Package Design - November 2011 by ST Media Group International

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NOVEMBER 2011

Smile Makers P&G brushes up on the tween market

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The Winner of the 2011 Makeover ALSO: Challenge, sponsored by Brushfoil Secondary Lines Building trust into brands Secondary Lines Technology focus: Design & digital Secondary software Lines asset management PACKAGEDESIGNMAG.COM Secondary

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CONTENTS

NOVEMBER 2011 VOL. 9 NO. 9

18 COLUMNS 14 DESIGNER’S CORNER by Brennan Higgins Gaining consumer trust can be a matter of design for packaged food brands.

16 SUSTAINABLY SPEAKING by Wendy Jedlicka Designing more sustainable packages requires a closer look at material supply chains.

DEPARTMENTS

FEATURES 18

Tropical Appeal Whimsical design wins the 2011 Makeover Challenge with an appreciation of the exotic.

Package designers vie for consumers’ affections with more emotive looks.

FRONT PANEL

Design and Digital Asset Management Software

Pretzel Logic

Warming Trends

36 PRODUCT FOCUS

Peeling Back the Label Colorful packs celebrate historic pretzel-baking family heritage with a modern twist.

FROM THE EDITOR

10 SNAPSHOTS

Labeling material advances fuel creative possibilities for package design.

39 DATEBOOK

39 INDEX OF ADVERTISERS 40 GLOBESPOTTING by Lynn Dornblaser Snack cartons help seed homefarming movement.

Tween Sensation Fashion-forward designs make oral care fun for the elementary school set.

THIS MONTH ON PACKAGEDESIGNMAG.COM

ON THE COVER Graffiti-inspired packages

Dave Matthews Dreams Up New Wine Line

bring urban cool to the Crest and Oral-B oral care lines for pre-teens. (See “Tween Sensation,” page 32.)

http://packagedesignmag.com/DaveMatthews

NOVEMBER 2011

FROM THE EDITOR

by Linda casey

Sustainable Luxuries T

he global green packaging market shows no signs of slowing. According to a report from Research and Markets, consumer concern about packaging materials and waste, paired with new packaging technologies that address these concerns, will fuel sustainable packaging’s expansion through at least 2014. This growth is expected to hum along to the tune of a 14% compound annual growth rate. This growth isn’t new, though. Sustainable packaging has been on an upward trajectory for at least five years, and the decisions of package designers all along have been behind this growth. So, at what point do we graduate the concept of eco-design from packaging trend to core concept? Some agencies already view green packaging less as an outlier and more as an integral part of the overall design process. “Sustainability permeates everything,” says Eric Ashworth, chief strategy officer for Anthem and its parent company, Schawk. “It’s very difficult to do a project without the sustainability lens being applied to it.” And I can’t help but wonder if the little luxuries trend cited in our trends report on page 29 will accelerate sustainability’s role as a core package design concept. Rani Tjugito, a structural packaging engineer for The Coleman Company and a consumer with a fresh-from-college budget (she graduated from Rutgers’ packaging program just last year), considers beautiful, sustainable packaged products a worthwhile luxury and is willing to pay “a little more” for them. If sustainable packaging helps elevate products into affordable luxuries for consumers, it can help CPGs and package designers capture market share and dollars for their brands. These certainly are core goals for brand owners in all packaged goods segments. To gain a better understanding of how some of the largest brand owners view sustainability, Package Design has invited Coca-Cola, Procter & Gamble, Starbucks, and Unilever to speak at our annual sustainability webinar, to be held December 13 at 2 p.m. E.S.T. We hope you’ll be able to join us for their presentations and for the live Q&A session that follows. Go to packagedesignmag.com/green to sign up.

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

november 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

The Show to See Pack Expo Las Vegas debuts new features to record-breaking crowds.

ore than 26,000 attendees came to the Las Vegas Convention Center to see solutions offered by 1,559 exhibitors and learn more about package design and technology at Pack Expo Las Vegas on Sept. 26–28, 2011. For the design industry, there was plenty to see to stoke the creative fires.

The 1,000-square-foot CUshop was designed and built at the Sonoco Institute, disassembled, and shipped to Las Vegas. PMMI executives became interested in the eye-tracking research at the CUshop consumer research lab at Clemson.

One of the most dynamic new features of the show, the Consumer Retail Experience, spoke directly to the package design category: The 3,600-sq-ft exhibit served as a laboratory for a consumer research experiment by Clemson University. At the heart of the exhibition was a 1,000-sq-ft mini-mart (called the CUshop) designed and built at

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Clemson’s Sonoco Institute. When reassembled in Las Vegas, it was complete with shopping aisles, shelves of boxes, and items commonly found in a grocery store. Clemson graduate and undergraduate students, who were advised by assistant professor R. Andrew Hurley, invited Pack Expo attendees to put on digital eye-tracking glasses and search for specific products in the CUshop. The glasses recorded the study participants’ eye movements at 30 movements per second. The data was transmitted to a computer, which then showed which packaged products attracted their attention. The students took this data back with them to Clemson, where Hurley and his team are using it to search for trends in package design elements and what Hurley calls “the perceived quality of products.” This trends research, he says, is especially valuable because it “unveils consumer decision-making and investigation at the subconscious level.” Returning to Pack Expo was the sold-out Brand Zone, sponsored by Package Design. At the forefront in this feature, Project 2020: The Consumer Experience shared designs from its “Package of the Future” competition. Directions Marketing (Neenah, WI) won for its Tri-tainer pet food package concept. The Tri-tainer brings functionality and recyclability to bulk pet food packaging. The container features an interlocking triangular design, with a uniform size and shape, which makes packing, shipping, and warehouse storage more efficient. Accordion-type compression reduces the container height as product is dispensed, and when empty the container folds flat for easy recyclability. Built-in, pop-up handles make the dog food easy to dispense. Next year, Pack Expo returns to Chicago’s McCormick Place October 28-31.

QUOTE

“ Design is a funny word. Some people think design means how it looks. But of course, if you dig deeper, it’s really how it works.” — Steve Jobs

More Is More The Red Tile Chardonnay label has earned ASL Print FX the 2011 Best of Show Award from the Tag and Label Manufacturers Institute Inc.’s Annual Awards Competition. This project demonstrates how multiple silkscreens, hotstamps, and UV-coating treatments can be used to add pizzazz to labeled packages.

FRONT PANEL FAST FACT

$1.7 Billion lobal demand for electronic smart packages (e-packaging) by G 2022, according to a new report from IDTechEx. Researchers note that e-packaging is already used to create interactive designs in a diverse range of packages, from winking rum bottles to talking pizza boxes.

Neat Finish

Bright Idea Taking a different approach to package reuse is Re-Wine. Attach one of these frames to an empty wine bottle to give it a second life. The bottle becomes a stand for an energy-efficient LED desk lamp. The frames also can be used to make furniture. Composed of PE/PET and waste fiber material, the frames enable consumers to make load-bearing furniture out of multiple bottles. Miniwiz also built an interlocking feature into the frames so creatives can easily reimagine furniture after it’s assembled.

