The daily challenges of consumer packaging

Thinking about packaging, innovative constructions and extravagant designs come to mind that beg for undivided attention and create a sphere of desire. Unfortunately, creating only this kind of packaging is certainly not the prevailing practice. There are many more dimensions to packaging and in a daily routine, the performance of packaging is measured with respect to the demands in various areas. Packaging stands for a menagerie of materials, production technologies, printing techniques and advanced manufacturing. It needs to satisfy diverse clients and consumers.

The core of packaging can be disclosed by taking a look at the meaning of the word itself: packaging contains the idea of “enclosing” as well as the concept of “presenting.” Enclosing refers to the package as a container, while presenting refers to its appearance. All packaging can be located along the axes between these two poles.

To take a more precise look, all packaging has to fulfill three primary functions: protection, distribution and communication. Protection relates to the requirement to prevent negative influences between the goods and the environment; distribution expresses the need to consider handling conditions to ensure efficient logistics; and communication takes care of passing on information. Required information needs to be displayed visibly to comply with regulations (e.g. health and safety regulations). Other information can serve as a marketing tool by conveying the look and feel of the product and disclosing further details (e.g. special promotions).

The degree of emphasis on each of these three categories can vary dramatically depending on the type of packaging.

Generally, packaging is classified into the following types: primary, secondary, and tertiary packaging. The primary packaging contains the actual product and can also form the consumer packaging, which is used for display at the point of sale (POS). The secondary packaging is of a greater dimension and carries a number of single packagings. The tertiary packaging is used for storage and distribution.

The above constitutes the extreme variety of requirements regarding packaging development. To narrow down the spectrum, the focus here is on consumer packaging for the field of Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG), a sector in packaging that is strongly related to marketing. This area still holds a fascinating variety of products, materials and ambitious tasks. For instance, accessibility (e.g. braille), security features, convenience or other additional benefits.

There is one common goal for all consumer packaging. It should lure the consumer and eventually encourage him or her to purchase a certain product. According to AIDA, a concept described by Elmo Lewis in the late 1890s, this process has four stages: attention, interest, desire and action.

Nowadays, it has become a problematic venture to draw someone’s attention. While in 1982, 80 percent of all consumers were reached with only two advertising spots, as many as 80-100 spots were necessary to achieve the same coverage in 2009 (source: Eye Square).

POS-packaging has the potential to directly address a target audience with little scattering loss. But even at the POS, it remains tricky to grasp a consumer’s attention. A study has detected that the average duration of viewing a product at the POS is 1.6 seconds (source: Futurebrand). However, the immense effect that packaging can have becomes obvious when considering other market research. It purports that 60 percent of all purchases are unplanned and that 75 percent of the purchasing decisions are made directly at the POS (source: Professor Richard Linxweiler). Furthermore, 60 percent of the purchasing decisions are based on the product packaging and presentation (source: Advertisement Association). These results identify packaging as a prime brand ambassador and a valuable tool for sales promotion.

Therefore, the initial goal of all point-of-sale packaging must be to perform successfully at the so-called first moment of truth. The packaging should attract the target customer’s attention away from the competitor products. However, despite the general wish for differentiation, the whole product line should provide orientation and still remain identifiable as a brand to create recognition.

Opportunities in Packaging Development

To exploit the full potential of packaging, it is helpful to examine the basic elements that come together: a chosen material takes the shape of a construction, and in the process of printing and finishing, they are then joined with the design of the graphics.

The general characteristics of packaging depend a lot on the choice of materials used in the production processes. A material cannot only determine properties such as visual appearance and haptic experience, but can also influence factors such as production speed and food safety. There are continuously new advancements in materials towards enhancing qualities, adding features, creating composite materials, making better use of renewable resources and many others.

A smart choice of construction and technology can not only offer better running on machines or easier handling, but it also provides the opportunity for enhanced convenience and recognition with an impact on the consumer. The Celebrations packaging (Masterfoods), for instance, can serve as a tray, while the Veltins bottle for gastronomy works without a label and has a high recognition value. A rather exotic example is shelf-ready packaging, which allows faster handling. The employees open the boxes and put them in the shelves instead of unpacking them. These boxes also then also serve to reflect the brand where initially plain boxes were used for transportation only.

A lot of the final appearance in packaging production is established during the stages of graphics, printing and finishing. Thus, a great potential for differentiation lies herein for creating amazing effects. Apart from the pure design, the possibilities are endless. They range from from low-migration inks to hybrid printing, hot or cold foil stamping, lenticular printing, cast and cure (a decorative coating process) or liquid metal, to mention only a few. For planning and calculation, it is important to remember that some of the finishing can be done inline, while others need additional processes.

