Stroh's Motion Displays Help Consumers Grasp New Packaging Concept

Talk about creative challenges. Special packaging, Stroh's newest product feature in the malt liquor market war, is difficult to promote in a flat, two-dimensional image.The new packaging for Schlitz Malt Liquor -- a 16-ounce, glass Gripper bottle -- is two-faced. "You've got the major attribute of the bottle (the molded grip pattern) on one side and you've got all the brand identification on the other side," explains Andy Guest, new product manager at Stroh Brewery Co., Detroit.The Gripper bottle features a series of ridges on one side that enables a consumer's fingers to securely grasp it.In order to tell both sides of the story through off-premise P-O-P, all flat photographic images utilize a double-bottle shot, showing both the front and the back of the Gripper package. The other point-of-sale pieces are three-dimensional to "show that this bottle has attributes from every angle to it," notes Guest.The package includes both traditional motion pieces, such as a dangler, a door wobbler and a 3-D sign, as well as more unconventional motion units such as the motorized Gripper replica. In the latter, Guest explains, "the bottle actually turns. A hand comes out and reaches for the bottle, which slowly rotates around."The campaign hit the streets in nine test markets throughout the country in mid-April. Initial quantities of 1,000 units per P-O-P item were ordered. "We produced start-up quantities just to cover the test markets," says Guest. "If the brand succeeds, the quantities will be in the tens-of-thousands range."The program also includes a 19-by-10-inch change mat, a 9-by-14-inch open/closed sign and a 6-by-7-inch static sticker instructing consumers to "Try the Gripper" and "Grip A Bull."The pieces "work together to create a pathway right to the purchase point," says Guest. In ideal situations, he says, "We've got a dangler in the aisleway, and a 3-D motion sign placed wherever the consumer's eye would fall as he approaches the cooler. We've got the static stickers that go right on the cooler door, and a door wobbler that shakes a 3-D bottle right in your face. Then when you open the door, there's a three-bottle display rack and at the register, we've got the grippable coin rack."The various materials were designed at Stroh's, in conjunction with the suppliers, according to Guest. Trans World Marketing, East Rutherford, N.J., manufactured the permanent pieces; Hankscraft Motors Inc., Reedsburg, Wis., supplied the motors; and Westcott Paper and Gaylord Printing, both of Detroit, supplied the paper pieces. The point-of-sale program is "an integral part of this brand," observes Guest. "This whole Gripper package is about touching, feeling and seeing. The goal of the P-O-S is to attract the consumer's interest and get them to put the bottle in their hand. We think if we can get the bottle in their hand, they're going to buy this product."

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