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When Cains Foods (Ayer, MA) redesigned the packaging for its Naturally Delicious salad dressings, it did more than just update its labeling. The brand owner created a better user experience. Specifically, says Cains’ vice president of sales and marketing Chris Katopis, the CPG didn’t want a consumer to open the bottle and have half the contents go on his salad. “Consumers really hate that,” he remarks. So Cains moved to LiquiFlapper, a onepiece closure system. Weatherch engineered the closure so it flips open and closed with an audible snap. A butterfly hinge keeps the lid open while pouring (so the lid doesn’t create a mess by getting in the way of the liquid’s flow), and the teardrop orifice eliminates glugging by allowing air to pass over the outbound stream of liquid. The closure also enabled Cains to redesign the bottles for better shelf impact. By increasing the width of the bottle to 4.25 inches, the company gained 12 inches of facing space that helps create a greater visual impact across eight products. Even though the packages now take up more facing space, retailers are telling Cains that they prefer the new packaging because it more efficiently uses shelf depth. PD

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SNAPSHOTS

Front of the Pack Key product benefits take center stage for a dog food brand.

riginally developed to meet the needs of breeders and trainers of champion sport and competition dogs, Blackwood Pet Food (Lisbon, OH) products are slow-cooked in a family-owned facility. The all-natural foods are made from nutrient-rich ingredients, such as Omega 3 and 6 fatty acids, which help keep dogs’ skin and coats healthy. The brand’s challenge was to quickly communicate these benefits to dog owners. To that aim, Blackwood Pet Foods partnered with Ideas that Kick. The agency created a messaging system for the primary pet caregiver in the home—a.k.a. the “dog Mom.” The new design places important product information, such as protein, fat, and fiber content; the recipe; and the cooking process, all on the front of the bag for easy comparison shopping.

Saucy Look

Premium packaging aims to get consumers fired up.

The new packages also help keep the dog food fresh. The bags are made with a multilayer film of PET and white LLDPE and have a resealable zipper. The multilayer film not only offers performance benefits, it also offers a luxury image via a clear, matte film layer (printed by Excel Packaging on a 10-color rotogravure press). Blackwood says it’s received resoundingly positive responses to the new packaging from retailers. In addition, the new packaging has led to a partnership between Blackwood and PetEdge, a leading distributor of pet-related products, which will result in a substantial increase in Blackwood’s presence in specialty retail stores throughout the United States. 10

november 2011

ina Harissa, a premium Moroccan red pepper sauce, has made its debut in packaging designed to convey the luxury of the Moroccan culture and the simplicity of the sauces’ six natural ingredients. The packaging is the result of a collaboration between Mina Harissa’s brand owner, Casablanca Foods LLC (New York, NY), and agency Monday Collective. The simple brand icon, inspired by the shape of a red bell pepper when cut in two, reflects patterns and graphics found on traditional Moroccan tiles and textiles. To make the background icons pop, label printer DWS Printing Associates finished the matte-finish labels with spot varnish on the graphics. The logo typestyle was inspired by Arabic letter forms and is stamped in gold foil for a premium look. The label has a simple, upscale color scheme, dominated by different shades of black. A square jar (supplied by Leone Industries) brings the bright red of the sauce into the package design, giving it a spicy vibrancy. Mina Harissa is available at major grocery chains (such as Wegmans), Crate & Barrel, select gourmet stores, and specialty websites.

New Design Hits the Spot Revitalized range of anti-acne products gets a facelift.

XY (United Kingdom) has made its name by fighting blackheads, acne spots, and oily skin for more than 20 years. But the brand needed a modern look to effectively communicate how it harnesses the healing properties of nature and insights gained through research to create more effective skin care products. The new package design, created by Pearlfisher, highlights a key differentiator of the product: a naturally active seaweed concentrate that’s reported to reduce spotcausing bacteria, redness, and excess oil production. The tubes have a white background with a multi-colored seaweed graphic. Green is used at the seaweed base to convey LEC_Gratification_Half_PD_30th.pdf

CMY

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the naturalness of the key ingredient. The same shade of blue used for the brand’s tagline—Natural Skin Science—is used for the seaweed. A color gradient from green to blue illustrates the concept of conversion of the natural seaweed into a scientific ingredient.

4:08 PM

SNAPSHOTS

Dairy Fresh Coffee creamer’s redesign blends even better.

s one of the Netherlands’ oldest dairy brands, FrieslandCampina (Amersfoort, the Netherlands) owns one of the country’s leading coffee creamer brands. But the FrieslandCampina Friesche Vlag logo and packaging needed a refresh to better identify and unify its range of liquid dairy offerings, from traditional creamers to more innovative coffee milk products. The company worked with Anthem to create a more cohesive portfolio-wide design. Central to the redesign is a new logo treatment, with a dimensional shape that’s more identifiable with the liquid dairy category. A simple, clean design style was rolled out across the entire product portfolio, from products packaged in Tetra Pak Tetra Brik aseptic cartons to those in HDPE bottles draped in full-body PET shrink sleeves (printed by CCL Label Decorative Sleeves). Key existing brand colors are used for the brand’s core products, such as Goudband, Halvamel, and Balance. An extended color palette was created for less traditional extended offerings. The redesigned packages extend the brand’s positioning with the message that it’s a provider of enhanced, multi-sensory coffee moments, and also preserves Friesche Vlag’s existing brand equities. The new design system is also flexible enough for future product introductions. PD

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DESIGNER’S CORNER

By Brennan Higgins

Authentic Attraction Building consumer trust in food products can be easy with the right package design cues.

’m always intrigued when someone describes what “authentic” means to them. It’s a pretty subjective term, but there are societal authenticity statements that we as consumers gravitate toward, and they’re tremendous tools in package development. We’re drawn to authenticity. We sift through the clutter of life to find it, especially with consumer packaged goods, and, more specifically, food products. So how do we, as designers, bring authenticity to our clients’ packaging? Origin. Consumers often believe that if a product is from the area where a specific food trend got started, it’s got to be the best. Bertolli’s pasta dish packages evoke a feeling of being in Italy, with their romantic landscape backdrops featuring iconic architecture and greenery. Product photography is done with a table setting that accentuates the sought-after rustic tone. The logo is paired with an ornate emblem that looks like a stamp of approval. Not surprisingly, Bertolli is translating the same ideas to their promotions. Marketing director GastonVaneri says its new campaign, the largest in the company’s history, will focus on the “Italian-ness” of the brand.

The label stock and color combinations give this package a rustic feel that identifies the sauce as an authentic product developed at Stubb’s famous Texas restaurant.

november 2011

The value of people. When a chef is willing to put his name on his company’s packaging, he can increase the perceived value of the food quality. With the Stubb’s line of barbeque sauces and marinades, the chef made sure consumers knew exactly who developed the foods. A friendly black-and-white photo of C.B. Stubbfield is front and center and locked up directly with the chef ’s nickname, which also is the brand

Ink and substrate innovations help Bertolli achieve that old-world feel. The package’s sheen come from its foil substrate, and the varying white ink coverage give the packages the perfect combination of metallic essence and color saturation.

name. The package design takes the concept of “putting your name on it” even further by incorporating Stubb’s signature in the package design. Ingredients build interest. Natural ingredients can be a great differentiator for packaged food products if the companies can communicate that message well. Kashi recently added photography of its natural ingredients to the top left and bottom right of its predominantly white packaging. (From color trend evaluations, Kashi knows that white means “healthy” to consumers.) The copy reinforces its natural ingredients message. For its Berry Blossoms cereal, Kashi added one prominent line of copy below the flavor name explaining what’s inside. What’s more, Kashi uses romance copy artfully integrated into the cereal bowl picture to tell the story of how these natural ingredients made their way into the box. A “Made with Real Fruit” callout, in the shape of a piece of fruit, was added as well.