In any case, it is for the best benefit that the design and prepress departments are closely connected with the printing and finishing facilities. It will assure excellent results and help prevent errors. This may appear all too obvious, but occasionally reality proves otherwise: A renowned prepress and printing facility, that works for very prestigious and critical clients received a repeat job, a large print run for a tobacco company. Their operators are well trained and they maintain the newest of technologies integrated into their workflows. Therefore, it was a mystery why, being on press for the second time, the printed sheet would just not match the proof. It was finally decided to track the job back up to the person that had run the initial job. Having problems to reach the specified target, he had manually adjusted the ink density. Here, a small lack of communication had resulted in a time-consuming break during the production process for troubleshooting and had endangered the entire production job, if not the client.

With all the possibilities that result from the choice of material, construction, design, printing and finishing there are vast opportunities for differentiation and innovation depending on the feasability to pay a corresponding price.

For reasons of cost, the possibilities for elaborate packaging designs are usually quite limited for non-luxury products. Nowadays, however, there is not necessarily a visible gap between standard packaging, as a rather cheap and simple version, and high-end packaging creation, as there are great ways for customization.

There are also numerous packaging suppliers, which offer an incredible amount of standards available for purchase. They range from low-priced to sophisticated designs, usually also with various options for further customization. Since many prodution sites are in Asia, it is important to be aware of possibly different standards and attitudes, for instance regarding quality or timely delivery.

No matter if packaging is purchased as such or developed from well-known standards, there is usually a way for fairly cheap customization. In some areas this can be a matter of minor changes in the production processes. Some may need an exchange of the material or adaptations of the production machines while others may need replacement of certain tools or a greater investment.

Red Bull, for instance, had equipped its cans with the customized blue ring pull, showing the shape of the bull from the brand logo. Nestlé had launched customized soup pouches for its brand, Maggi in some countries. A swing was added to the top side of the ordinary rectangular sealed joint bag.Such modifications will likely stand out on the supermarket shelves and, as a result, can lead to a greater brand awareness.

There has been a lot of excitement around integration of new technologies. Buzz words still pop up everywhere: from smart packaging to multisensual packaging, from augmented reality to social media. One intention behind many of those new advancements, of course, is to ring bells and whistles with the hope to increase the stimuli and create more purchasing responses.

Kellogg’s has launched cereal boxes that utilize augmented reality. A printed marker allows to play a game online while moving the box in front of a webcam. Other companies, for instance, use quick response (QR) codes to allow customers to connect to their website easily.

The possibilities are enourmous, but, in all cases, the process between idea and packaging sometimes works by its own rules.

Looking at the Process of Packaging Creation

There are always some obstacles in the way of creating the perfect packaging. Time, financial restraints and competing interests are outlining factors. But some hindrances also lie in other areas.

Although the mentality has changed substantially in recent years, several innovative developments still fall victim to the prioritization of price before anything else. Classification by price is certainly a fundamental approach. The consequences of even a small variation in price must be recognized. For instance, the impact of a small difference of only five cents in production can have immense effects depending on the volume of packages put out into the market. So a limited special edition can carry some extravagances, but the cost accumulates rapidly when generating a higher volume.

Regarding only the direct cost effectiveness, however, neglects all benefits of good packaging as described above. The cost-performance value can still work when providing a more elaborate packaging that attracts more attention. This proved to be true for Burgopack. Established in 2002, Burgopak developed a patented sliding technology. With its remarkably simple and equally stunning effect, they have won numerous international awards and have also attracted prestigious clients from around the world.

Unfortunately, some price issues can also be raised through structural problems. Traditionally, engineers and marketing strategists belong to different departments and have separate budgets. This can become a major problem especially when packaging becomes an important marketing tool. If plans are made to implement more elaborate forms of packaging, there must be a balancing of budgets. Expectations to get an innovative brand packaging at the same cost as the old will most likely not be met.

A hindrance for successful development can also simply be caused by an imprecise briefing. Some briefings contain so many pages that the essential information has to be tracked down like a needle in a haystack. Others stay so short, that they lack even basic data. This is great if the client intends to leave it up to the creativity and experience of the packaging designer. But if an imminent idea was just not conveyed properly, the sudden realization may cause a rude awakening at the presentation of the first prototypes.

Often the focus on communication should be substantially higher. One must have heard printers cursing about graphic designers for their impossible designs. It surely costs time to convey detailed information, but this time may be well spent considering possible workflow improvements. Having as many different specialist disciplines involved, as is true for packaging, the integration of the various parties at an early stage can be beneficial for the advancement of the whole project. Breaking the sequential process structure, cooperation and an information exchange can not only help to avoid mistakes, but can also create synergies towards exciting solutions. This certainly implies a certain amount of freedom, that allows the people to think out of the box.

