has grown more receptive to color management, universal adoption remains a goal to strive for. Brennan Higgins, senior vice president of strategy for the DePersico Group, a branding agency for food and beverage packaging, says that where there used to be a big disconnect among package designers about responsibility for color management, there now is a realization that it can’t be up to the printer alone. Designers, he says, are now more willing to “slow the process down con-

ceptually” and gain an understanding, early in the project, of how their color requirements are going to be met. They know they can’t afford color-related production problems that might slow down the delivery of a branded package to its marketplace. Competitive pressure has made it impossible for designers to overlook their roles in color management, Higgins says. Estudio Ray, specializing in branding and package design for Hispanic and multicultural markets, works with package printers based both inside and outside the U.S. Christine Ray, visual strategist and manager of client services, says that some of them are much better than others at maintaining color consistency. As for color management, Ray says it’s her impression that “people haven’t been talking about it” as much as they once did. A Chicago-based printer recently visited the studio with a pitch for the method, “but they were three times the cost of those who don’t offer color management,” Ray says.

Not as straightforward as it may seem At Estudio Ray, the 2009 winner of the Package Design Makeover Challenge, “we’ve had successful jobs without color management,” she adds. Ray isn’t unappreciative of color management’s potential. But, like other designers, she faces problems of a more fundamental kind when it comes to getting color right and keeping it that way. For example, she says, it’s become impossible to get high-end contract proofs made in Phoenix, AZ, Estudio Ray’s hometown. All of the local color trade shops have closed their doors, so the studio has to make do with color lasers as proofs for printers and clients. Then there’s the issue of monitor calibration, a basic best practice of color management. Ray knows that her monitors aren’t calibrated to the same color specs as the screens her printers and clients use. Device synchronization is hard to achieve when there isn’t much faceto-face contact among the parties, and it’s never been clear to anyone in color management where the lead responsiPACKAGEDESIGNMAG.COM

“ No project runs through the house that isn’t somehow color-managed.” – Marek Skrzynski, director of graphics R&D, CSW Inc.

Mimaki CJV30-60_PD1011_Layout 1 9/21/11 9:20 AM Page 1

bility for assuring common monitor calibration should lie. Ray thinks that as long as everyone understands the limitations of color reproduction, expectations can be managed. But, she notes, given the fact that printer A never does anything in exactly the same way as printer B, the best advice for a package designer sometimes is, “keep your fingers crossed.”

“Slowly but surely”

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Causey maintains that when designers see color management in action in their own projects, they begin to embrace it— especially when they recognize that the practice has a direct effect on their ability to market their brands consistently. Winning broad acceptance for color management is a matter of educating packaging professionals who need it, says Skrzynski, noting that brand managers and designers typically aren’t trained in the technicalities of prepress and production. Because the desire for brand consistency is universal, he sees the industry moving “slowly but surely” into an embrace of color management as a way to obtain consistent color output from vendor to vendor. In the beginning, says Geeves, color management was a technical contest to see “who had the best numbers” in measurement and profiling, but it wasn’t the broad exercise in print quality that it should have been. Now, he says, thanks to “tremendous gains” in press performance inspired by the GRACoL and G7 methodologies, “we’re not using mathematical formulas as a crutch for bad process control.” Although brand owners and package designers won’t necessarily ask for color management by name, notes Welch, they will insist that their suppliers be “consistent across the process”—and not just in package printing. The demand for color consistency also touches aisle banners, floor graphics, and every other piece of printed matter that advertises the brand. Welch believes that meeting this

mandate, which applies even more urgently to globally distributed brands, is one of the strongest arguments in favor of adopting color management.

The pros’ wish list Like any other evolving graphic technology, color management can always get better at doing what it already does well. Its advocates have clear ideas about where they would like to see improvement. Higgins hopes for a proofing system capable of “nailing exactly what you want” with spot colors and coatings on production substrates. A solution that could accomplish this without the need for expensive wet proofs would be an “unbelievable” advantage for color management, he says. Ray, likewise, would welcome a “universal proofing system,” supported by all LEC_Gratification_Half_PD_30th.pdf

CMY

printers, to replace the Matchprints she can no longer obtain. For Causey, the holy grail of color management would be “the ability to repurpose and recalculate data sets from one condition to the next”: from press to press or from inkset to inkset, for example, without having to reprint to capture new data from specific output conditions. A standard for ensuring that all spectral devices measure color in the same way is high on Aurenty’s list. He says that his big wish is for a proofing system for special effects, which remain difficult, if not impossible, to render in hard copy. Aurenty thinks that even with technical progress on all fronts in color management, the industry still has a long way to go before it arrives at a complete digital communication color workflow that everyone can understand and trust. 1

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For more information, visit Beck, www.beckcompression.com Color-Logic, www.color-logic.com CSW Inc., www.cswgraphics.com DePersico Group, www.depersico.com EskoArtwork, www.esko.com Estudio Ray, www.estudioray.com GMG, www.gmgcolor.com Sun Chemical, www.sunchemical.com

When that tipping point is reached, predicts Moore, “color management will be one of the biggest hot spots for the industry to improve productivity.” PD For articles on similar topics, visit the Prepress & Workflow channel on PackageDesignMag.com.

By Linda Casey

Change Is A shift in consumer buying habits is fueling package design innovations for craft beers.