Awards win sales. Award-winning products have a simple route to authenticity: Call out the award on the package, but without competing with the brand treatment. Sweet Baby Ray’s did this simply with the words “Award Winning” and a few stars to signify the achievement. (The sauce got its start when the chef Larry Raymond entered his sauce into Chicago’s Mike Royko Rib-Off, and it beat nearly 700 entrants to come in second.) The simple but effective package design helped Sweet Baby Ray’s tremendous growth in 2010, leaping 28% in annual sales—just shy of $98 million. Nostalgia makes it memorable. Products with a long history in a market can remind consumers of their childhoods. Little Debbie snack packages aim to take us back to a simpler time. The company uses traditional visual cues, such as the plaid backdrop and the illustrated “Debbie” in her old-fashioned attire. Even the plate looks like it’s from my great grandmother’s cupboard. A ribbon motif along with perfectly chosen font styles round out this happy time warp.

Mass production has waged a psychological war with authenticity. In a world of costs and margins, consumers are wondering if they can really expect a brand to hold the same quality standards. Package designers can let these consumers know a product is trustwor-

thy by communicating the product’s authenticity. PD

Brennan Higgins is senior vice president of strategy for DePersico Group (www. depersico.com).

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SUSTAINABLY SPEAKING

by Wendy Jedlicka, CPP

Questioning Supply Chains Making more sustainable packaging choices is about more than just materials.

ust months after a Greenpeace campaign targeting its practices, Mattel—the world’s largest toy maker—says it will stop sourcing paper and packaging from the Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) group. Greenpeace had identified APP as one of the largest contributors to ongoing rainforest destruction and habitat loss in Indonesia. What made the Greenpeace rainforest campaign targeting Mattel (and other APP customers) so successful? One, developments in technology allowed investigators to identify specific pulps used in a package. Two, greater awareness made consumers more active in communicating their concerns. Three, the ease and speed with which these concerns can be vocalized has increased exponentially in today’s wired world. (More than 200,000 emails were sent to Mattel through Greenpeace’s campaign on the first day). In short, exposing the weak link in the company’s supply chain had become much easier. Another company whose pulp sourcing was called into question by the Greenpeace campaign was Lego. The Danish toymaker handled the situation even more quickly: It announced a change to its sourcing criteria the very same month the campaign was launched (July 2011).

Creating a supply chain with greater integrity helps assure all materials that go into creating your end product don’t carry hidden surprises. Lego stated it would not only continue its preexisting packaging material reduction plan, but it would try to use only recycled materials. When recycled is not an option, Lego said it would use FSC-certified fibers to help assure better oversight of its pulp supply chain. 16

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This was an important step, as a plan to deal with its pulp and packaging needs was an apparent missing link in the company’s aim to develop a forward-looking and more sustainable supply chain. Lego’s goals published prior to the Greenpeace campaign included using 100% renewable energy as part of its path to full fossil energy independence by 2020, as well as aggressive zero-waste goals along the whole of their value chain.

Forests’ role in design Due to economic pressures, many countries are choosing to respond to immediate market opportunities offered by demand for rainforest products— including package materials—instead of waiting to work with a more sustainable action plan. Indonesia has increased clearing of rainforest lands to meet demand for palm oil plantations and to harvest wood for pulp and paper, Over the past 50 years, nearly 40 percent of the forests have been cleared in this country alone. The combination of increases in carbonproducing efforts globally (burning fossil fuels, for example) and decreases in key carbon sequestering mechanisms in key areas (such as old-growth forests) is at the core of our current climate problem and is the eco-designers’ challenge. The real takeaway here is not just about focusing on your impact on the rainforest, but about building into your corporate culture the tools and the time to allow for a review of suppliers going all the way back to the point of extraction when possible—accounting for true costs. Creating a supply chain with greater integrity helps assure that all materials that go into creating your end product don’t carry hidden surprises. PD For articles on similar topics, visit the Wine & Spirits channel on PackageDesignMag.com.

Wendy Jedlicka, CPP, is principal of Jedlicka Design Ltd. (www.jedlicka.com), a founding faculty member of Minneapolis College of Art and Design’s Sustainable Design Program (www.mcad.edu/sustainable), and contributing editor of the book Packaging Sustainability (PackagingSustainability.info).

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Tropical

APPEAL The winner of the 2011 Makeover Challenge highlights the whimsical, fun side of exotic product packaging. By Linda Casey

ith almost a thousand votes counted, Murray Brand Communications emerged victorious in Package Design’s annual Makeover Challenge for 2011. The company’s cheerful redesign of the Brazil Gourmet line of fruit juices earned praise from voters for its good use of negative space, fresh and refreshing color palette, and clever reimagining of the brand’s toucan iconography. “I voted for the Murray Brand Communications’ submission because it really conveyed what the product was all about,” says Heinz packaging engineer Greg Roskos. “It was quick, it was efficient, and it made sense. The tropical look on the shrink wrap label conveys freshness and somewhere exotic, which is what you want to do for a tropical fruit juice company.” A sense of the exotic was an important part of the brand strategy Murray Brand Communications built for Brazil Gourmet. The agency identified two strong competitors in the premium juice cooler section: Naked Juice and Odwalla. Although these brands have strong category presence and are known by consumers for their high-quality products, they don’t specialize in tropical fruit juices. 18

NOVEMBER 2011

The winning package concept features simple illustrations for the tropical flora and toucan to prevent the graphics from competing with the design’s primary visual—the whole fruit photography.

FOUR FIRMS, FOUR TIME ZONES, AND ONE CONTEST

Designing differently Brazil Gourmet wnated to create a unique brand position by leveraging its Brazilian heritage. Murray Brand Communications helped solidify the brand’s essence by identifying three words—fun, delicious, and healthy—to represent both the Brazilian culture and Brazil Gourmet’s products. The concepts of fun, delicious, and healthy are all present in the new design, which uses whimsical illustration and type, beautiful photography of whole fruits, a white background that tells an unconscious story of the juice’s purity, and bright tropical colors. The agency also improved on how Brazil Gourmet’s brand character—the toucan—is implemented in the package design. On Brazil Gourmet’s current packaging (see page 20), the toucan is part of the logo lockup. This character and logo treatment helps Brazil Gourmet build brand equity, but the extent of its effectiveness is very dependent on its size. Murray Brand

Four competing design firms—one from each of the four contiguous-U.S. time zones—re-imagined tropical fruit juice packaging for the 2011 Makeover Challenge. The contest, sponsored by Brushfoil, a division of Interfilm Holdings Inc., tasked the teams—Murray Brand Communications, San Francisco; LeeReedy, Denver; Ciulla Assoc., Chicago; and Little Big Brands, Nyack, NY—with creating a new look for Brazil Gourmet beverages. Although this is a blue-sky exercise, the agencies were encouraged to take a real-world approach to the project by consulting directly with the brand owner—Liberty Imports USA—on its packaging needs. The agencies then had less than two months to develop and present their best designs before the public was invited to voice their opinions. Voting was conducted both online at PackageDesignMag.com and, for the first time, on-site at Pack Expo Las Vegas. The 2011 Makeover Challenge was made possible in part by Brushfoil’s sponsorship of the Makeover Challenge. Brushfoil is a world leader in graphic brushed label face stocks, laminating films, and paper stocks for the converting industry. Founded in 1982 by businessmen involved in the initial 1960s development of brushed films as an alternative to stainless steel, Brushfoil embraces the newest technology for metallic-looking films and papers. PACKAGEDESIGNMAG.COM

current Design

w 1 Murray Brand Communications evaluated several type styles for their ability to convey the ideas of exotic locations and whimsy. 2 Multiple concepts, such as the one pictured above, were developed before settling on the winning design. 3 The design process began with a simple pencil sketch. Note how the design evolved—it now shows whole fruit versus a glass of juice. The original sketch also doesn’t have the “Taste The Tropics” tagline.