A packaging developer recommends the following strategy if the client draws a tight outline for a plain standard construction: focusing on performing the given task, but if time permits, pro-actively developing and presenting a more elaborate construction. Experience shows that after the presentation, some clients have gladly adopted the new solution.

One crucial point in all of packaging creation is how the service is charged. Traditionally, many manufacturers have offered their creative services for free as part of the complete packaging job. But ambitious packaging creation is time consuming and now many clients also wish to have 3D renderings. Even if they accept to pay a reasonable price for the packaging development, they are usually not willing to accept virtual images at an extra cost.

A large packaging manufacturer solved its problems some years ago by creating an in-house packaging agency. While the agency is paid separately for its projects, the overall company still benefits from all existing areas of expertise. Next to other factors, this full service and their high standards allow them to exploit packaging to its full potential and give them a better standing in the price competitive market, where often jobs are taken away by cheaper manufacturers.

It is most important to create packaging that is adequate for the specific market. It shows that packaging is subject to social changes, ethics, politics and economics and thus, is driven by trends. Each year prognosis hovers around the packaging market; one recurring keyword here is sustainability.

Sustainability and New Ethics

The sustainability movement itself is quite old. What has been identified in the mid 1990s as so-called “Cultural Creatives” or “Green Lifestylers” has now come into focus as Lifestyle of Health and Sustainability (LOHAS). Several studies of market researchers and sociologists have come to the conclusion that this lifestyle that puts an emphasis on health and environment, coined with a positive attitude towards life, has become fashionable. The followers of LOHAS are driven by individualism and creativity and seek their little luxuries. But they expect socially-acceptable and environmentally-sound products. Within this ethical context, they are also willing to pay an appropriate price.

The group of the LOHAS has been growing extensively in the recent years and has supported the boosting demand for sustainable products. Demand, of course, is a strong incentive for manufacturers to also push forward in this area.

Sustainability is a particularly sensitive and complex field of activity and manufacturers and their efforts are being examined critically. Slogans such as “cradle to cradle” or “closed loop solution” reveal that it must go further than choosing a certain material. In order to move sustainability efforts beyond a superficial level, a holistic view of the complete chain of the production process is needed.

In the packaging cycle, the first stage is the processing or refining of raw material (e.g. fibres) which then allows the production of packaging materials (e.g. corrugated board). These again build the basis for the production of the packaging containers (e.g. boxes) which then need go to a manufacturing plant for packaging and filling.

The chain proceeds from storage to distribution into the markets. The consumer then uses the packaging according to its functions. At the end, the disposal stage (disposal, recycling, repurposing) of the packaging is reached. Thus, sustainability is also about processes, workflows and transportation.

Comprehensive concepts for greater sustainability will often produce expenses. They can make investments necessary and may require the use of more elaborate technologies and more cost-intensive materials. Unfortunately, most customers will still not be inclined to support this by paying higher prices.

However, sustainability may sometimes pursue the same goal as an economic approach. For example, distribution volume is an important aspect. That means that the more efficient the planning towards a good usage rate is, the more economic the transportation. This also means that consumer packaging needs to be adjusted to dimensions that will at the end best fit the final loading unit. For folding boxes, that also means that erecting the box should preferably happen at the stage of filling so that for transportation they will take up the least space necessary.

Smart moves as well as improving technology and constructions can sometimes help cut expenses, serve to promote the sustainability efforts publicly, and in the long run help the environmental idea.

For instance, the material used in the production of plastic bottles has been cut down by 30 percent within roughly a decade. Biodegradable materials begin to replace plastics. Dell, for example, has started to substitute Styrofoam with bamboo for securing electronics. Another example is new paper and cardboard qualities, which show a great degree of extensibility. This allows to run some paper materials on standard form-fill-and-seal-machines.

However, the right question in sustainability issues might not always point to the detail of packaging but sometimes at the concept itself. With regards to our consumption of water from plastic bottles, one could question the necessitiy of the majority of the bottles instead of wondering about how to lower the amount of plastic used. Apart from some social and ethical aspects, this would also radically cut transportation costs and have a great impact on reducing landfill.

One should also carefully examine the possibly negative impacts that can arise elsewhere due to sustainable concepts realized in the first world countries. This could happen when the cultivation of renewable resources starts to compete with essential food crops in the third world countries.

Overall, the multifaceted area of packaging presents itself as a cauldron of various fields of activities and endless possiblities. Not all packaging is useful and maybe that is what makes it even more tempting to work on creating better and more reasonable packaging. In packaging lies an incredible potential for innovation. However, it is important to view all implications to really make a difference in packaging.