When it comes to household cleaning products, it has become a trend to offer eco & economic forms of refillable products. Remember our Household Cleaners Go Green blog about the concentrated cleaner solutions? These two companies were offering a concentrated cleaning solution that would reduce packaging and Windex has joined the trend with their first concentrated solution. The refill pouches are filled with the traditional blue Windex cleaning solution in a concentrated gel form. When you finish a traditional 26 fl. oz. spray bottle simply cut the pouch, pour the solution into the empty bottle and fill it with water to produce another bottle of usable cleaning solution.

As far as eco and economically friendly products goes, Windex has certainly hit a homerun with this concentrated pouch. To create only one concentrated pouch will use 90% less plastic material than is used to make one traditional spray bottle. In addition, the company will save on the costs to transport almost 1.5 lbs of water weight per bottle shipped! To put that in perspective, people buy over 21 million bottles of the cleaner per year so the company would avoid shipping over 6 million lbs of water a year! So next time you are ready to recycle your bottle of Windex, consider buy a three pack of the concentrated pouches and as the company says, “Make the Choice, Lead the Change.”

What other eco or economically friendly concentrated products have you seen on the market today?

Year after year Kleenex has redesigned their packaging to fit the holiday, season, or trend. For the 2009 holiday season the tissue brand created a quaint snowman design and for the summer months some fruity designs. However, for their 2010 holiday packaging, Kleenex decided to appeal our taste buds.  By partnering with designer Hiroko Sanders, the tissue leader came up with some seriously decadent packaging. Each box in the “Devine Desserts” line represents a different holiday desert; there is chocolate covered strawberry cake, cherry pie with whipped topping, black forest cake, and even red velvet with peppermint! 

Sanders did significant research in the bakery industry to come up with the delicious looking tissue art, but it was worth it.  When I first glanced at these indulgent tissues I mistook them for actual pastries! The chocolate covered strawberry cake is so realistic looking I could almost reach right out for a taste. Devine Desserts are perfect for the holiday season, to add a festive touch to any table décor.  And should you be plagued with a cold and unable to enjoy the holiday feast, at least you will be able to indulge your nose!

Kleenex Devine Desserts line can be purchased at Target stores.

For over forty years, the American Package Design Awards have showcased excellence in the graphic design world.  The contest is here again! Entries can be submitted for three main categories; Package Design, Special Features, and In-Store Graphics.  The 18 sub categories range from Health and Beauty, Sustainable Packaging, and Store Logos. If you are a graphic designer wishing to submit your work, you can download the entry form at www.GDUSA.com or send your entry to the mailing address on the website.  Submissions are due by December 10, 2010 and all entries must be of products sold in stores between January 1, 2009-December 31, 2010. Best of luck to all entries and check back later in the year for our winners announcement blog!

Past winners have included Kit Kat Seasonal by Vertis Creative for Food & Beverage (top), and Juicy Couture by Elizabeth Arden for Health and Beauty (bottom).

Having worked over six years in retail, I have stocked many shelves full of sweaters, candy bars, and shampoo.  I dreaded shelving the thousand tiny travel shampoo bottles, but loved the candy that came pre-packaged in retail-ready packaging (RRP). RRP merchandise is a unit that holds the product and sits directly on the store shelf (see candy shelves above); it is faster and more efficient.  James Tupper, the ECR Learning & Change Manager at IGD, knows a thing or two about RRP and offers his knowledge and advice in the Packaging World Magazine Article. 

Tupper believes in an all-inclusive supply chain with his Eleven Easy-to Factors.  Basically the factors include the shopper, stakeholder, CPG, and retailer.  The steps explain how RRP can make it easy for these four groups to function.  Shoppers are looking for an easy way to pick up the item, stakeholders want an easy way to transport, distributors want easy to pack products, and retailers want an easy way to stock the products. 

RRP is most evident in packaged lunch meats that now come in secondary containers offering easy shelving for retailers.  One area that needs RRP the most are back stock rooms.  Workers should be able to easily identify product boxes from a distance to reduce time and save money. Other areas to improve on are the ways packaging is opened, by implementing tear strips to avoid the extra time taken to find a box opener.  Instructions being pictorial would also be helpful to save workers from reading lengthy instruction booklets.  Structure is the name of the game when it comes to RRP, according to Tupper.