Brew i L

Ben Finch represented both the agency and the brand when designing the packaging for Finch’s Beer Company’s blonde and pale ales.

OCTOBER 2011

ove craft beer, but don’t have time to make an extra stop to buy your favorite brew from your local pub? If you prefer to buy your suds from a retailer, you’re part of a growing trend. Craft beer sales are shifting from on-premise and keg sales to packaged products at retailers, according to Patrick Rowell, brand strategist at Hornall Anderson. “The last statistic I saw showed about 5% more retail shelf space for craft beer in 2010 than in 2009,” agrees Paul Gatza, director of the Brewers Association. “All we’re hearing is that craft beers keep getting more and more of that shelf space.” This is changing the way breweries are valuing their package designs. “The conventional wisdom has always been that craft beers win on product,” says Rowell. “Breweries are starting to come around to see that every craft beer brand out there has fantastic products. When there are so many choices and they’re all good, that’s when brand expression becomes crucial. It becomes the only way you can win categories like this.” Rowell’s agency recently helped Redhook Brewery redesign its packaging for this new reality. A major component of the redesign was creating striking secondary packaging for retail. To create a positively disproportionate impact in the retail aisle to the number of case and carrier facings, Hornall Anderson designed the secondary packages so they formed a continuous graphic no matter which way the packages are facing. The agency also found that Redhook, like many other craft beers, were effectively turning away potential customers with its messaging on pack. “The craft category had become so entrenched in pushing back against domestic beer that it became sort of an arms race of who

w ing could tell the longest, most flowery, overwrought story on where the hops came from and who brewed it,” Rowell explains. “In the vast majority of the occasions, that’s not how consumers are thinking about it.” So Hornell Anderson stripped away much of the romance copy and simplified the beer description with four keywords stacked in the upper left-hand corner of the bottle.

Selling with structure Moving away from the romance copy also allows the agency to put the emphasis back on the brand versus the individual product. The beer brand also got a boost from a new short, stubby bottle supplied by O-I. The bottle shape makes it easy to identify Redhook and conveys the message that both the beer brand and the person who drink it are unique. “What we hit on with Redhook is the idea of the bottle making a bold statement about the person who’s drinking it,” Rowell comments. Gatza sees this trend across beer brands. “Some breweries use their bottle molds for a competitive advantage,” he says. “The bottles help differentiate their products in the marketplace.” This trend, though, is tempered by the practical consideration of having a ready bottle supply. “If you’ve got a specialty mold for your bottles, there’s a chance you may not be able to find a regular supply,” he says. “There used to be 30 glass container manufacturers in the U.S. and now there are three,” agrees Jeff Krum, chief financial officer at Boulevard Brewing Company. “There have been shortages over the years.” Boulevard decided to take the glass supply issue head-on by helping create a source for a major glass bottle material, while helping make its packaging more sustainable. With the support of local compa-

nies and community organizations, Boulevard created the recycling company Ripple Glass. Ripple constructed a state-of-the-art cullet processing plant. Cullet is crushed, recycled glass, and it’s a major component of most beer bottles made today. To supply the project, Ripple places highly visible glass collection containers throughout Kansas City, then cleans and delabels the bottles and jars, crushes them into furnace-ready cullet, and sells the cullet to its bottle supplier, Verallia, to make into beer bottles. “We felt some complicity being a part of the [packaging waste] problem, and we’d analyzed it enough to think that we understood what was necessary to fix it,” Krum says. “So we gave it a go.” Boulevard’s concerns are part of a greater conversation in government and the packaging industry about extended producer responsibility. The thought behind this philosophy is that packaged goods companies and their designers take responsibility for the end-of-life impacts of spent packaging. This strategy aims to increase more sustainable packaging choices in initial package designs. Boulevard was especially committed to making its glass more sustainable because of its affinity for the material itself. “Glass is hands-down the premier material for preserving a quality product,” Krum says. “Cans are fine as far as quality goes, but they don’t present the kind of image or the kind of tradition inherent in glass. Traditionally, better beers come in glass bottles as opposed to cans or any other packaging material.” He concedes, however, “that’s changing a little bit because in the last year or two craft brewers have been coming out with products in cans.”

The continuous graphic on Redhook Brewery’s secondary packaging creates a multiplicative effect with every adjacent facing.

Rethinking the can One of these craft brewers is Ben Finch, PACKAGEDESIGNMAG.COM

a co-owner of Finch’s Beer Company. Like Boulevard, Finch’s Beer Company’s primary criteria for its beer packaging are sustainability and performance. “Our head brewer, Richard Grant, who’s also an owner, suggested we do cans,” Finch says. “Richard’s argument early on was that cans are better for the beer. “I realized very quickly that cans are not only better for the product but also more environmentally friendly. They’re more recyclable and lighter than brown glass,” he says. While there’s still a stigma that cans affect the taste of the beer, Finch insists that’s not the case. “The can liners used today are far superior to those of yesterday.” A can also offers a full-body, 360-degree deco-

rating area. To maximize use of this space, Finch worked with Meredith Reshoft, creative director and co-owner of Finch’s other business, the design agency the Killswitch Collective, and Ball Corp., which converts and prints the cans, to create prepress-ready files of the can’s upscale design. Finch also joined the growing number of brewers using specialty carriers to showcase the design. “We utilize an open-top carrier [supplied by PakTech] with a plastic ring that each can clips to,” he explains. “It costs more, but it’s worth every penny because you save on the costs of a tray or paperboard box. Ours is translucent plastic because it allows the design to speak even louder because they don’t have the solid color on top of your cans.”