Communications noticed that the toucan tended to get lost on the small version of the logo lockup used for the brand’s Superfruits Tetra Pak carton. The agency’s solution was to incorporate the toucan into the tropical flora background. This also helped the agency build the brand character into a story about the brand and product. “This design connects the toucan with the idea of discovery,” says Murray Brand Communications design director Brad Berberich. “The idea was that the consumer is in the Amazon, pushing away leaves and orchids to discover these pure fruits.” Depicting the whole fruits as found treasures also helps position the juices as taste indulgences, which Brazil Gourmet vice president and co-owner Simone Anewalt says is the primary consumer experience the company aims to deliver. Murray Brand Communications principal R.J. Murray notes this is also a differentiator for Brazil Gourmet in the general natural foods category. “We’ve done a ton of work in the natural food sector and found that most people think of natural foods as a sacrifice in most cases,” he explains. The typical consumer feedback Murray hears is along the lines of: “I know it’s not going to taste as good, but at least » continued on page 34

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www.brushfoil.com 800-493-2321 1 Shoreline Drive, Unit 6, Guilford, CT 06437 (USA)

Peeling Technical advances add creative possibility and production efficiency to many kinds of label stock.

hether it occupies most of a package’s exterior or just a small part of it, no packaging component shoulders more of the burden of brand messaging than the label. The look of the label obviously counts—but so do the underlying properties and the practical performance of the labeling material. Package Design surveyed suppliers of labeling materials to get a snapshot of progress in the development of various kinds of labeling stocks. What we found is a pool of creativity and technical innovation that’s as impressive, in its way, as any of the exquisitely designed labels featured in the pages of this magazine.

Abundance of applications

Because clear-on-clear film labels enable sub-surface lithographic printing, package designers can create durable graphics without the limitations of silkscreen decorating.

november 2011

The continuing popularity of pressuresensitive (a.k.a. self-adhesive) labels rests upon their versatility. Injecting versatility into this kind of labeling material is the business focus of Acucote, which Gene Lauffer, its national sales manager, describes as a boutique supplier of sheet- and roll-fed films and papers, liners, and adhesives for pressure-sensitive label production. Package designers can specify Acucote stocks for peel-off, instant redeemable coupons; flexible closures for re-sealable packages containing (for example) baby wipes or snack foods; and tamper-evident and anti-counterfeiting seals.

Acucote stocks are compatible with all of the principal label printing processes, including digital. Not only can the label stocks be PMS color-matched, says Lauffer, but so can the adhesives— a feature that assures authenticity. Adhesives also can be applied in patterns that leave some areas of the back side of the label sticky and others adhesive-free.

When the best look is invisible Transparent labeling can be a competitive solution when compared to directdecorating methods, such as silk-screening. “No other decorating technology offers the same combination of brilliant graphics, intricate die-cuts, and virtually invisible edge lines,” says Tina Hannan, Avery Dennison’s film product line director for label and packaging materials for North America. Just announced at Labelexpo Europe 2011 was the launch of the Avery Dennison Curve Appeal system and Fasson Curvy film, a combination said to be capable of handling more complex container shapes and delivering up to 30% more space for primary labeling. Using a label like the Fasson Curvy gives package designers more decorating options, such as print effects not otherwise available on nonstandard shaped containers. Pressure-sensitive labeling materials from Fasson include clear-on-clear

By Patrick Henry

Back the Label films; glossy and matte white papers; digitally top-coated papers and films for short runs; eco-friendly papers and films; and conformable films that support unusual container shapes. Also introduced was Avery Dennison Shrink PS, for labels that resist wrinkling when applied to vacuum-shrink bags.

Clean and crisp will work FLEXcon supplies pressure-sensitive films for a broad spectrum of end-uses in dozens of different markets and industries, including consumer product packaging. FLEXcon films give what Rick Harris, a product manager in the company’s product branding business team, calls a “clean, crisp look” to labels for plastic containers of hair care products, body washes, deodorants, cosmetics, and many other items in the health & beauty aids category. Packaging for laundry products and household chemicals bear them, as well. Recognizing that pressure-sensitive labeling stocks must also meet consumer market demands for environmental friendliness, FLEXcon has introduced THINflex—a family of down-gauge BOPP films in clear, white, and silver. Harris says that these films, at 1.6-mil thick on a .92 liner, achieve up to a 30% reduction in thickness vs. films of standard gauges. This translates, Harris says, into a reduced carbon

footprint, since more labels can be transported per shipping batch.

How foils beguile The glittering highlights of packages labeled with metallic foils “emotionalize the product with potential buyers,” says Scott Tacosik, product manager, graphics, Kurz Transfer Products. Serving a variety of consumer and industrial markets, Kurz supplies foils for hot stamping and cold-foil transfer in label production. Hot stamping uses dies or rollers to bond the foil to the labeling substrate with heat and pressure. In cold foiling, adhesives, either conventional or UV-curable, secure the stamping foil to the carrier. Both processes have distinct benefits. Hot stamping, Tacosik says, adds

high brightness and a tactile feel to a broad range of labeling substrates (including some that are not suitable for cold-foil transfer). Cold foiling is best for label images with fine vignettes and halftone screens. Because it doesn’t need the die stamps or heating units of hot foiling, Tacosik says, cold foiling is also a lower-cost process that can make foiling more economically attractive in high-volume label runs.

Relatives of the real thing Synthetic papers—stocks made of base materials other than cellulose fibers— are of interest when high durability is high on the list of labeling requirements. One supplier of synthetics is Granwell Inc., also a source of A-PET, Made from calcium carbonate and HDPE, these synthetic labels boast high resistance to tear, grease, and water, but reduce cleanly to ash when incinerated.

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Polymer film labels can be manufactured to provide strong tamper-evidence. For example, package designers can specify cellulose diacetate film labels that break into several hardto-remove pieces when the package closure or its seal is tampered with.

BOPP, and PVC films for the printing, publishing, and converting industries. John Giblin, Granwell’s marketing director, says that the company’s Polylith synthetic papers stand up aggressively to moisture, cold, chemicals, oil, grease, dirt, and UV radiation. Primarily for labeling applications are Granwell’s polypropylene-based P series stocks, available either uncoated or with clay coating on one side or two sides. Granwell ships tons of these stocks to the U.K., Giblin says, for conversion to labels for a best-selling brand of vodka.

For more information, visit Avery Dennison, www.averydennison.com Acucote, www.acucote.com Clarifoil, www.clarifoil.com FLEXcon, www.flexcon.com Granwell Inc., www.granwell.com Kurz Transfer Products, www.kurzusa.com Labelexpo Europe, www.labelexpo-europe.com Label Impressions, www.labelimpressions.com

november 2011

Another customer, a wine producer in France, likes the fact that labels made of moisture-proof P series synthetics hold up well to immersion in ice buckets. Polylith synthetics are also used for packaging structures and for tamperevident seals on containers for pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and other small, high-value items. Among other benefits are full recyclability, incineration without generating VOCs, and FDA approval for contact with food. Label Impressions, a flexographic label printer, has made stone the main ingredient of its proprietary FiberStone “tree-free, stone paper,” which is made from 80% calcium carbonate (the stone) and 20% HDPE. Jeff Salisbury, president of Label Impressions, says that in a ton-for-ton comparison with paper labeling stock, the environmental benefit of FiberStone is a savings of 20 trees, 16,000 gallons of water, and 18,000 BTUs of energy.