As the economy continues to suffer, consumers are minimizing their buying habits as much as possible.  Simplifying purchases has greatly affected home fragrance sales, decreasing almost a million dollars by 2009!  According to Happi Magazine, customers are seeing just how far their dollar will stretch, purchasing home fragrances as little as possible.  Value is the name and saving is the game!  Not all home fragrance companies are loosing however, with companies prospering such as Renuzit, Crystal Elements, P&G, Illume, Pacific Trade International, and Yankee Candle. Crystal Element offers products with the low price points of $5 or less.  P&G has introduced the Febreze Set & Refresh retailing for only $2.99!  Stacy and I just bought an Apple Spice & Delight Set & Refresh and are very happy with the sweet fall smelling sent of the office.  

Beginners in the air care market go through a progression, says Febreze, starting as casual buyers to those who see them as luxurious atmosphere creators.  With the holidays right around the corner, ‘tis the season for massive fall fragrance creation.  Yankee Candle is trying to put their buyers in a rustic setting with Mountain Lodge smelling of cedar wood and sage.  Others include Apple Cider, Winter Wonderland, and Christmas Tree. The key is to create comfort in the purchase, through innovative affordable products. For the full article visit Happi Magazine Online.

When it comes to a clean, safe and green company Method has never ceased to amaze the public with top notch designs.  The classic home care and cleaners are all created in recyclable earth friendly materials including the original dish soap.  Though users fawn over the classic dish soap, the favorite being in cucumber, they are continually unhappy with the design of the bottle.  Through numerous surveys, Method determined that though users continued to buy the old product (right image), they were continually upset by the poor bottle design. A top pour spout is the last thing you want to juggle with slippery dish pan hands which brings us to the newest look for Method dish soap (left image).

The newly designed bottle has a wider base with slenderizing top and a curved straw to make sure you get every once of soap from the bottom of the bottle.  The shape actually mimics Method’s laundry detergent bottle as mentioned in Dion’s New Product Meets Innovation blog. Frustrated with slippery bottles?  The new bottle is a single touch, non clogging pump bottle, eliminating lost bottles in a sink full of bubbles.  Prone to dropping the bottle quite often this product is very logical, and the redesigned bottle is much more streamline with the rest of the line.  To quote the innovator it “is the same great thing, just in a new package.”  

We’ve scoured all of our resources to bring you the best of World Cup-inspired and commemorative products and packaging! I’ll even be worldlier in using the term football. Here they are:

The “Hospitality Pack” contains the most important item for football fans: their tickets. Capturing the essence of anticipation, the slider pack provides a clever and playful opening experience, creating intrigue and a sense of novelty to complement the exciting nature of receiving World Cup tickets. With the games officially now underway, the high quality format of the Burgopak design further encourages fans to retain the pack, lending itself as a keep-safe of World Cup memorabilia.

Gillette’s World Cup-inspired shaving gel and antiperspirant and deodorant cans creatively resemble a football and shows off their sponsorship.

These bracelets were made by over 400 women in South Africa for fans of the Dutch team. The orange color is the national color for the Netherlands and the assortment of colors represents the South African flag.

SAB Miller developed a can that could also function as a cup.

Special World Cup Packaging for Carlsberg beer featuring England’s team manager Fabio Capello and team players David James, Rio Ferdinand, Steven Gerrard and Jermaine Defoe.

England’s team received more support when Umbro commissioned the painting of the players’ numbers in their hometowns, even for manager Capello in Italy.

Coca-Cola’s commemorative cans feature French players in celebration and come in a box with a CD from K’Naan.

Miller Light cans are laser-etched with famous players captured doing their signature moves.

Please share if you’ve come across other promotional or commemorative products or packaging!

The DuPont Award winners for 2010 were just announced at the end of May, continuing the virtual forum format from last year. The winners proved breakthroughs in packaging with innovative developments, cost/waste reduction and improved sustainability. Diamond winners proved excellence in all three areas while Gold winners demonstrated excellence in two criteria. Silver winners were selected for their breakthrough innovation, and notable honorees were given recognition for innovative problem solving. 

