2007 AmeriStar Packaging Award Winners

The line between packaging and point-of-purchase is blurring. In my opinion, more and more, packaging complements -- and sometimes replaces -- point-of-purchase materials. The winners of the 2007 AmeriStar packaging awards validate that view.The Institute of Packaging Professionals (IoPP) sponsors the awards. As the organization's Director of Education, I get insights on why winners work particularly well. In this month's column, I've focused on four winners from the 2007 competition. You can get a look at all the winners online at www.iopp.org.BIC Two phrases drive packaging strategies today: They're the "first moment of truth" (the instant the shopper encounters the package at the shelf), and the "second moment of truth" (the point of use). It's at that second moment that the package has to make the product as easy to use as possible.The BIC Mark-it reusable bi-fold clamshell from BIC, Milford, CT, earned an AmeriStar Award because it scores a home run at both moments of truth. On the shelf, it displays 36 boldly colored markers in a stair-step arrangement and deters pilferage with tamper-evident tape on the opening tab.The package adds value at the point of use because it folds out to form a stand-up storage case. Each marker snaps into the case where a set of fingers molded into the tray holds each marker firmly. The fingers simplify the manual loading of each unit, and the configuration of each shell orients each pen for a uniform display. The package is molded by SCA Consumer Packaging, DeKalb, ILThe issue of PVC vs. PET emerges here. This package is PVC. It is still an acceptable material in the United States, but it is discouraged in other parts of the world. With the increased emphasis on sustainability, this material is one that may have a diminishing role in packaging.Redken Laboratories The AmeriStar competition has a category for display packaging, and a winning shelf display from Redken Laboratories, New York, shows just what creative minds can do with paperboard.Redken sells through beauty salons, and it needed a display to tout its new Bulk Up sub-brand, a thickening spray for men with thinning hair. The display hit shelves in salons where it would stand adjacent to bottled product.Three key issues make this package work:1. A striking shape. Most people think of paperboard packaging as rectangular cartons, yet the capacity exists to deliver tapers on packages and to produce them with the economies similar to rectangular cartons. This particular display also uses another carton tactic -- what is called a "fifth panel." You see it most often in over-the-counter pharmaceuticals where the panel extends above the carton. Here, the process puts the panel to the left of the tapered shape, creating a backdrop for a display bottle.2. Easy set-up at retail. We've all faced the challenge of Christmas toys where we have to "insert tab A into slot A," etc., etc. If a store display gets that complicated, it simply won't get set up. With the Redken display, the small platform on the left becomes part of the display with tabs that lock into slots in the main package. It works easily and is intuitive, raising the chances that the display will actually be set up.3. Good graphics. The colors on the display match the colors on the bottle. The matte coating on the display also echoes the matte finish on the bottle. And, here's a new buzz word creeping into packaging graphics -- "frequency modulated screening." (Real techies say "stochastic" printing.) Printing screens are made up of a series of dots, and the traditional way of varying color density was to change the dot size -- bigger dots, more ink, more density. With the newer, frequency modulated screening, dot size is the same, but dots are closer together for more color and farther apart for less color. To my eye, the process creates a different, eye-catching image.Redken Laboratories is a unit of L'Oreal. Diamond Packaging, Rochester, NY, did the printing and produced the display unit.LEGO Packages that let shoppers try the product spur buying decisions -- so do packages that light up. LEGO America, Enfield, CT, gets both with a clever structure that lets shoppers light up the package.The package is for LEGO's Bionicle line -- a series of robot-like toys that kids assemble from parts. The package features a light-up sword, positioned in the cap so shoppers can activate the light by pressing a button.LEGO gains even more shelf differentiation with an unusual package construction for a toy. Many toys are in paperboard cartons with high-impact printing. This package is actually a relative of typical soft drink bottles, showing just how far that technology has come. First, the package is a squared oval, a shape that is complex for a blow-molded PET container. Design features include a foot at the bottom to steady the package and side panels that carry an embossed Bionicle logo. Both require a high level of skill in the molding process. The package comes from Pretium Packaging, St. Louis.MicrosoftIf letting consumers "play" with packages enhances shelf impact, then it is no wonder a new Microsoft mouse package was an award winner. The package is based on the clamshell blister that is common in electronics packaging. It addresses retailer concerns of theft by adding the bulk needed to deter shoplifters.To get the "play" value, Microsoft, Redmond, WA, designed the packaging with a rotating insert that cradles the mouse. The insert is an injected-molded plastic piece that has two axles -- pivot points -- at the top and bottom. They fit into matching holes in the clamshell and are secure enough to keep shoplifters from pulling the mouse from the package. Shoppers can rotate the insert within the larger package, viewing all sides of the mouse and gaining a familiarity with the product that increases the possibility they will buy it. The insert also becomes a carrying case.The package also highlights another component. A small transmitter/receiver on the front lets the mouse work with computers without Bluetooth technology. The component is in a raised portion of the blister, increasing its visibility and quickly signaling its location on the package. The package can stand by itself, and it has a hole at the top for pegboard display.This clamshell package is formed from a PET plastic sheet. As I've mentioned before, outside the United States, the alternative material -- PVC -- is not considered environmentally friendly and not accepted as a packaging material. Jim Peters has more than 25 years in the packaging field and is the Director of Education for the Institute of Packaging Professionals.

2007 AmeriStar Packaging Award Winners

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