More options

Legends Premium Lager decorated its aluminum bottles with images of legendary sports figures, designed to deliver the brand to passionate fans at the height of a sporting experience.

For more information, visit Ball Corporation, www.ball.com Brewers Association, www.brewersassociation.org Hornall Anderson, www.hornallanderson.com McLean Design, www.mclean-design.com O-I, www.o-i.com PakTech, www.paktech-opi.com Ripple Glass, www.rippleglass.com The Killswitch Collective, www.killswitchcollective.com Verallia, www.verallia.com Woods Witt Dealy & Sons, www.woodswittdealy.com

Choices for craft beer packaging include more than just glass bottles and aluminum cans. A hybrid of the two—the aluminum bottle—offers the portability of aluminum with the reclosability and consumer drinking experience of a bottle. Legends Premium Lager uses aluminum bottles to gain entry to places where glass isn’t allowed. McLean Design, the agency that created the packaging for Legends, notes that the aluminum bottle is especially suited for sports arenas. “Then there are the growlers,” adds Harry Woods, partner and creative director at Woods Witt Dealy & Sons. Consumers primarily use the 64ounce refillable jugs to purchase beer from local pubs. But convenience stores are looking to change that. Gatza notes that some Sunoco gas stations are experimenting with growler filling stations, and Woods was shocked to see growler filling stations in Duane Reade stores in New York City. “Now you can go to your drugstore to pick up some toothpaste, toilet paper, and get your growler filled,” Woods says. “I guess that just speaks to how far the craft beer thing has penetrated our consciousness.” The Brewers Association reports that monthly, craft beer sales volume in September 2011 was up more than 20 percent. Gatza believes that growing sales volumes and the very nature of craft brewers will continue to change craft beer packaging. “More innovation is going to come because this is the hallmark of craft brewers. They’re small, they’re nimble, and they’re always thinking about what’s new and differentiating what they do. So where we are today is not where we’re going to be in five years.” PD For articles on similar topics, visit the Wine & Spirits channel on PackageDesignMag.com.

october 2011

Successful Daring brands defy category conventions with winning packages.

Rebels By Ted Mininni

s it set in stone that cereal has to come in paperboard boxes with a billboard front? Malt-O-Meal didn’t think so. That’s why its cold cereal line nixes boxes and is packaged in resealable plastic bags instead. Its colorful packaging stands out in aisles filled with boxes of cereal in familiar packages. Every once in a while, packaging breaks the category mold, conventional wisdom, and every rule in the book. When it does, everybody takes notice. And if the packaging and product quality live up to consumer expectations when they use it, chances are good it will be a success. While revolutionary package structure is terrific, especially if it refers back to the brand and its assets convincingly and substantially differentiates it, there’s more here than meets the eye.

The Orville Redenbacher Pop Up bowl is designed with a clear PET window that allows consumers to watch the snack pop in the microwave.

PACKAGEDESIGNMAG.COM

Rule breakers add value This is about more than appearance. After all, good looks are only skin deep. It’s no secret that innovative package structure helps avoid the dreaded commoditization trap within consumer product categories. Attract notice among myriad offerings on the shelf and there’s a better than even chance the product will be purchased instead of competing brands. The question is: What else does it offer, and is that added value—convenience, function, whimsy—worth paying more for? A few months ago, a new pizza box concept that delivers, serves, and stores leftovers in the same package became a YouTube sensation, garnering more than 1 million hits. Packaging is really the star of the video. So this ingenious package structure has people buzzing, and isn’t that what great marketing does? Think of the excitement local pizza par-

product costs more than regular microwave popcorn, but this definitely offers more value for consumers. Think about the convenience when taking this product to the office, for example. Easy to serve; no bowl necessary.

Use seasons to grow sales Taking advantage of seasonal package design opportunities makes sense, too. Coca-Cola started doing this decades ago, decorating its soda cans with graphics of Santa Claus around the holidays. But companies like Kimberly-Clark elevated that idea with its Kleenex tissue line. Its watermelon and fruit wedge boxes that debuted last summer created a ton of positive buzz. While Kleenex boxes have long featured pretty graphics to woo consumers, now, with structural packaging, they’ve raised the stakes. The company patented the Wedge tissue carton. Because the package fea-

Well-executed, ground-breaking product packaging actually becomes the first consideration for purchase —not the product. lors and national brands could generate using packaging like this. Does this make their brands more desirable? You bet it does. Orville Redenbacher rethought packaging in a similar vein. The premise is simple: The bag that pops the corn also turns into a serving bowl. When used up, the heavy paper gets tossed. A host of videos popped up on smart structural packaging as a result. The 28

october 2011

tures a non-poly “window,” it’s 100% recyclable. Wisconsin-based Trinova Design developed the necessary converting equipment to create the Wedge carton. Kimberly-Clark uses the services of a local contract manufacturer to produce the packaging. Better yet: The shape is conducive to evolving designs that denote “summer.” The seasonal packaging looks good enough to eat! And

doesn’t it make Kleenex the tissue to buy? Whimsy makes consumers smile and elicits an emotional reaction that encourages them to buy.

