Packaged to Please

Packaging made headlines earlier this year when PepsiCo made unexpected changes to its iconic Tropicana orange juice carton. After New York-based Arnell Group redesigned the carton, replacing the image of an orange speared by a straw with a glass of juice, PepsiCo quickly yanked the product off the shelves in the wake of negative public reaction. "People viewed the package as a generic package and missed it on the shelf," says Dan Abramowicz, executive vice president of technology and regulatory affairs for Philadelphia-based Crown Holdings Inc., one of the world's largest metal packagers. Feedback like this is now measured instantly as Facebook and Twitter members share their often-unsolicited opinions online. Some manufacturers are responding quickly, occasionally not even waiting until sales results are in before they pull product off the shelves.Now more than ever, packaging serves more than just a utilitarian function. Companies are consulting with psychologists for culture-based color suggestions and carefully constructing messages with branding agencies as they seek out packaging experts who can create dynamic container shapes. And all the while, sustainability is on their minds as they wonder if consumers will still spend money in a challenging economic environment.Terri Goldstein, founder and CEO of New York-based branding agency The Goldstein Group, says marketers have five seconds to grab a shopper's attention, first by color, then by shape, followed by symbols and words. Barb Fabing, senior vice president of retail design and strategy for Arc Worldwide, the Chicago-based marketing services arm of Leo Burnett, says customers notice shape first, but only when it contrasts with its surroundings. For this reason, Coca-Cola, one of Fabing's most recognizable clients, insists on color blocking with its "Rule of Three," wherein no fewer than three SKU facings must be displayed in any shelf set.Fabing stresses the importance of thinking about all levels of the purchasing experience. "It's extremely critical. When you say 'packaging,' it's not simple. You've got primary packaging, secondary packaging, package blocks, individual products. The way we need to think about it is in the context of the whole shopper purchase path."Responding to ShoppersMany companies are spending significant resources to examine consumers' tastes and buying habits when designing packaging. "We make use of ethnography, product-benefits focus groups, home-use tests, simulated market tests and other techniques," says Curtis Babb, director of packaging materials and development for Chicago-based MillerCoors. A few years ago, he says, some consumers complained about occasionally getting a metallic taste when sipping their Coors beer. The company test-marketed cans with a blue liner and consumers reported they had a reason to believe the taste would be better. Now he says the company is adding the liner to Coors Light and Coors Banquet cans."The package is much more focused on the consumer while still meeting the demands of product protection, operations, transportation and retailers," Babb adds. Kimberly-Clark, Irving, Texas, uses a mobile, virtual-reality unit to test packaging and merchandising concepts. Inside, a consumer "shops" through whatever store they are familiar with and a device tracks where his or her eyes go. He or she can even "pick up" an item and turn it around. Kimberly-Clark mocks up new items and places them on the virtual shelves to see how -- or if -- consumers react. The feedback is then taken into consideration in regard to package graphics and core messaging.Packaging ShrinkOne major change in the retail environment that would have gone virtually unnoticed, were it not for the efforts of journalists like those at The Consumerist, is packaging shrink. Their "Grocery Shrink Ray" calls out packages that look ordinary, but suddenly contain lower quantities than before. "I've seen it now on branded as well as private- label products," attests Ben Miyares, vice president of industry relations for the Packaging Machinery Manufacturers Institute (PMMI). "I have seen it for 50 years." But he says the Fair Packaging and Labeling Act permits the practice so long as retail products declare the net weight of the product contained on the principal display panel of the package. "This is going on and will probably continue as long as the law permits it," he says, adding, "Manufacturers say the costs of ingredients are going up. I haven't noted the reverse taking place." However, PepsiCo recently announced it is adding 20% more product into bags of Doritos, Fritos, Cheetos and Tostitos to make up for previous years' decreases.Though it may be legal, some brands are calling their competition out on such practices. South Burlington, Vt.