Recipe for high-performance Take wood pulp from sustainably managed forests, mix it with vinegar, dissolve the mixture in acetone, and extrude the resulting polymer onto a highly polished, stainless steel forming surface. This is a simplified description of the process for making cellulose diacetate film. As a technical manager for Clarifoil, the world’s largest producer of cellulose diacetate films, Kevin Parker knows their merits well. They include, he says, a very high-gloss appearance, high

scratch resistance, unique properties for secure packaging, and environmental friendliness as biodegradable and compostable bioplastics. Labels and transparent window cartons are among the principal applications for cellulose diacetate films. Although the material is known for its glossy appearance, Clarifoil can make cellulose diacetate films with matte and semi-matte finishes in a variety of gauges. They also can be PMS-color matched and enhanced with UV blockers, pearlescent and metallic tones, and thermochromic elements for temperature-triggered color change. Cellulose diacetate films are well suited, Parker says, for use as tamperevident labels on packages. One Clarifoil product, called Integuard, assures tamper-evidency by literally going to pieces. Whenever a label made of Integuard is subjected to the stress of opening or attempted removal, the label reacts by fragmenting into a multitude of highly visible and very hard-to-remove bits.

Rocketing label product launches This snapshot is a sampling of a market that’s having a virtual explosion of new products. Just this October at Labelexpo Europe 2011, several hundred new products were launched. Package and label designers, in record numbers, are also investigating these products and how best to use them. For example, 28,636 visitors from 118 countries attended this year’s Labelexpo. That’s an increase of 18.6 % over 2009’s show. Labelexpo Europe 2011 broke all previous records in terms of visitors, exhibitors, and equipment sales, making it the largest and most successful label event to date. If the annual label show is any hint of the label industry’s health, its success points to more label innovations to come and more package designers taking advantage of them. PD For articles on similar topics, visit the Labels channel on PackageDesignMag.com.

Pretzel Strategic planning produces colorful results for a historic snack brand.

Logic By Linda Casey

BEFORE The original bags didn’t highlight the connection between the pretzels and the Sturgis family.

november 2011

s part of a marketing campaign highlighting 150 years of commercial pretzel baking by the Sturgis family, Tom Sturgis Pretzels (Reading, PA) refreshed its snack packaging this year with a colorful, modern look. Because of the brand equity at stake, the company took a phased approach to the project—starting with the introduction of four premium, artisan pretzel products. These four new products would represent the pinnacle of five generations of Sturgis family bakers’ improvements to the recipe developed by family patriarch Julius Sturgis in the 1800s. Tom Sturgis Pretzels, which is now led by Julius’ great, great grandson Bruce, was confident that its specialized knowledge would make product development a slam-dunk. The company wanted the same certainty when it came to the products’ packaging, so it partnered with design agency William Fox Munroe.

Stop, look, imagine “They hadn’t made changes in so many years, and I was getting the sense that we needed to make a dramatic change,” Tom Newmaster, partner at William Fox Munroe, explains. “We had to get them to take

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Tom Sturgis Pretzels liked the modern look of the new multicolored design so much that it is extending the look across its entire product line.

a step back, look at the whole line, and really think about how that new line would look on the shelf.” To get the process started, William Fox Munroe collected images of competing packaged products in various markets. This also helped introduce package concepts very different from Tom Sturgis’ current glossy, windowed packaging with its littleboy brand mark. For years, the brand’s bags have encouraged consumers to look for the Little Dutch Boy icon. Although the brand mark depicted a youthful character, this illustration was beginning to show its age. The design agency challenged the effectiveness of the icon as a simple drawing. “We asked, ‘Does this character represent your company?’” says Newmaster. “We explained that it could be a little friendlier if we brought it into the 2000s, and we

The Little Dutch Boy icon is friendlier and more inviting than the outlined version, thanks to more realistic coloring with flesh tones and blond hair.

A callout under the Tom Sturgis logo highlights the pretzels’ artisan recipe.

Copy was added to identify the product as family-made and the Sturgis family as an innovator in the pretzel category.

showed examples of how other characters developed over time—Chester Cheeto, Mr. Clean, and the Trix rabbit.” The brand mark was redesigned with a more realistic look, with warm flesh tones and blond hair. He also moved to the top of the bag’s front panel and got cozy with the brand logo. “They used to handle the Tom Sturgis text logo and the icon separately,” says Newmaster. “We made it into one unit that could be used just about anywhere.” PACKAGEDESIGNMAG.COM

Coloring Tom’s world The brand mark wasn’t the only element to get a color update. Previous packaging used a solid-color background that offered shelf impact but didn’t communicate the natural ingredients inside. The new bags keep wide bands of solid color to help consumers identify flavors, but they also sport wheat-colored backgrounds behind the brand mark and logo lockup and behind the high-end product photography. The logo lockup also gained illustrations of the grain, housed in a red-and-black half circle behind the icon. To maximize the graphic design changes, including the product photography that replaced the previous bag’s window, William Fox Munroe suggested matte-finish bags for the four new premium products. The matte film avoids harsh reflections from retail store lighting, and the packaging material also serves as a product differentiator on shelf. “There were probably only one or two snack bags out there in a matte finish when we suggested this,” says Newmaster. Because William Fox Munroe has strong digital prototyping capabilities in house, with printers from HP, Roland, and Kodak—and because there were so few other snacks in matte bags—the agency created digital prototypes to show the client as early as the first package concept presentation. This, Newmaster says, helped the agency confirm that the client truly liked the matte bags’ look and not just the reasoning behind it. It also helps the agency catch and correct problems before designs go to production, he adds, “and that saves brand owners time and money.”

Registered results Having manufacturing-ready designs was especially important because the bags have a complex 10color scheme. “There’s a lot going on with different colors on these packages,” says Mike Graziano of Packaging by Design, which supplies the bag film.

For more information, visit HP, www.hp.com/GraphicArts Kuen Yuh Machinery Ltd., www.kymc.com Kodak, www.graphics.kodak.com Packaging By Design, www.packaging-by-design.com Roland DGA Corp., www.rolanddga.com William Fox Munroe, www.wfoxm.com

november 2011

He notes that several of the bag’s process colors are colors that the package printer typically prints using spot-color inks. To be able to print these colors in process, Graziano explains, the printing equipment needs to hold exceptional register and high-quality printing plates must be used. The bag film is reverse-printed using water-based inks on a Keun Yuh central impression (CI) press. The advantage to using this type of CI press is that its gearless, servo-driven systems ensure good registration and print resolution even at high running speeds. The printed matte film is then laminated to a clear polypropylene film using water-based adhesives. The water-based inks and adhesives, Graziano says, make for a more sustainable bag film than one made with traditional methods. The converter’s manufacturing process also results in safer and stronger snack bags. The inks never touch the food because the printed surface is trapped between the film layers, and the lamination process adds strength without adding thickness to the film.

Designs on expansion “We got such a good reception from our salespeople and our independent distributors that we decided to change all of our product line to the new design,” says Bruce Sturgis. William Fox Munroe adjusted the design to work across Tom Sturgis Pretzels’ other products, without diluting the differentiation built into the new premium products. Some lines, for example, are in matte polypropylene bags. Others are in glossy polypropylene bags, and their packages use windows to display the product instead of photography. More of Tom Sturgis Pretzels’ mainstay products will move to the new glossy polypropylene bags as existing film supply exhausts. With about 75 percent of the product line in the newly designed bags, Sturgis says that it’s too early to tell if the package redesign alone is responsible for recent sales increases. But the 150-yearanniversary marketing campaign that the package design is part of has been a huge success. The marketing campaign response puts a smile on Sturgis’ face not only because it increased sales. It also shows that more people are getting Tom Sturgis Pretzels’ most important brand communication: “It’s a super thank-you for all the business over the years.” PD For articles on similar topics, visit the Food channel on PackageDesignMag.com.