Elevate products with packaging Well-executed, ground-breaking product packaging like this actually becomes the first consideration for purchase—not the product. Tissues are a basic commodity, so how to elevate one brand over all comers? Kimberly-Clark gets it: Not only will consumers maintain Kleenex as the category leader, but they’ll also keep the cute packaging in full view and enjoy using it every time they reach for tissues. They’ll talk about it and show it to friends and family, prompting more positive buzz and more sales. It’s up to brand managers to deliver more value in consumer products; packaging should be a major component of that value. The functional benefits pointed to by smart package structures can clearly add value for consumers—value they’re willing to pay more for. Better yet, packaging like this can set a new standard and determine leaders in virtually every consumer product category. Clever, functional, value-added packaging can elevate one brand above the rest in product categories that are rapidly filling up with commodities. Marketers love products that are game changers, but it’s tough to achieve that, especially with consistency. So why not focus on packaging as a game changer instead? PD For articles on similar topics, visit the Design channels on PackageDesignMag. com.

Ted Mininni is president of Design Force Inc. (www.designforceinc.com).

PRODUCT FOCUS

METAL AND ALUMINUM CONTAINERS

Mesmerizing Metals Aluminum and metal materials offer product protection while attracting consumer attention. 1 Beverage Cans www.Rexam.com Rexam SLEEK tall, narrow aluminum cans come in 8-, 9.1-, 10.5-, and 12-oz sizes. The manufacturer says the shape provides superior distribution, filling, and retail display economics.

2 Custom Tins www.crowncork.com Custom-shaped and standard metal tins are available with a variety of decorative and printing enhancements, such as embossing, de-bossing, metal perforation and holographic, pearlescent and sparkle finishes.

3 Digital Printer for Aluminum Rounds www.inxinternational.com The CP100 UV digital printer can print variable data and images directly onto cylindrical aluminum packages. The patented technology is specifically designed for short-run, personalized, or versioned packaging, and it produces vivid-printed items such as aluminum cans and water bottles in minutes.

4 Aluminum, Airless Dispenser www.montebellopkg.com The metered dose airless pump body is available in 30- and 60-g aerosol cans. The aluminum can body offers barrier properties and is impermeable to moisture and light. Engineered with high-value topicals in mind, the pump is designed to offer consistent metered dispensing.

w x PACKAGEDESIGNMAG.COM

PRODUCT FOCUS

METAL AND ALUMINUM CONTAINERS

y 5 Personalized Tins www.onestoptins.com Custom-labeled tins can be ordered in low minimum order quantities â&#x20AC;&#x201C; even as low as one package. Tins are customized using an online tool in four steps: choose a tin, select a label, add any custom art, and submit the order.

6 Hermetic Cans with Snap-on Slip Covers

www.allstatecan.com Specialty cans have a vacuum-pack with a 502-diameter round, snap-on slip cover. The packages are available in beaded and straight-sided options as well as with seamed ends or easy-open ends.

7 Heart-shaped Tin

{ }

www.independentcan.com The 10-in. tin is designed for food packaging projects where the designer intends for the package to be retained as a keepsake after the product inside is consumed.

8 Custom-length Tins www.planetcanit.com Patented metal cover can be constructed to any length without tearing or malformation. The Fairytale Brownies package was manufactured with an elongated cover that exactly mirrors the height of the body at 1.25 in. Complex and intricate designs can now be printed on a coverâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s vertical surface without distortion or ink degradation. Similarly, the embossing contour is maintained on all surfaces.

OCTOBER 2011

9 Stick Packages www.constantia-hueck.com Multi-layer stick pack has a laser perforation below the seal for easy opening by the consumer. The PET or paper in the area of the laser seam is partially removed so the aluminum layer remains intact through the perforating process. This technique helps retain the impermeability of the stick pack to water and oxygen.

10 Foil-polymer Tube www.wwpinc.com Dual-chamber tube is designed for cosmetics and skin care applications where two formulas need to be dispensed from a single portable package. Engineered to offer a simple, fashionable package that doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t require new packaging machinery investment, the tube can be filled and crimped on any hot-jaw style tube filler.

11 Health and Beauty Containers www.jlclark.com The new line of aluminum containers is designed to be compatible with a range of water-based consumer health and beauty products. The lightweight packages are made from 85% recycled aluminum. Decorating options include lithographic printing, embossing, and de-bossing. PD

SHOW PREVIEW

Luxury and Inspiration Luxe Pack Monaco aims to inspire premier brand owners and package designers.

ore than 6,000 packaging decision makers representing premier brands are expected to descend upon the Mediterranean this fall for the 24th edition of Luxe Pack Monaco. The show, which will be held from October 19-21 at the Grimaldi Forum, provides packaging solutions, material options, and inspiration for luxury brands. Six out of 10 exhibitors plan a product launch specifically for Luxe Pack Monaco; the exhibition floor has once again sold out, with 340 exhibitors expected. Beyond the show floor, attendees can learn more about forward-thinking packaging at the Innovation Forum, held in a dedicated space in the Atrium. Exhibitors will use the space to offer 15-minute presentations to explain the finer points of their innovations. Because eco-conscious packaging has become the heart of package design, Luxe Pack Monaco also features the Luxe Pack in Green exhibition space. The space provides a place for luxury brand stakeholders, who are increasingly interested in developing and embracing sustainable solutions. It’s also where the The Luxe Pack in Green Award will be presented at 5:30 p.m. on October 19. The show includes a networking platform, as well, with conferences and roundtable debates on current topics led by renowned experts. At

