QuickBooks Carton Secure Yet Interactive

In a club store, the demand on packaging reaches new heights. Packages have to sell hard because there are no store employees available to explain sophisticated or expensive products; packaging must be theft-proof; and products offering variety within the lineup face the obstacle of the channel's aversion to multiple SKUs. With only 4,000 to 6,000 SKUs in a store, there's not much room for variety.Intuit Inc., Mountain View, Calif., worked around those challenges with its launch of QuickBooks 2004 Premier financial software.Small businesses are QuickBooks' target audience. At Costco, approximately 60% of members are small businesses, and Sam's Club is trying to match that number. QuickBooks' popularity stems from customized editions tailored to specific industries. The Premier line totals eight SKUs. A "contractor" version, for example, includes line items for trucks and equipment. A "non-profit" version includes components for tracking pledges. In office supply stores such as Staples, each version is sold as a separate SKU. However, a club store simply won't carry eight Premier SKUs. There's not enough room.The solution: Put eight versions onto one disc, but allow the buyer to download only one version -- the version the buyer needs. Doing that created a huge packaging challenge. So Intuit, working with its design firm Libby Perszyk Kathman (LPK), created a package called a "fifth panel" carton.The Fifth Panel PhilosophyThe fifth panel carton incorporates an extra flap that folds out from the front, creating more room for graphics and copy. QuickBooks added to the concept by attaching additional leaves between the flap and the carton, creating room for an eight-flap promotional booklet on the carton's front panel. With this booklet and flap concept, Quickbooks was able to discuss all eight versions of software.However, the packaging had to emphasize the point that buyers could install just one of the programs.Ben Sauer, creative director at Cincinnati-based LPK, explains: "On the front panel, we put prominent copy that said 'Select ONE at Installation.' We drove the point home with an arrow that pointed to the individual tabs."That copy's effectiveness was critical to the package's success. The package development process used extensive pre- and post-design testing to assure that prospective buyers clearly understood the scenario. The multiple flaps also supported the positioning as "professional" software. However, the booklet caused security concerns. And club stores want security, especially for software that sells in the $400 to $500 range.Today's tool of choice to deter such theft is the clamshell blister, a semi-rigid plastic secondary package that usually encases the entire primary package. The blister is sealed, making any entry into the package difficult.But a conventional clamshell defeats the tab booklet concept, so the QuickBooks clamshell has a slit on the left-hand side. The tab booklet extends through the slit and folds across the clamshell's front. Consumers can leaf through the booklet without breaching the clamshell's security. There is a patent pending on this clamshell. "We chose the tab booklet because it had to be a salesman," says Tai Doong, group brand manager for QuickBooks. "Our consumers resonate with a specific industry. If they are from a non-profit group and they see something on the shelf that says 'non-profit,' they are interested in it."The 16 pages created by the eight flaps allow two pages of copy for each industry-specific program. Pages that highlight the non-profit software have copy and illustrations that show a "donor report," which the program creates. Another illustration shows how the software creates a Statement of Functional Expenses (IRS Form 990), a "pain point" specific to this industry. The pages also illustrate letters to donors with amounts of donations. Similar pages detail features of each of the other seven industry-specific programs within the package. The booklet's cover attaches to the carton's front panel with a hook-and-loop fastener (through an additional circular die-cut on the right edge of the clamshell).Without a doubt, this was a club-store carton. But its design had to consider other outlets; the same software also sells in office supply stores. Intuit wanted the carton's dimensions and footprint to be close to those of single-application packages sold in office supply stores.The carton and clamshell are "married" at Modus Media International, which is headquartered in Westwood, Mass. At the fulfillment house, operators insert the carton into the clamshell, carefully "threading" the booklet through the slit. They then seal the clamshell to provide security. Jim Peters is a writer and consultant with 25 years in the packaging field. He is president of J. Peters Associates Inc. Click here for his contact information.

QuickBooks Carton Secure Yet Interactive

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