The food and beverage industry came alongside the electronics industry to create an innovative packaging concept uniquely displaying how the packaging world can lead their products into the marketplace through strong promotional material. One of the major advantages of packaging is that it can showcase products against the competition. Think about this concept in ways such eye-catching labels, interestingly shaped containers or even the use of different materials. Innovation, however, can bring about a variety of challenges.
How flexible packaging can give brands an edgeConsider these challenges:
- Incorporation of unique designs
- Consumer functionality
- Product safety and security
So then, what rule of thumb should the creative genius use?
Packaging innovation and knowing your product.
Stick with the basics. Know your product and know consumer demand.
What makes a strong packaging solution? An obvious answer might be effectively getting a product from point A to point B - but that is a rather ambiguous answer. There are a number of details that play into achieving this goal. Consider these details for a moment:
- Every product must have a vessel.
- Who will handle the vessel?
- What is product being contained?
- Will the product be shipped in bulk?
- Who is the end user? To what demographic
- Does the shipper or receiver need to know anything important about the product?
- What is the budget set aside for the packaging, marketing and shipping of the product?
For example, within the bottling industry, the goal of the packaging may be to create bulk package using flexible packaging for consumer purchase. Packaging Digest looks at the Easypack, a packaging sleever machine designed for bottles. It can pack individual bottles in units of two, four or six. The machine poses a number of advantages to supply chains as it can be integrated into existing bottling operations, is easy to maintain and can save on costs due to its speed and material usage. Although simplistic in thought, these are important advantages because they address some of the basic needs of a packaging solution, while remaining practical.
"The difference between something good and something great is attention to detail." - Charles R. Swindoll
Crossing industries to combine marketing power
Once the basics have been addressed, companies can begin looking into unique ways to package products. Recently Frito-Lay and Microsoft teamed up to promote the launch of the new Xbox, according to Packaging World.
The news source notes that this was an ideal match because both of the companies look to appeal to an age demographic between 18 and 24 years old. Although limited for a short amount of time, the new design did not fall short in packaging innovation.
The container, designed with flexible packaging material, resembled the Xbox. To create this design, Frito-Lay used a form/fill/seal machine by Ishida, the Atlas vertical. Although routinely capable of handling between 25 to 30 standard pillow packs per minute, the machine produced approximately 20 bags per minute of the new design. Sounds easy enough - but much collaboration went into the design and execution of this innovative packaging. In successfully releasing this product, Frito-Lay and Microsoft outdid themselves in the face of the competition.