october 2011

2:30 p.m. on October 19, Kacper Hamilton, Luxe Pack Monaco’s special “guest designer,” details how he approaches design work with luxury companies in the session “Ritual and Narratives within Luxury Design.” At that same time on October 20, international designer Marc Rosen leads a panel discussion on the enormous possibilities represented by the words innovation, sustainability, and creativity in “Buzzwords or bywords?” He will be joined by SGD America president & CEO Peter Accerra; P&G’s prestige global leader of innovation Sumit Bhasin; Estée Lauder’s senior vice president of global package development Henry Renella and vice president of global product innovation Arlette Palo; Milbar Laboratories’ global strategic development president Guz Bezas; and Family Three Ltd. perfume designer Azzi Glasser. At 10 a.m. on the last day of the show, the Luxe Pack Trends Observer returns. This session promises a deep analysis of the state of the industry, decoding the launches of the year to identify areas of future development by a roundtable of experts. The full schedule of conferences, with themes such as inventive design, current luxury codes, future trends, the expansion of spirits packaging, sustainability, and the development of Asian markets, can be found at www.luxepack.com. PD

Luxe Pack Monaco:

Where to find the exhibitors AARTS PLASTICS BV VA11

CERVE SPA RF6

EPOPACK CO. LTD. RA6

AGCLUXE RCI E8

CFC EUROPE GMBH DC10BIS

EPSON FRANCE SA VA41

AGENCE PIERRE LELONG RE12

CHARTULARIA VA8

ETNA-PACK DE4

AIROLUX A5

CHIC VA10

EURO PACKAGING LUXURY DIVISION A2BIS

ALBEA DE7

CHIMICOLOR DESIGN / CHIMICMETAL E17

EUROTEXTILE PACKAGING E1

ALLIAGE DA12

CLARIFOIL E14

EUROVETROCAP A6

ALLIORA RD8/RE5

CLAS DD1

EUSCHER GMBH & CO. KG RA5

ALTEC INDUSTRIES DH1

CLP PACKAGING DD4/DE5

FACA EXPORT SL RC9

ANHA RF4

CODIPLAS RC17

FAVINI SRL VA43

ANISA INTERNATIONAL INC. RA8

COFATECH RC15

FEDRIGONI SPA VA4

ANOMATIC CORPORATION RB4

COFIMA RD2

FERRA DF5

API GROUP A3

COMACTIVE VITRINES VIRTUELLES E27

FIFIELD INC. E13

APP DC19

COMUNICANDO

FIORINI INTERNATIONAL SPA RC12

APPLIC’ETAINS VA35

- SUNNYCOM PUBLISHING SRL ENTRANCE

FLACOPHARM RC7

APTAR BEAUTY + HOME DB8/DC7

COSMETIQUE MAG - COSMETIQUE HEBDO -

FONTANA GRAFICA SRL DA2/DB1

ARJOWIGGINS CREATIVE PAPERS RF11

COSMETIQUEMAG.FR ENTRANCE

FORMES DE LUXE ENTRANCE

ARTHUS - BERTRAND DG3 ARVATO BERTELSMANN - TOPAC GMBH DB14

COSMOGEN RF9

FUSION PACKAGING RA4

COSTAMAGNA SPECIAL GLASS DE6

GAINERIE 91 DC5

ATELIER ARCHIAND SRL RA18

COVERPLA DD3

GAYDON (JEAN CHRISTOPHE)

COVIT DB7

DESIGN SARL VABIS

CROPPER (JAMES)

GEKA GMBH RE2/RF1

SPECIALITY PAPERS LTD DB9

GERRESHEIMER AG RC18

CSI - COTON BIO EQUITABLE E12

GLASS VALLEE (LA) DB13

CTL TH PACKAGING DC11

GMUND, BÜTTENPAPIERFABRIK DC25

CYCOBOX SL (GROUPE LANTERO)

GPK DB12

+ ESPARBE E30

GPS SPA A2

D&C SRL DABRAZZI

GRAPHOCOLOR DC10

PACKAGING RA13

GROUPE DE LA SEINE DC2

DAHLINGER CH. E2

H+M FRANCE DB11

DB TECHNIQUE SAS DA1

HCP PACKAGING RF2

DDC SA VA37

HEINZ GLAS RA24/RB21

DEKORGLASS DZIALDOWO SA DA8

HERTEL & CO. GMBH DH2

DERPROSA FILM E16

HERTUS DG2

DIETERBAKICENTERPRISES GMBH / DIMON-

HLP KLEARFOLD E3

ATELIERS ELBA FRANCE (LES) VA45 ATIP VA7 AUTAJON RB8 AWANTYS GMBH VA39 AXILONE RD8/RE5 BARALAN INTERNATIONAL SPA A14 BECHEM GROUP E11 BENARD E9 BIOPLAN RD8/RE5 BOEGLI LORENZ - ATELIER FUER SIEBDRUCK VA21 BOMO TRENDLINE INNOVATIVE COSMETIC GMBH DH4 BORMIOLI LUIGI SPA RE8/RF7 BORMIOLI ROCCO - VERRERIES DE MASNIERES RE4/RF3 BORRELLO & CO SRL VA23 BUCHBINDEREI BURKHARDT AG E15 BÜHLER EMIL GMBH & CO. KG VA1 C+N POLSKA SP. Z.O.O. RE9 CAMEO METAL PRODUCTS INC. CANDIANI G. SRL DB4 CARTONAGEM TRINDADE INDUSTRIA SA A23BIS CARTONNAGES GUILLAUME DD4/DE5 CARTOPLAS DF5 CARTOTECNICA CHIERESE SPA - FINCARTA GROUP A11 CARTOTECNICA GOLDPRINT SPA DC17 CASADEVALL EXPORT RE10 CAUBERE RA15 CCI PRODUCTIONS PARFUMS ET COSMETIQUES RA1 CD CARTONDRUCK AG RB18/RC19 CELLUTEC GROUPE E22 CENTURYBOX VA27 CER FOILS DC10BIS