By Linda Casey

Warming Trends Package design gets in touch with its emotional side.

ncreased competition, higher costs, and challenging markets are enough to make any package designer emotional. But when designers talk about recent trends, it’s the customer’s emotions that are in the spotlight. Now more than ever, designers are focusing on how packaging can best create an emotional connection between products, brands, and customers, and then use these relationships to help their products stand out from the competition, move to better profit margins, and serve the changing U.S. marketplace. Simplicity has dominated design for plenty of recent product launches and redesigns. It’s being used by boutique brands to put the focus on the product and by private-label brands, such as Walgreens Nice!, to create sophisticated packages that aim to attract consumers across several income levels.

Some package designers and strategists are beginning to question if the pursuit of simplification has been taken too far. “From my very subjective perspective, packages got overly stripped-down,” says Eric Ashworth, chief strategy officer for Anthem and its parent company, Schawk. “Everything went stark white with sans serif, lowercase type. I loved white when it first came out, but I’m sick of it now.” Adds Lor Gold, Schawk/Anthem’s global chief creative director, “Packaging was once incredibly emotive and wonderful. We can head down that path again, and packaging can be more emotive than it’s ever been!” How are designers making the first moves toward bringing back that lovin’ feeling? “Color’s back,” Ashworth asserts, noting that this trend is especially evident in the new packs being introduced for gum.

Wrigley uses bright packaging and a bold marketing campaign to make Orbit, a gum brand that dates back to the 1940s, relevant to today’s youth.

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“ Consumers are looking for ways to get the feeling of indulging themselves without spending a whole lot of money.” — Stephen R. Perry, creative director at Bailey Brand Consulting

Wrigley’s Orbit brand certainly couldn’t be accused of being insensate, with its Dirty Mouth commercials. The confectionary giant supports Orbit’s branding with vibrantly colored packs that are easily recognizable even from a distance. Gold calls this packaging attribute its “badge quality” and describes it as what lets products make a statement about the consumer using it. Perhaps a more familiar context for “badge quality” comes from the fashion arena, where designer clothes are sought as an extension of the wearer’s personality. Gold asks, “Why can’t package designers take what works in fashion and marry that to package design?” The practice of using design to transform a packaged commodity into a desired object supports a larger consumer trend seen by Stephen R. Perry, creative director at Bailey Brand Consulting. “Consumers are looking for ways to get the feeling of indulging themselves without spending a whole lot of money,” he says. Instead, Perry suggests the time is ripe for smaller luxuries such as a beautiful

pump bottle of hand soap. “For another dollar,” he says, “consumers can get a nice-looking container for their bathroom. They can feel good about that.” Scott Jost, vice president of innovation and design at Studio One Eleven, a division of Berlin Packaging, sees the home playing an increasing role in package design—especially as more brand owners view the home as a marketplace. He sees this happening with a range of consumer packaged goods companies (CPGs), but notes that the most drastic change is in the attitudes of CPGs that aren’t sold at retail. “For years, one of the arguments that we would hear from direct marketers is that a product is not going to be on the shelf next to a Tide, so we don’t have to worry about making an investment in the package,” Jost says. Increasingly, though, his direct-marketing customers are recognizing that a well-designed package can prompt repeat sales, attract the consumer’s friends and family as prospective customers, and strengthen brand loyalty. This, Jost contends, is also one of the reasons why the growth of Internet sales hasn’t reduced packaging to its most fundamental components.

Net connections

Walgreens introduced Nice! to consolidate its more than 400 grocery and household packaged goods into one recognizable brand.

november 2011

Still, say the designers at Wallace Church, the Internet is definitely changing the way packages are designed. The group sees more package designers using links to the Internet to create deeper relationships between brands and consumers. Sometimes the device is as simple as a text link to a blog and other times it’s as sophisticated as a QR code. The Internet is also being used to deliver packaged product information in additional languages. Traditionally, second- and third-language copy would have been carried on pack or on devices such as extended labeling. Both of these practices, if not done correctly, can result in a cluttered design and reduce the ability of the package to sell on shelf. A growing number of packages, Wallace Church observes, have removed this copy from the packaging and put it online. In its place on the label are instructions on how the consumer can retrieve that data. They also see more designers using pictures and icons. This is certainly a device Kevin L. Southwick, Xpedx’s group design manager for the Mid-

Early this year, Hostess tapped into old-school cool with retro packaging for Chocolate CupCakes, Ding Dongs, Ho Hos and Twinkies.

Atlantic and metro New York groups, is using more often. His group has seen an acceleration of projects requiring copy in English, French, and Spanish. Using graphics and a very minimalist approach to copy delivers key assertions to consumers in just a few seconds. This can help brands penetrate the complete North American market or simply address an increasingly ethnically diverse U.S.

Packaging happier times Not only is the U.S. consumer population becoming more diverse, but it’s also getting older. The next trend takes full advantage of this by reminding consumers of more carefree times. “Throwback packaging is everywhere,” says Bailey Brand’s Perry.

“ Why can’t package designers take what works in fashion and marry that to package design?”

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— Lor Gold, Schawk /Anthem’s global chief creative director

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Earlier this year, Hostess unveiled retro packaging for Chocolate CupCakes, Ding Dongs, Ho Hos, and Twinkies. The limited-edition packages kicked up the nostalgic vibe by featuring Hostess brand characters from the 1970s— Captain CupCake, King Ding Dong, Twinkie the Kid, and Happy Ho Ho. Additionally, the Twinkies were made using the original banana filling recipe—creating a connection with consumers with both look and taste. All of these packaging trends—from retro packs to the return of color and from consumer engagement to commodity transformation—hold the promise to take the chill off packaged goods markets. And that would give all package design stakeholders,from brand owners to designers, something to smile about. PD

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By Larry Jaffee

Tween Sensation P&G expands its reach within the family tooth-care market with new packaging for the elementary-school set.

s she boarded a flight from her hometown in Alabama back to P&G’s headquarters in Ohio, Procter & Gamble senior design manager Tracy Murchison was a little anxious, thinking about the radically different packaging she and her team were working on for the 8-to-12-year-old “tween” market. But then she met her seat mate. A chatty tween traveling alone, “he was scribbling away in his spiral-bound notebook,” Murchison says. When she saw pages covered in doodled graffiti, she breathed a sigh of relief. “It was a tell-tale sign–something tangible–that gave me the assurance we were doing the right thing.” Those doodles (which the boy allowed Murchison to photograph for her team) were along the same urban lines on which P&G had already decided to base its designs for the new tween ProHealth For Me (PHFM) oral care products. While the PHFM banner, powered by P&G’s Oral-B and Crest brands, already had product lines for babies and young children, the tween market represents new territory. The company’s research showed that for parents, getting kids (and tweens in particular) to brush their teeth regularly, let alone use mouthwash or floss, is a big challenge. Sara Keating, P&G’s associate design director of oral care, global, 32

november 2011

notes that tweens can make the task that much more daunting because they have no shortage of opinions on everything—including what Mom brings home for them to clean their teeth.