Only two submissions were given the prestigious honor of a Diamond DuPont award: the GREENBOX reusable thermal management system, a sustainably-produced container used to transport sensitive medical supplies, as well as Exal Corporation’s “Coil to Can” (C2C) recyclable aluminum bottle.

To see all of the award-winning packaging innovators, click here.

Just yesterday we commended Wal-mart for their eco-friendly practices, but for a huge corporation like Wal-mart, much of their initiative is based on requiring that their suppliers reduce their carbon footprint. The Sustainability Index Supplier Assessment that Wal-mart announced last year includes a 15-question survey to assess greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions; Wal-mart hopes to reduce this by 20 million metric tons. It seems to be an important first step before Wal-mart can implement the “Green” ratings that will disclose the eco-friendliness of products to consumers.

It may sound like Wal-mart is simply bullying their suppliers to make the company look good. In actuality, Wal-mart’s own practices include: using onsite renewable energy generation, reducing shipping and packaging waste, reducing truck fleet emissions, and more. If Wal-mart is successful in achieving their GHG emission reduction goal by 2015, it will be equivalent to:

• taking more than 3.8 million average cars off of the road for a year
• planting more than 181 million full grown trees

These emissions are also similar to what would be produced by:

• burning fossil fuels to power nearly 2.6 million U.S. homes for a year
• consuming nearly 2.3 billion gallons of gasoline. (All estimates based on EPA figures).

For more information, and to see Wal-mart CEO Mike Duke’s address to stakeholders, click here.

We’ve seen quite a few articles pop up about Pantone’s new iPhone app that gives access to their library of color. At first it had the initial “Great!” reaction, but then some of the pitfalls began to show their true colors—excuse the pun. Research done by VIGC showed that depending on which device you are using, the same Pantone color can look different on each device (above compares the Pantone 37-5-1 C on the iPhone 3G to the iPod Touch), which is different still compared to the GoeGuide seen below. Though to be fair, “Pantone does not represent the product as a precise color measuring tool” (graphicartsonline.com).  

For the reasons listed above, we often recommend color press proofs for labels that must match a certain color scheme. It is important that our customers realize the Pantone color they see on screen is usually very different from the actual Pantone color in a PMS book. Likewise, the printout from their laser or inkjet desktop printer may be different from both resources. With flexographic printing (which uses printing plates and ink stations), we can adjust color on press to match a Pantone color. In digital printing, this process is not so simple because the colors are all printed at once. A customer’s artwork file needs to be adjusted for color and then sent to the press for printing. Digital press proofs are printed using the exact HP Indigo equipment used to print your label order. These proofs are printed on the same material your labels will be printed on and can also be coated with UV varnish or lamination. So, as a customer, if you just want a dark blue without a specific Pantone match, you may forgo press proofs. However, if your logo is a specific shade of blue used among multiple products- then press proofs are the right option for you. When in doubt, get a press proof!  

Have you ever wondered how some businesses came up with their names? Or are you an entrepreneur trying to decide on the company or product name for your next venture? Well this slideshow proves that sometimes the biggest company names have come about pretty haphazardly. So when you and your partner are battling over whose name goes first, just flip a coin!

The latest issue of Brand Packaging analyzed the effects of the recession. It’s a situation that has affected everyone, but rather than simply blaming our troubles on the current economic situation and giving up, we can look at how to learn, move on, and hopefully grow instead. The article compares coping with the recession to coping with loss, and how this influences consumer purchasing patterns:

Anger/Denial: At first consumers indulged in small luxuries that wouldn’t have major short-term consequences. Brands and even private labels that benefited were the ones that proved their value was worth the added cost. Others were ones with traditional/nostalgic value that consumers could take comfort in.

Bargaining/Depression: When consumers really started to feel the economic downturn, they shifted towards more thrifty habits. As a rudimentary example: even though people still dined out at restaurants, they chose less-expensive options (i.e. a pizza for the group rather than individual prime ribs. Trust me, I’ve seen this happen!).

Acceptance: At the end of the day, the major effect of the recession on consumer attitudes is a shift of the paradigm from a mindset of "what I want is what I need" to one of "what I need is what I want."