TONATE FLOCCATI SPA RF10

HOMER COLOR PRINTING CO. LTD DA6

DIRECT SOURCE PACKAGING CO., LLC A8

HUMIDIF GROUP RA3

DO INTERNATIONAL SAS - DAPY DG10

HUTA SZKLA CZECHY SA DC15

DONGGUAN CITY JINGLI CAN CO.,LTD E10

ICMA SRL DA5

DORO DF5

IGGESUND PAPERBOARD DF3

DRUK MARKUSZEWSCY SP. ZOO RF12

ILEOS RD8/RE5

DSD LTD VA3

INCA SRL - INCA COSMETICI SRL RE14

DUPONT AGENCIES RD13

INDUPLAST SPA DF1

DUPONT COSMETIC SOLUTIONS RD1

INDUSTRIALBOX DA3

DURAN DOGAN PACKAGING DE3

INEOTEK DE2

EASTMAN CHEMICAL RB3

INSERDECO

ECKART GMBH RD12

INTERESTING SOURCING RA14

ECOLE DE DESIGN

INTERNATIONAL DIRECT

NANTES ATLANTIQUE (L’) A17

PACKAGING LIMITED A19

ECOLOGICAL FIBERS INC. RD13

IPACK RC10

EDELMANN GROUP DF2/DG1

IPL A10

EGISA RB5

ISEM SRL E24

ELCOS CO. LTD. E6

ITW SPECIALITY FILMS FRANCE DC10BIS

EMBALLAGES MAGAZINE ENTRANCE

JACKEL / LF BEAUTY

EMIRATES PRINTING PRESS

(A LI & FUNG COMPANY) RD14

- DUBAI RD9

JANVIER SAS DB2

ENVASES METALICOS EUROBOX RA10

JUNG DESIGN DC1

EOS A13

KEENPAC RF8

PACKAGEDESIGNMAG.COM

Luxe Pack Monaco:

Where to find the exhibitors (continued) KLOCKE DB19

PARCOME E7

SOUPLETUBE RC8

KNOLL PRESTIGE PACKAGING DC4

PEPTIMIST CO. LTD VA12

SPECIALTY PRODUCTS SA DE CV A12

KOCH HERMANN GMBH DD2/DE1

PIBIPLAST SPA RE7

SPINNLER CARTONNAGES DB6

KORSNÄS AB DC12

PIM INDUSTRIE RA22

STARLITE HOLDINGS LTD. VA15

KREKELBERG FLOCK PRODUCTS A1

PINARD EMBALLAGES RC13

STORA ENSO PACKAGING RB15

KURZ DB11

PIOCHEL

SUN CREATIVE COSMETICS

LA FACTORY RB6

PIRAMAL GLASS LIMITED RB13

GMBH & CO KG RA17

LC TRADE FRANCE / UNIVACCO E19

PIVAUDRAN G. ETS DE10

SWAROVSKI ELEMENTS RC11

LCE SA RC4

PLANET DESIGN RE1BIS

SYLVIE DE FRANCE DESIGNER DC14

LESER GMBH E5

POCHET DU COURVAL DG8

SYNEO GROUPE SUPRATEC E25BIS

LIR PACKAGING RB3BIS

POLITECH RB7

SYNT3 SPA A4

LITOGRAFIA JOSE LOPEZ RA19

PR SERVICE GRAPHIQUE RC3

TABLE ET CADEAU RAVEL

LIVCER RB19

PRAD E29

TAE SUNG GROUP CO. LTD RA16

LOUVRETTE GMBH DESIGN

PREMI SPA RA12

TAKEO CO. LTD. E33

& PACKAGING RE16

PRESTIGE PACKAGING INDUSTRIES DG4/DH3

TECHNEW SA DA4

LUMSON DA7

PRIMAL E28

TECHNICAPS LUXURY CLOSURES RB9

LUXURY PACKAGING LTD. E20

PRINT PARK RA7

TECHNOTRAF S.L.