-based Ben & Jerry's, for example, posted a letter on its website stating, "One of our competitors (think funny sounding European name) recently announced they will be downsizing their pints from 16 to 14 ounces to cover increased ingredient and manufacturing costs and help improve their bottom line. At Ben & Jerry's we think downsizing pints is downright wrong."New shapesThe shape of a product's packaging can sometimes become just as iconic as the brand name, with Coca-Cola as a timeless example and the distinctly bulbous POM Wonderful, in plastic from Kingsport, Tenn.-based Eastman Chemical Co., as a modern example.Kellogg Co., Battle Creek, Mich., is currently testing a shorter and deeper cereal box in the Detroit area. Marketed to consumers as a pantry space-saver, the "test of our new space-saving cereal box is one of the largest packaging changes to hit the cereal aisle in 50 years," says John Ferro, the company's director of commercialization. The new box contains the same amount of cereal as before and is being sold at the same cost as the previous shape, though he reveals Kellogg did raise prices on select cereals in January because of rising commodity costs.Mike Peluso, media and digital marketing manager for Nestle Waters North America, says the Greenwich, Conn.-based company is still making adjustments to its eco-shaped bottle as part of an overall effort to lighten its environmental footprint. The original design took about two years to develop and was the result of shopper insights. He claims it was a tremendous success that set the tone for bottled water packaging -- so much so that PepsiCo's Aquafina recently announced it is introducing the lightest weight half-liter bottle in the American market.Other categories are also adjusting their packaging to make consumers' lives easier. "There has been a move toward stand-up pouches and cartons in the candy aisle for many brands over the past few years," says Steve Ginsberg, director of strategic brand design for Mars Snackfood U.S., McLean, Va. He says these pack types, recently used for the company's Premium M&Ms, provide a much better shelf presence and offer an improved functional experience for the consumer when dispensing, re-closing and storing.Kraft Foods, Northfield, Ill., also optimized its Kraft Salad Dressing bottle design to take up less space, comprise 19% less plastic, and better fit the customer's hand. It won a 2008 DuPont award for packaging innovation. Additionally, MillerCoors recently changed its cans to provide smoother pouring experiences or to enhance its consumers' ability to taste the beer, while Kimberly-Clark introduced an oval Kleenex carton to match homes with modern dÈcor. Crown Holdings, which offers can-shaping technologies, created Heineken's barrel-shaped can and a Waistline soup can in an hourglass shape.MessagingExperts say a product can be entirely rebranded with carefully chosen messaging. Abramowicz cites Ensure, one of the products Crown helped redesign. "Four or five years ago it was a product for old people," he says. "We ended up redesigning that package as a way to rebrand that product. Today, it's a drink for health-minded individuals. The package is the advertising."Obviously, the emotional response manufacturers want to trigger depends on what product they're peddling. When Goldstein worked on the Balmex account, for example, she knew to target a mom's fears and unmet needs. She says she feels smart packages are becoming cleaner and simpler, using fewer words and more cues, like symbols. She has worked with many brands on the trend of retro packaging, too. Her company recently reworked Ovaltine, IcyHot, Bayer and others for the modern shopper. Her company focuses on the brands' key drivers, equities and the reason the brand stopped flying off shelves. "The goal of a retro brand is to feel like it always looked that way."In response to our country's ever-changing demographics, many companies are also printing in multiple languages. Some Scott-brand products use Spanish, but mostly for detailed instructions, while some products in the Huggies line feature three languages. PMMI's Miyares says one trend is personalized packaging, wherein a soup manufacturer will label its packaging in Chinese for a food market in Chinatown and in Spanish for a bodega. Future PlansMiyares foresees an emphasis on convenience, citing the popularity of squeeze bottles instead of jars. He also sees resealable closures gaining momentum in the marketplace, along with glass, steel and aluminum packages that possess a higher degree of recycled content, while being lighter and stronger. Peluso says Nestle Waters will continue to make its bottles lighter, but he would like to see 100% of PET getting recycled. Miyares, however, predicts the standard package for bottled water will instead be single-serve pouches.Crown's Abramowicz expects marketers will seek regulated portion sizes as an attractive way to combat America's childhood obesity issue and other health issues, and he agrees that companies will lean toward providing more convenience in packaging. Goldstein says she has noticed companies working to improve childproof caps and says she believes one-touch, premeasured dosage delivery will gain popularity.

Packaged to Please

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