So here are Brand Packaging’s words of wisdom:

1. Don’t try to sell consumers what they don’t really need;
2. But, at the same time, don’t forget that behind every basic need lies an aspiration.
3. Use playfulness and familiarity to earn the right to engage with consumers.
4. Respect consumers by making clear, believable claims and making your portfolio easy to understand and navigate.
5. Give consumers a sense of control in the way they choose to interact with you.
6. Use packaging to give a fair picture of what is inside the pack, but don’t lose an opportunity to tell a compelling story.  

Invented in a garage by Marc Chavannes and Al Fielding in 1957, Sealed Air Corp began production of bubble wrap in 1960 and now makes enough Bubble Wrap to stretch from the Earth to the Moon and back. The company brings in annual revenues of over $4 billion. Obviously bubble wrap is important when it comes to its innovative influence on packaging. With all of those impressive statistics said, I’m just appreciative of all the years spent therapeutically popping leftover bubble wrap!

Ironically as I posted the battle of the brands blog, I came across this article link on packagingdesign.com. The private label vs. national brand debate is clearly a hot topic. While our last post gives an objective analysis of the packaging aspect, here we see how passionately the proponents for each side feel, and for good reason. National brands realize what’s at stake as store brands have become major competitors.

Marketers are constantly scrambling for design solutions that stand out, communicate credibility, convey value, resonate with consumers, compel purchase and promote loyalty. Finding these solutions, however, is not easy.

One way to know what's happening broadly with consumer brands and packaging is to attend industry-specific events and shows. In the United States, some of the most important consumer products shows include the Food Marketing Institute Show (FMI), Natural Products Expo, Fancy Food Show, Boston Seafood Show, Dairy-Deli-Bake, All Candy Expo, Toy Fair, International Home + Housewares Show, National Hardware Show, Atlanta International Gift & Home Furnishings Market, New York International Gift Fair, International Beauty Show (IBS) and Cosmoprof. While there are countless others, attending these will give you a good idea of what's going on in U.S. retail marketing and packaging design.

For the complete article, click here.

2009 marked the first full year for Dion’s blog, so we decided to take a moment to reflect on some of its highlights. With almost 200 entries this year we had a lot of options for choosing our favorites! Here are the top blogs we selected:

Products we’ve blogged about and tried:

"Neuro Brand Beverages": Stacy and I were lucky enough to receive samples all the way from the west coast of this product line. We loved everything from the product itself to the unique bottle design.

Colgate Wisp Blogs: Stacy likes these blogs, because not only were she and Karly able to write about these new products, but they also took the time to try them and decide how the design of the product actually had a functional purpose: the cool blue dot in the middle held the brush-able tasty liquid that helped clean our teeth, the fancy swish at the end acted as a toothpick.

• "Colgate Wisps: Hit or Miss?"
• "Brush on the go!"

"The Dear Hunter": This blog was near and dear to my heart not only because I love the design of the case but I’m also a huge fan. I also surprised myself with my respectable amateur photography skills.

Blogs highlighting good causes:

"October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month": Incorporating so many elements related to one important cause made this blog special. Non-profit organizations, products, television, celebrities, and even the world of dance came together to show support for breast cancer awareness.

"Labels Raise Awareness": Provided insight to companies that utilize their labels in raising money (and increasing sales) to help fight a disease. It’s a unique way of using labels. Some tell a story, some have funky shapes and designs… and some help save lives!

Some lighter moments:

"Sunscreen is no laughing matter!": This blog also falls into the above category, but funny man Will Ferrell always brings a little something extra. (You may have recently seen his engagement photo "crash" in the New York Times). They say that getting someone to laugh and then giving them important information helps them to retain the message. Ferrell certainly gets our attention on sun protection.

"Update on Blue Q": Once we quieted our giggles over the new humorous products from Blue Q, we stumbled upon the videos of their sales team and were off again. We’re not sure about you, but the leg lifts get us every time!

The most highlighted rebranding failure of the year:

Tropicana Blogs: The blogs about the whole Tropicana debacle is cool because it shows why packaging is such a key component of selling a product. From a marketer’s point of view, it also explains why so much research needs to go into brand changes to increase (not decrease!) sales.

• "PepsiCo and Carbon Trust Unite"
• "Out with the new, In with the Old?"