M-REAL CORPORATION RC16

PRINTMODEL VA17

(MARQUE : DORIGEN NATURAL) RB17

MAESA GROUP DA9

PROCOS EXCLUSIVE PACKAGING DC3

TECNIQUES D’ESTAMPACIO I EMBUTICIO DE

MANIFATTURA DEL SEVESO SPA RD13

PROMENS RB11

METALLS SA DG14

MARS PUBLICATION VA31

PROOFTAG DC8

TEXEN:

MASSILLY DF6

PUJOLASOS WOODWORKING RD4

CEICA INDUSTRIE/CMSI/MAYET/ROSE/CCM/

MAX SAUER - RAPHAEL DB17

PULVOREX RB1

CEICA PLASTICOS DE MEXICO RB10

MBF PLASTIQUES DC21

PUSTERLA 1880 DC6

TEXIDO SA E23

MC LINE DE LUXE PACKAGING E25

QUADPACK GROUP RB14

TEXLIBRIS DA10

MEGAPLAST GMBH RC20

QUALIPAC / PRIMINTER DG6/DH5

TOLY RE11/RF15

MERCK SA RD15

RAMON CLEMENTE SA RA11

TU-PLAST TUBE PRODUCING LTD. A21

METALERIAS FINAS FEDERICO FERRER RB12

RENE KARLA INNOVATIONS DD2/DE1

TULLIS RUSSELL PAPERMAKERS VA2

METALVUOTO SPA - OLPACK EMBOSSING &

REXAM PERSONAL CARE RC14

UNI-PRESIDENT GLASS

HOLOGRAM DIVISION A15

RISSMANN GMBH DB3

INDUSTRIAL CO. LTD E4

METAPACK VA25

RIVERPACK RD7

UNIFLOCKAGE DA2/DB1

MICRO NATURAL SL E26

ROLLING OPTICS AB RA20

UNISTO A7

MINO GAILLARD SNDG DB10

RPC BEAUTE RD6

UNIVERSEL COULEURS VA41

MMB MAQUETTES ET MODELES

RR PLASTIQUES RF14

V.P.I. DC9

DE LA BRESLE RF13

RUSI COSMETIC & CO. KG RA17

VAL LAQUAGE VT DB13

MODA CONNECTION A6BIS

SAF RC1

VENETA DECALCOGOMME DG5

MODEL KRAMP GMBH RD16

SAPRONIT E35

VERPACK (GROUPE) DD4/DE5

MW CREATIVE LTD VA5

SAVERGLASS DC23

VETIVER RA9

MWV RD11

SEAMAN PAPER ASIA CO. LTD VA9

VETRERIE RIUNITE SPA VA19

NEENAH PAPER E21

SEF (SOCIETE D’ENDUCTION

VETRONAVIGLIO SRL RE6/RF5

NEOPAC THE TUBE / HOFFMANN

ET DE FLOCKAGE) RC2

VIROJANGLOR VA29

NEOPAC AG DF4

SEGEDE DD5

VRIJDAG PREMIUM PRINTING A9

NEYRET RUBANS VA23

SEIDEL GMBH + CO. KG DG12

VTA FRANCE / SOVERPLAST RC5

NORLINE VA6

SEJAC DC5

WALTERSPERGER DB13

NORTIER RD3

SELECTIVE LINE - VERALLIA RD10

WAUTERS ET FILS / B’PACK DG16

NYPRO INC. E31

SERAM RC6

WEBPACKAGING ENTRANCE

OBJETS DE CONVOITISES DG14BIS

SERILABEL DI FACCHINETTI SRL DG2BIS

WICKELS PAPIERVEREDELUNGS-WERKE

OEKABEAUTY DD2/DE1

SGD RD5

BUNTPAPIERFABRIK GMBH DB15

ORIOL & FONTANEL /

SIMP G. MARTIN APPLICATEURS RA15

WILHELM (E.) GMBH E37

CHALEYER & CANET DE2

SIN REJAC DC3

WINTER & COMPANY DA2/DB1

OSKAR KARLA VA33

SINCOPLAS SAS RB2

WITOPLAST TUBES DB5

PACIFICGLAS RA2

SINWA CORPORATION RE11/RF15

WOERNER + CIE GMBH E18

PACKETIS RD8/RE5

SLEEVER INTERNATIONAL RF16

YONWOO RB16

PAGO LABELS AND

SOCIETE DE MARQUAGE INDUSTRIEL VA47

ZIGNAGO GROUP DC15

LABELLING TECHNOLOGY, VA13

SOFADIS DD2/DE1

ZIGNAGO VETRO SPA DC15

PAK 2000 RE1

SOLEV - GROUPE POCHET DG7

ZUBER RIEDER (PAPETERIE) DE8

PAPILLON RIBBON & BOW RE3

SONDEREGGER AG E15

october 2011

DATEBOOK February 14-16 WestPack Anaheim Convention Center, Anaheim, CA WestPackShow.com | 310-445-4200

October 2011 October 19-21 Luxe Pack Monaco Grimaldi Forum, Monaco www.luxepack.com | +33 4 7473 42 33

February 23-26 Contract Packaging Association Annual Meeting Gran Melia Hotel & Resort, Rio Grande, Puerto Rico www.contractpackaging.org | 630-544-5053

October 18-20 The Shopper Marketing Expo Navy Pier, Chicago www.shoppermarketexpo.com | 847-675-7400

March 2012 March 6-8 HealthPack 2012 Hyatt Regency Albuquerque, Albuquerque, NM www.innovativetechnologyconferences.com | 630-544-5051

November 2011 November 7-8 Annual Pharmaceutical and Medical Packaging Leadership Summit Baltimore Marriott Inner Harbor, Camden Yards, Baltimore www.opalevents.org | 212-532-9898

Mar 12-16 Brasilpack Anhembi Show Pavilion, Sao Paulo, Brazil www.semanainternacional.com.br/en | +55 11 30 60 49 07