The research stage To get a better feel for what tweens and their parents like, the company erected a shopping environment in its Cincinnati headquarters to observe what exactly catches their eye. What they found, Murchison says, is that graffiti-inspired designs are indeed a big draw (which explains why they’re so prevalent on t-shirts, sneakers, notebooks, and other merchandise targeting tweens). Beyond its internal findings, P&G turned to Gelcomm, a branding and package design agency, for additional market insight. In that first year, the creative team immersed itself in the tween culture and market. “One meeting lasted three days,” Murchison recalls of the regular communications several times a week between P&G and members of the Gelcomm team. Gelcomm founder Patricio Fuentes says that P&G wanted a “new visual language” for tooth care that spoke to tweens. While an eye-catching look was the main thrust of the initiative, the packaging

also needed to communicate all of the product attributes to parents—the ones making the purchase. “It’s a fine line how far you can push the creative,” says Alicia Lichens, Gelcomm’s creative director. The research also included in-home visits to see what tween bathrooms and bedrooms actually look like to get further insight. As with any generation, tastes and attitudes vary wildly within the range. (Anyone want to refute that an 8-year-old boy and a 12-year-old girl differ in dramatic ways?) So another challenge was coming up with packaging that would appeal to the entire span of the age group, both boys and girls. So focus groups of kids and moms were presented with several creative approaches to help settle on a single, genderneutral look and feel. To help make those colors and package designs really pop, packaging printing supplier Color Inc. used hexachrome technology, a six-color printing system with a specially enhanced color ink set to reproduce rich, vibrant images that can include more than 90 percent of Pantone colors.

A growing market The resulting packages are vibrant with an urban hipness that is decidedly youthful but not childish. It’s

also a sharp departure from the much simpler approach used by Crest and Oral-B oral care products for younger children. Those packages aim to appeal with licensed cartoon characters such as Winnie the Pooh, the Disney Princesses, or Spiderman. Instead, the complexity of PHFM graphics speaks to the personality of the tween consumer segment itself, which Sharon Jayson of USA Today has described as “a complicated lot, still forming their personalities.” With a varied range of interests from music to movies and sports to fashion, tween consumers can be difficult to charm. The rewards, though, are great and growing. Jayson notes that in 2009 there were already about 20 million tweens in the U.S. and that population is expected to increase to 23 million by 2020. PD

Graffitiinspired packages use a single, gender-neutral look to appeal to the entire tween market.

For articles on similar topics, visit the Personal Care channel on PackageDesignMag.com.

For more information, visit Color Inc., www.colorincorporated.com Gelcomm, www.gelcomm.com

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« continued from page 20

“ We wanted to make sure that if parents brought the juice home, their kids would see the packaging and actually be interested in drinking it.” — S cot t Knudsen, director of brand strategy and project management for Murray Brand Communications

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I’m doing something that’s good for my health and my body.” To avoid a nutraceutical-like approach, Murray Brand Communications built a bit of whimsy in this design, starting with how the tropical flora and toucan are illustrated. “I was inspired by a book that I read to my kids,” says Berberich. “This children’s book didn’t have the exact style of illustration, but it showed how a simple, almost primitive kind of illustration really lends itself to this type of background.” The illustrations also give the products an all-ages appeal. “We wanted to make sure that if parents brought the juice home, their kids would see the packaging and actually be interested in drinking it,” says Scott Knudsen, director of brand strategy and project management for Murray Brand Communications. Berberich is very familiar with this experience—as well as its darker side. “I have three kids,” he says. “There are so many sugar-based juices out there and I’m constantly saying, ‘No, I want you to drink something that’s 100% juice.’ As a parent, I think it’s important to have products you feel good about and the kids feel an actual connection to.” To help parents and other adult consumers identify Brazil Gourmet juices as both flavorful and healthy, a message hierarchy was developed to work with how consumers read packages in retail environments. “From other projects we’ve done, we know how this particular execution will eye-track,” says Murray. “The primary visual of the fruit will grab the consumer’s attention, and then their eyes will go up to the Brazil Gourmet logo to evaluate the credibility of the brand.

Within milliseconds after that, the consumerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s eyes go to the bottom of the package where the value propositions are clearly presented. This is where the package will close the sale.â&#x20AC;? The all-ages appeal is one of many reasons why the package design was not only a favorite of Makeover Challenge voters, but also of Brazil Gourmet itself. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We had two favorites, and the winner was one of them,â&#x20AC;? says Anewalt. She was impressed by how her own children were drawn to the prominent placement of the toucan and liked the overall design. â&#x20AC;&#x153;But I think the package would call the attention of people of just about any age,â&#x20AC;? she adds. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s fun and creative, but clean and current.â&#x20AC;?

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Practical matters Anewalt also likes that the winning design had a practical aspect to it. Her second favorite design would have required a custom bottle. While she likes the custom-bottle concept as a blue-sky exercise, Anewalt notes, â&#x20AC;&#x153;youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d still need a ton of money to make your own private bottle.â&#x20AC;? Because Murray Brand Communications treated the exercise as if it were an actual customer project, the agency made sure not to change any package structures. Murray says that itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s important for agencies to understand the financial impacts of a packaging change on smaller companies. â&#x20AC;&#x153;You donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t want to make them pay for filling line changes or custom bottle manufacturing,â&#x20AC;? he says. Anewalt wishes that the only expenses for package redesign projects were packagingrelated. For example, she says, commercializing this design would not only require an investment in new packaging, design, and printing, it would also require Brazil Gourmet to update all its marketing collateral and website. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a really huge investment,â&#x20AC;? she says. â&#x20AC;&#x153;But making magic with the structures a brand hasâ&#x20AC;? is a step in the right direction. Terri Reedell, who does sales and marketing for Brazil Gourmet, offers this advice for next yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Makeover Challenge recipient: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Brand owners: be clear about the messages you want to convey for your company and brand, but also be open to change.â&#x20AC;? PD

Interested in participating in the 2012 Makeover Challenge? E-mail editor Linda Casey (linda. casey@stmediagroup.com) for more information.

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The Technology of Art Software applications manage production details so you can focus on design.

u v

Package Inspection Software www.globalvisioninc.com Global Vision ScanTVS inspects a range of printed packages and packaging components, including package inserts, cartons, labels, foils, and tubes. The packages are checked against match-approved “masters” for print defects, missing and broken elements, and color differences. ScanTVS also can verify and translate printed braille and verify and grade bar codes.

Digital Asset Management Software www.widen.com

The Media Collective, Widen Enterprises’ hosted digital asset management (DAM ) system, supports diverse creative and marketing workflows with a scalable architecture and a centralized digital media and marketing resources library. To enable quick deployment, version 5.7 is built as software as a service (SaaS) subscription. 3

DAM with Versioning www.evolphin.com

y 36

november 2011

Evolphin Zoom 2.8 DAM and versioning product is written for tight integration with Adobe creative applications, and includes a new Adobe CS5 Extension Status bar. This version also introduces a MacOS X Finder plug-in and a visual asset browser with local project folder awareness. To help package designers quickly access different versions of designs as they evolve, Zoom also has an asset versioning feature.

z { Mimaki JFX1615_PD0411_Layout 1 10/21/11 3:47 PM Page 1 4

iPad-optimized DAM www.extensis.com The newest version of Extensis Portfolio Server introduces iPad capabilities. Portfolio Serverâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Media Engine is powered by the Equilibrium MediaRich Server, which is engineered to enable fast file processing by completing many production tasks on the server versus the client devices.