What were your favorite moments?

 Label & Narrow Web recently looked to industry experts for their article on short run labels and interviewed Dion Label Printing. The ability to affordably print short run orders has led to more opportunities for product manufacturers. Here is a brief excerpt from the article:

Stacy Santos, marketing manager for Dion Label Printing, Westfield, MA, USA, says the company takes into account the length of the run when deciding which printing process it’s going to use. In Dion’s case, short run jobs, among others, get moved to one of the company’s HP Indigo presses. "We decide whether a job will go digital or flexo based on the amount of footage we are going to run, the complexity of a customer’s label graphics and the number of SKUs in a particular run. About a third of our business is digital. We made the investment in digital in April 2005, and because our digital business grew so quickly, we invested in another HP Indigo digital press. And our digital operations have steadily grown over the years.

"Digital printing is perfect for multiple SKUs, low volume orders, promotional labels and prototyping," Santos says. "It’s a great way to offer high quality printing, complex graphics, and vibrant colors to customers that do not have large volume quantities. Our customers do not have to sacrifice label quality while keeping their inventories low."

Read the full article here!

Happy Holidays from Dion Label Printing !

Holiday Hours:
Thursday, December 24th- closed
Friday, December 25th- closed
Friday, January 1st- closed

Recycling is one of the pioneer concepts to the green movement and is hardly a revolutionary topic to discuss. However, while turning used bottles and cans into art projects or using old car parts to build and decorate homes may not suit even the most eco-conscious consumers out there, this is one idea that is actually practical. Nick Paul is a glass blowing artisan transforming used beverage bottles into glasses. I’ve been fascinated by the craft ever since a 5^TH grade field trip, making this product intriguing on multiple levels. Because the glasses can be made to order, they can also be a great gift for beverage-specific enthusiasts. It’s an interesting fusion of art, sustainability and function.

All of our glass is recycled and made in the traditional style of soft glassblowing and are often made to order. We use 100% of the bottle to avoid waist. All of our products are dishwasher safe and Eco-Friendly. Don't see your favorite style of beer? We can turn any glass bottle with a painted or embossed label into a wonderful drinking cup.

As a huge fan of novelties, I can’t help but spotlight Blue Q products. With products such as “Cat Butts” air freshner, “Mullet” magnet sets, “Instant Irish Accent” breath spray, and “We Met on Facebook” gum, it’s hard to not find a great gift for someone with a sense of humor. And the products are not all simply a joke. Shopping bags made of recycled material, BPA-free stainless steel water bottles, and dish towels meant to replace the use of paper towels show the company’s commitment to sustainability. It’s easy to meander the company website for hours checking out products. Take a look at the highly amusing “about us” page where you can see the company’s personality shine even more. Hopefully this recommendation will bring you a happy day!

The 2009 Pentawards were recently announced and crowned the Kleenex "Slice of Summer" as Best in Show giving Kimberly-Clark the Diamond Pentaward.

Pentawards is the first and only worldwide competition exclusively devoted to packaging design in all its forms. It is open to everybody in all countries who are associated with the creation and marketing of packaging. The winners will receive bronze, silver, gold, platinum or diamond Pentawards according to the creative quality of their work.

The Platinum Pentaward winners receiving nods as the best packaging for the five major categories are:

• Beverages: Turner Duckworth, London & San Francisco, for Coca Cola Summer 2009.
• Food: Nosigner, Tokyo, for Kanpyo Udon
• Body: Wolff Olins, New York, for Living Proof, No Frizz
• Other Markets: Mouse Graphics, Athens, for Petrocoll, Spatula Putty
• Luxury: Dragon Rouge, Paris, for L’Or de Martell.

For a look at all of the winners, click here! The next competition will open on April 5, 2010.

Vegetarians may not want to read any further, but for those that can stomach the thought of it, an Agricultural Research Service scientist has patented a product that solves the problem of an unwanted byproduct of poultry processing. Walther Schmidt works in the ARS Environmental Management and Byproduct Utilization Laboratory in Beltsville, MD and has been working on solutions for discarded chicken feathers. Working with research associate Masud Huda of the Horticultural Research Institute in Washington D.C., the two have developed a practical use for the poultry byproduct that will also give back to the environment.  