November 14-25 DecTec Narrow Web Label & Product Decoration Printing and Imaging 2011 Hyatt Rosemont, Rosemont, IL www.awa-bv.com | 312-943-4091

Mar 7-8 Packaging Innovations Barcelona CCIB-Forum, Barcelona, Spain www.easyfairs.com | +34 91 151 67 92

November 21-23 Flexible Packaging Middle East 2011 JW Marriott Hotel, Dubai, United Arab Emirates www2.amiplastics.com/Events | +44 11 7924 94 42

March 12-1 TexasPack Fort Worth Convention Center, Fort Worth, TX www.texaspackshow.com | 310-445-4200

November 11-23 European Bioplastics Maritim proArte Hotel, Berlin, Germany http://en.european-bioplastics.org/conference2011 | +49 30 2848 23 58

December 2011

AD INDEX

November 29-December 2 Labelexpo Asia Shanghai New International Expo Centre, China www.labelexpo-asia.com | 262-754-6931 Nov. 30-Dec. 1 Printed Electronics USA 2011 Santa Clara Convention Center, Santa Clara, CA www.idtechex.com/printed-electronics-usa-11. | +44 12 2381 02 70

IFC

insert 11

IBC

January 2012

January 15-17 Winter Fancy Food Show Moscone Center, San Francisco, CA www.specialtyfood.com | 212-482-6440

OBC

Roland DGA

Sustainable Webinar

Xpedx

December 6-8 Packaging Design & Innovations Omni Orlando Resort, ChampionsGate, FL http://www.marketgate.com | 440-542-3027

January 18-20 13th IC Packaging Technology Expo Tokyo Big Sight, Tokyo, Japan www.icp-expo.jp/en | +813 33 49 85 02

February 2012

EskoArtwork HBA Global Expo HLP Klearfold Inland Label IoPP Luxe Pack Monaco Mimaki Mutoh Packagedesignmag.com

February 6-8 The 2012 Packaging Conference ARIA Resort at CityCenter, Las Vegas www.thepackagingconference.com | 866-509-6001

PACKAGEDESIGNMAG.COM

GLOBESPOTTING

BY LYNN DORNBLASER

Soda in a Spray Can This U.K. product puts a foamy, fizzy spin on the beverage category.

VITAL STATISTICS CONTENTS

Orange-fl avored carbonated soft drink SIZE

375mL GOALS

Liven up the beverage market TARGET

Young men in the U.K. MATERIAL

Plastic PET

THE PRODUCT

THE INNOVATIONS

In case you need proof that companies will go to almost any length to create and maintain interest in their products, allow us to introduce you to Turbo Tango. This truly different concept is just crazy enough to work.

The package functionality is not anything new at all—it dispenses just like shave cream does. But it’s the translation of the technology to a completely different category that makes this product so fascinating. The package itself has a full body shrink-sleeve label (with some great package language), and a push dispenser with an overcap. The bottle has an indented shape, making it easy to hold (and aim).

THE PERSPECTIVE The beverage category is a tough one. It’s crowded with flavors and functionality, and consumers tend to be quite loyal to the brands they like. So how do you attract new consumers and keep the existing ones? Perhaps with a product like this—a twist on a mainstay U.K. beverage that transforms a liquid beverage to a spray foam.

LABEL TYPE

Full-body shrink sleeve

OCTOBER 2011

THE MARKET We normally see innovations like this from a small company (self-heating cans of coffee, anyone?). Turbo Tango, though, is part of the venerable Tango brand from Britvic Soft Drinks in the U.K. Tango (along with many of the other beverages in the company’s portfolio) comes in the usual packaging of PET bottles. Just open and gulp. But the trick for carbonated soft drinks (CSDs) is to stay relevant to a fickle consumer. For CSD brands that aren’t Coke or Pepsi, the drive to use innovative packaging is also about being sure that your brand can maintain or grow your market share. Britvic has done that with Tango. In the U.K. market, Tango is about 1.3% of the total CSD market (that was about $48 million in 2010) and has increased its market share by one tenth of a percent each year (which is significant).

WHY WE LOVE IT Besides the novelty factor, the real reason we love this one is because it’s such a good example of how a technology can translate from one category to another. The different technology—the foaming delivery—may not provide a true functional benefit, but it certainly does provide an enhanced sense of fun. For a product that’s positioned to teens (especially teen boys), that’s an essential consideration.

FUTURE PROSPECTS What other products can benefit from this type of foaming dispensing? Sauces or flavored stocks to deliver the of-the-moment concept of foam on a plate of food instead of a drizzle of sauce? A new way to dispense a “lightened” version of a popular ingredient? For that, I’m wondering if an aerated peanut butter or chocolate sauce—or mayonnaise even—would work. PD

Lynn Dornblaser (lynnd@mintel.com) is the director of CPG Trend Insight at Mintel International.

ve packaging i t a e r c r o f w sho T h e p re m i e r

- Photo : D. Combet

C R E AT E A U N I Q U E L I N K

M O N A C O

Grimaldi Forum / Monaco Under the Patronage of his Serene Highness the Sovereign Prince of Monaco

www.luxepack.com Information / FRANCE Idice T. +33 (0)4 74 73 42 33 - info@idice.fr USA KX Associates Inc T. + 1 212 274 8508 luxepackny@kxassociates.com

S H A N G H A I

N E W

Y O R K

Creation :

19 . 20. 21 OCTOBER 2011