Adding Promotional Pizzazz to Packaging

Trix Adds Play ValueCartoon heroes and the latest movies are just some of the promotions marketers use to target kids. Throw in special effects on packages, and you're raising the impact of these promotions. General Mills, Minneapolis, attempted to spruce up packages for its Yoplait Trix yogurt along with a promotion for the movie The Chronicles of Narnia.General Mills incorporated what it called "Magic Revealing Games" on each of its yogurt cups, sold in multipacks of six. The promotion uses thermochromic inks, which change colors at different temperatures. For the Yoplait packages, the ink is silver-grey at typical refrigerator temperatures. As the cup surfaces warm to room temperature, the ink turns transparent.A question or a puzzle is printed on each plastic cup, along with four possible answers. In one case, each false answer is surrounded with a circle printed in the color-changing ink, while the correct answer is circled in normal ink. When the temperature rises as kids eat yogurt from the cup, the ink on three of the answers turns clear, leaving the correct answer as the only image to remain circled on the cup.This example by General Mills is just one using color-changing inks. Thermochromic inks are available in a range of temperatures to give different effects. One long-term use has been on Hungry Jack syrup bottles, which consumers are encouraged to microwave to heat the syrup before use. The ink changes color when the syrup is at the right serving temperature.Leveraging a CommendationTouting a package's ability to serve consumers with special needs has become a selling point for coffee packages from Folgers, a brand from Cincinnati-based Procter & Gamble. The containers recently earned the Arthritis Foundation's Ease-of-Use Commendation, and Folgers now prominently displays the seal on its AromaSeal plastic canisters.The canister earned recognition for its easy-to-grasp shape and easy-open foil seal. The Arthritis Foundation found the foil easier to open than the metal lids on conventional coffee cans, which require a can opener. Judges also liked the built-in handle that is easier to grip compared to standard metal handles.Folgers highlights the commendation with graphics on the foil layer that seals the package. The six-inch diameter foil closure carries the certification symbol along with text and graphics touting the package's features. The medallion graphics are used during most of the year; however, Folgers replaces them with other graphics when it runs specific promotions during the year.Folgers finds that the promotion also translates into word-of-mouth recommendations. Procter & Gamble spokesperson Lars Atorf says, "There is a community of people who spread the word that this kind of package works for them. Feedback from them points to this package as being helpful."The Arthritis Foundation created the commendation to prod manufacturers to do a better job of making packages consumer friendly. The Folgers package is one of the few mainstream grocery products sporting the commendation. Consumers most often encounter the seal on packaging for over-the-counter pain relievers such as Aleve with its Easy Open Arthritis Cap and Tylenol EZ-Open Package for Arthritis Pain medication.Dr. Laura Bix of Michigan State University's School of Packaging points out, "If you consider users with a broad range of abilities in the packaging design process, you don't necessarily have to focus on specific audiences." She adds, "If packaging design is good for a group such as seniors, then it is good for everyone because of the ease of use it delivers."Good design considers a variety of habits and behaviors. An effective end result works along a spectrum. It is not just for one segment," Bix says.Package Size Restages BrandA change in package size and new graphics are helping Mel-O-Cream restage itself as a healthier alternative to butter and cream cheese. The fruit-flavored, honey-based spreads come from Melford Olsen Honey Inc., Cannon Falls, MN. They are marketed from refrigerated cases adjacent to butter and cream cheese containers. Key in the restaging was changing from a 10-oz tub to a 7-oz tub. The new size matches the size of competing foods in the refrigerated case, clearly telling consumers that this brand is an alternative in the category.Packaging as P-O-PThe trend toward putting labels to tools picks up momentum as Black & Decker, Hunt Valley, MD, adds what it calls "onboard POP" to its products. Product info is printed on both labels and hang tags, which are affixed to the products using ties, diecuts or adhesive backing. Black & Decker faces a challenge that most tool marketers have: Home centers are giving them less and less shelf space for P-O-P. In addition, shelf space for particular brands is being reduced. That trend is coupled with the trend of consumers wanting more data to support product claims.These labels are as simple as a hang tag, but they extend to more complex booklets with multiple pages, held onto tools with plastic ties. The line of labels and booklets was created by Catalpha Advertising & Design, Towson, MD. One branding technique is to use the Black & Decker hexagon logo as the shape for booklets. The labels are matched to product price points with simple tags on lower-end products, and more complex, multi-page booklets on higherend products where the labels reflect value perception.Jim Peters has more than 25 years in the packaging field and is the Director of Education for the Institute of Packaging Professionals.

Adding Promotional Pizzazz to Packaging

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