Their creation and solution is several planting pots that biodegrade over varying periods of time (one to five years) and slowly release nitrogen into the soil, a highly beneficial nutrient. The plastic made from feathers is manufactured without any petroleum and has properties similar to polyethylene and polypropylene. Not only is it biodegradable, it is also a very strong plastic. According to PhysOrg.com, “Several commercial pot manufacturers are involved in this phase to determine optimum production-scale molding specifications for the containers. According to Schmidt, the "green" horticultural end products will not only help solve the environmental problem by creating biodegradable plastics, but will also provide a cost-effective commercial use for feathers.”

About a week ago we wrote about cause marketing. Brand Packaging Magazine has also focused on this topic as its cover story in their August publication. The article elaborates on the topic and gives great examples of companies utilizing cause marketing, as well as tips on how to engage consumers in their efforts. One such example is Tide’s Loads of Hope. Often times individuals and families are not able to make financial donations to causes they support, but it is undeniable that they need products such as laundry detergent. Charitable donations through purchasing products are the perfect solution. For every bottle of Tide sold, ten cents is donated to the program which helps victims of natural disasters get clean clothes. So far the program has washed 30,000 loads of laundry via their mobile laundromats. While the company has done a great job with their TV advertising campaign, what really makes this product stand out on the shelves is the label. Consumers can easily identify that their purchase supports a good cause. For more examples of successful cause marketing, read the full article here!

Cause marketing programs are taking on new significance in this economy, as brand owners strive to broadcast their corporate principles, create closer relationships with consumers and offer the idea of greater brand value.

Recently, DuPont announced the winners of their 21st annual awards for "packaging innovations in enhanced sustainability and performance". The winners were "chosen for their demonstrations for innovative products and processes resulting in breakthroughs in sustainable packaging." The event was held through a global virtual forum for the first time. Click here for a link of the results!

The winners:

• Aveda™ Vintage Clove Shampoo from The Estee Lauder Companies – U.S.
• Whole Foods Baked Goods in Sealed Air’s Renew-A-Pak™ compostable bakeware from Biosphere Industries – U.S.
• Ecolean Group’s Lightweight Packaging - Sweden
• Healthy Choice Trays from ConAgra, Developed and Produced by Associated Packaging Technologies – U.S.
• Invisible Case Polyouters from Procter & Gamble – Belgium and Turkey
• All Days Pads in Tray and Hood Carton from Procter & Gamble – Germany and U.S.
• Bertolli® Pasta Sauce Pouches from Unilever and Amcor Flexibles – U.S.
• Prilosec OTC Pack from Procter & Gamble and Alcan Packaging – U.S.
• Pangea Organics Holiday Gift Boxes – U.S.
• Easy Pour Barrier Containers from A&C Packers - Australia

FREE. It's a word we don't hear very often these days. I was searching for information on color when I accidentally (and happily) came across an advertisement for a FREE quart of paint from Glidden. Could this be true? I mean it's not even a measly pint of paint, but a full quart! I rubbed my eyes and counted to ten then looked again. Yep! The offer was still there. So, what's the catch? I thought to myself. Do I have to buy a certain amount of paint? Do I have to sign-up for a newsletter or Glidden membership? Nope and Nope. This promotion is all part of The Glidden National Paint Giveaway. All you have to do is go to their website, pick out the color you want and tell them where to ship it!

Click here to get your paint now!

Do you hide your cleaning products under the bathroom or kitchen sink? Clorox disinfecting wipes has introduced a new packaging design that is sleek and modern. With their new canister designs you can display it anywhere in your home. “When we put the task to the design team, we started by asking why can't cleaning be easy -- and easy on the eye?" said Lisa Partnoy, marketing manager, Clorox Disinfecting Wipes. "The new Décor line reinvents disinfecting, enabling you to say goodbye to messes with style."
 

Not only did Clorox disinfecting wipes change the look of their canister but they also created a single sheet dispense system that makes cleaning a breeze! So now you clean quickly and in style. Think you have a better design that Clorox would be interested in? Submit your original design here before March 15, 2009! Winner receives a $1,000 shopping spree from Macy’s and an opportunity to shadow their creative team!