When Packaging Innovation Reshapes a Category

Packaging innovation, at its best, creates an entirely new product category and makes the brand owner the category leader. Innovation can come in various forms, such as a brand-new packaging material like the Dutch Boy plastic paint can, or as a new product count. The following two new packages illustrate how technical innovation gives marketers an edge.1. Stagg ChiliThe Innovation: Replacing metal cans with paperboard cartons.Marketing PerspectiveIn the chili category, cans have dominated. However, in August, Hormel Foods Corp., Austin, Minn., canned the can for its Stagg Chili brand and rolled out a new paper, plastic and foil carton. It doesn't have to be refrigerated, and it sits on store shelves right next to cans as a one-for-one replacement.When a company introduces a packaging change this radical, it has the opportunity to change the consumer's perception of the product. Hormel now has that opportunity. The new package allows Hormel to challenge consumers' perception that canned foods are old-fashioned. Also, in an era when "fresh" and "wholesome" are key selling points, the Stagg Chili package stresses that issue with the phrase "Preservative Free."More important, the new package allows Hormel to put a new face on the store shelf. Its rectangular configuration naturally presents the display panel front-and-center at retail. On the other hand, stock boys have to orient cans to achieve uniform display. Furthermore, the package's rectangular footprint translates into greater shelf density: That means more packages per square foot and fewer out-of-stock situations.Consumer research conducted during the package development process indicates that consumers perceive the difference between the can and the new carton, and that they like the new package.(Note: If you're technically inclined, the new package is specifically a retortable carton, and it represents a striking change in the way products such as chili, canned pasta, canned entrees, and other foods are processed. If you want more details, click here for my contact information.) AnalysisThe new package's straightforward opening instructions benefit consumers. Marketers have to tell consumers how new package formats work. Stagg does this in two steps: First, bold red arrows on either side say "LIFT." Second, a series of icons leads consumers through the process of tearing a laser-scored opening.I tested some pre-launch samples I received from the package supplier, Tetra Pak Inc. of Vernon Hills, Ill. The opening process is easy. I would argue that the carton is easier to open than the pop-tops so ubiquitous in canned food aisles.2. Pillsbury Perfect PortionsThe Innovation: Replacing the canisters traditionally associated with refrigerated biscuits with a flexible pouch.Marketing PerspectiveA generation of Americans has tapped the paperboard canisters holding refrigerated biscuits on the edge of a counter and heard the "pop" as the package opened. It is the hallmark package in the $420 million refrigerated dough products category.However, changing demographics emphasized a shortcoming in the canister: The minimum quantity in the package was four biscuits -- often two too many for smaller households. Answering the needs of smaller households is a fast-growing trend for food marketers.General Mills Inc., Minneapolis, owner of the Pillsbury brand, changed the packaging format in August to a flexible pouch that holds only two biscuits, side-by-side. Five pouches go into a paperboard carton, giving consumers enough biscuits for several meals.From a technical standpoint, the clear plastic pouch works as a "barrier property" that keeps the refrigerated product fresh. The earlier pop-open canisters used a layer of foil to accomplish the same function, but film is less expensive.AnalysisLike the Stagg's Chili carton, this package goes to great lengths to explain how it works. Copy on each individual pouch details baking instructions. This kind of detail is necessary when launching a new packaging format in a category in which consumers have learned to use an earlier format by rote memory.The package also includes a die-cut window in the outer carton. When the product is on store shelves, consumers can look through this opening to see the pouches inside. "People are curious to see what the dough looks like," says a Pillsbury spokesperson.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.

When Packaging Innovation Reshapes a Category

P2PI MEMBERS

JOIN P2PI

Related Topics

Related Images

Business Topic

Company

Market Segment