QR Code Creation and DAM www.netx.net NetXposure 6 introduces automated QR Code generation to its DAM software. Team collaboration and workflow improvements include shared saved searches, public links with password protection, and upload approval workflows.

Graphics Collaboration Software www.schawk.com BLUE is an integrated suite of Web-based enterprise software solutions for graphics collaboration, workflow management, DAM, and graphics lifecycle management. Users can view the entire graphic lifecycle process in real time. Processes created electronically as templates can be re-used for package design consistency. These templates can vary in complexity from simple artwork approval cycles to management of process from the creative brief through the creation of the print-ready files.

DAM in the Cloud www.imagerelay.com Image Relay is a DAM application written to securely manage and distribute digital assets in the cloud. The SaaS application is in a hosted online environment, which enables users to rent storage capacity as their needs vary and grow.

Use the JFX-1615plus in combination with the CF2 flatbed cutting plotter.

Shown with optional RU-160 Roll Unit

Give your comps & presentations realistic quality.

Flatbed Cutting Plotter

u Space-saving size; 63"x 59" print area. u IDFM media feeding for precise ink placement. u Close-view 1200x1200 dpi, variable dot technology. u Prints on PVC, flexible films and heat-sensitive materials.

Quick & accurate cutting and creasing on a wide variety of material. 3 sizes to suit your workplace needs.

www.mimakiusa.com ATL

888-530-3988

ÂŠ 2011, Mimaki USA, Inc

BOS

888-530-3986

CHI

888-530-3985 LA 888-530-3987 EMAIL info17@mimakiusa.com

PRODUCT FOCUS

} 8 Modular DAM System www.wavecorp.com MediaBank Gold is a modular asset management system that can manage multiple design data filesâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;such as graphics, product information management, variable-data and personalization printing files, and package designsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;in one software solution.

9 Mobile-ready DAM www.canto.com The Canto Cumulus DAM platform can be used for single-portal access to enterprise-wide collections, with software clients for Mac, PC, Android, BlackBerry, iOS, and Web browsers. Each metadata catalog can store 1TB of metadata, including thumbnail images for assets; asset-file collection size is limited by media storage capacity and not by the software. NOT PICTURED:

3-D Package Design www.esko.com EskoArtwork Studio is a set of 3-D packaging design tools that integrate with software, such as Adobe Illustrator, to create 3-D virtual packages. Designers can choose from a range of substrates, printing, and finishing effects to create a package simulation and export the package design as a PDF file or movie.

Brand-Asset Management www.graphics.kodak.com Kodak Design2Launch is a centralized digital workflow and brand-asset management solution that securely organizes and distributes artwork, layouts, and other assets. The application is written to provide real-time collaborative reviews, project tracking, and approvals; customizable project management for package artwork development; and Kodak Smart Review Proofing Client for secure remote proofing, and approvals. PD

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

November 2011 November 11-23 European Bioplastics Maritim proArte Hotel, Berlin http://en.european-bioplastics.org/conference2011 | +49 30 2848 23 58

March 14-15 TexasPack Fort Worth Convention Center, Fort Worth, TX www.texaspackshow.com | 310-445-4200

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

April 2012

December 2011

Apr 18-20 Fuse 2012 Westin Chicago River North, Chicago www.iirusa.com/fuse/fuse-home.xml | 888-670-8200

November 29-December 2 Labelexpo Asia Shanghai New International Expo Centre, China www.labelexpo-asia.com | 262-754-6931

April 18-19 International Sleeve Label Conference & Exhibition 2012 Hyatt Regency Hotel, Cincinnati www.awa-bv.com | 312-943-4091

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

May 2012 May 16-17 Luxe Pack New York The Metropolitan Pavilion & Altman Building, New York www.luxepack.com | 212-274-8508

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

January 2012

AD INDEX

January 15-17 Winter Fancy Food Show Moscone Center, San Francisco www.specialtyfood.com | 212-482-6440 January 18-20 13th IC Packaging Technology Expo Tokyo Big Sight, Tokyo www.icp-expo.jp/en | +813 33 49 85 02

Brushfoil

February 2012

HBA Globle Expo

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

Interbrand Corp.

15, 37

Mimaki USA

IFC, 1

Owens-Illinois

OBC

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

PPC

Payne

Insert

March 2012

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

IBC

Sustainable Webinar

Unisource

WestPack

Xpedx

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

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

Allen Field Co. Arjobex America

Packagedesignmag.com Pantone Inc.

RMS Packaging Inc. Roland DGA Corp. Studio One Eleven Div. of Berlin Packaging

Yupo Corp.

PACKAGEDESIGNMAG.COM

GLOBESPOTTING

BY LYNN DORNBLASER

Seeds of Change It’s not just a cracker, it’s a movement—and the package makes it so.

VITAL STATISTICS CONTENTS

Wheat-based crackers GOALS

Connect the product with an environmental, healthy-living, “take charge” message. TARGET

Budding home farmers MATERIAL

Paperboard DECORATIVE PROCESS

Lithography

THE PRODUCT Paperboard impregnated with seeds? Been there, done that. But the new Nabisco Triscuit box from Kraft is a little bit different, both in terms of its sustainable concept and the unusual packaging.

tues of growing your own veggies and herbs at home and encourages consumers to take some easy steps to get started. It’s part forum, part howto guide, and part recipe resource.

THE PERSPECTIVE

THE INNOVATIONS

Mintel first started noticing mass-produced seedimpregnated board several years ago, when Cargo Cosmetics was using it for the outer carton on a small line of lipsticks. After use, you could get the board wet, plant it, and voila! A mini-garden. But there was no real connection between the package’s environmental message and the product itself. That’s what makes this box of Triscuits different.

Instead of the entire box being made with seeds, a 2-inch, basil-seed-impregnated paperboard square is attached to the inside of the carton. Another square is cut from the outer carton’s back panel to enable consumers to view the seed square. Next to the cutout are clear instructions on what to do and how to get the seeds started.

THE MARKET This is no limited-distribution, relatively niche product—it’s one of Kraft’s mainstay brands in the cracker aisle (eclipsed only by its Ritz crackers). What really sets this Triscuit box apart, though, is the connection between the environmental message on the carton and a much bigger sustainability concept. You’ll see that on the front of the box it says, “Plant a seed, grow a movement.” This slogan is part of a marketing campaign in which Kraft encourages snackers to become farmers via the website homefarming.com: The site is affiliated with Triscuit but the message there isn’t brand (or even cracker) specific. Instead, the site extols the vir-

NOVEMBER 2011

WHY WE LOVE IT It’s an interesting way to promote your corporate position regarding the environment without hitting people over the head. A small square of seedimpregnated board also makes so much more sense than an entire outer box. It’s just enough for a small pot to have on your windowsill—perfect for a newbie gardener.

FUTURE PROSPECTS Environmental marketing campaigns with softer messages but with stronger stories are on the up, and this is a great example of how to do that. PD

Lynn Dornblaser (lynnd@mintel.com) is the director of CPG Trend Insight at Mintel International, working out of the company’s Chicago office.

PANTONEÂŽ and other Pantone trademarks are the property of Pantone LLC. PANTONE Colors may not match PANTONE-identified standards. Consult current PANTONE Color Publications for accurate color. Pantone LLC is a wholly owned subsidiary of X-Rite, Incorporated. ÂŠ Pantone LLC, 2011. All rights reserved.

Shine with hot Neons, trendy Pastels and radiant Premium Metallics

PackageDesign_11-11_LoveClrMetPast.indd 1

Sizzle. Not Fizzle.

pantone.com/plus

10/20/11 3:00 PM