Usb flash drives are becoming more and more common for schools, businesses, entertainment, and personal use. The face that they are rewritable with flash memory makes these devices very handy, especially for working projects on the go, temporary files, or simply just backing up your information.
With the growing popularity of USB flash drives, we wondered how exactly they were made. Thankfully, Netbook News posted a video of a tour through Kingston Manufacturing Plant showing how they are produced and packaged. Here it is for you to see.
Sometimes a significant anniversary of other event of milestone for a company is a great reason to issue its product in special edition packaging.
One news organization for the travel industry recently profiled new packaging by distillery Glenfiddich who issued commemorative packaging for their whiskey. This company decided to add the allure of exclusivity by only offering the Whiskey in this special edition box at airport duty-free shops.
For more information visit dfinionline.com
So the next significant event that happens in your company might just be an opportunity for you to package your product in special limited edition packaging as a value-added way for consumers to celebrate with you.
As consumers are being educated and motivated to become more environmentally-friendly, we are seeing more and more eco-friendly products being introduced. One of these areas is the cell phone industry.
One example is the Samsung Reclaim that was recently offered for Sprint users. Not only is this phone a more environmentally -friendly option, but it is also Sprint’s first 3G QWERTY phone to get down to only $50 after rebates with a signed contract.
80 percent of the material used are corn-fed and recyclable. They skipped the paper manual, so less paper would be wasted. They also used recyclable packaging printed with soy-based inks.
You don’t have to gibe up quality cell phone features to be environmentally-friendly. This phone still has a 2MP camera, GPS, and Bluetooth. Better yet, with each purchase, a few dollars are donated to a land conservation charity. This phone proves once again, that you can have a quality product at a low cost, while still being eco-friendly.
One of the main reasons for custom packaging is for the product to stand out on the shelf in comparison to the competitor. This helps the brand identity and increases the perceived value of the product.
Another great reason for custom packaging is to make your products distinctive, so the customer can easily tell the difference between products. Help remedies offers six different products of medicines/bandages that they can package in very similar, yet distinctive cases. Instead of using complicated names of medicine that customers may not understand, Help Remedies keeps it simple by naming each product by how you feel. Their product line includes: “Help. I have a headache.”, “Help. I have an aching body.”,”Help. I can’t sleep.” Each product also has their own assigned color that is used in the packaging, so that customers can get used to grabbing a certain color off of the shelf.
Viktoriya Gadomska designed these custom boxes of vitamins A, B, C, D, E, and F. With the boxes in the shape of the letter of their respective vitamin supplement, it makes it easy for customers to grab what they want off of the shelf in a hurry.
Looking for a step-by-step guide to help you improve your packaging? The following will help you to find the weaknesses in your packaging and improve them for more effective packaging and higher product sales.
1. Look at your current packaging. Don’t try to convince yourself of how it works. Ask yourself honestly how it can by improved. Does it accurately reflect the product? Is it best working to your product’s advantage? Does it make sense? Make sure the changes you make are beneficial to the product and keep your brand consistent.
2. Ask for an outsider’s opinion. Hand your product packaging over to someone who knows nothing about your product or packaging.
3. Look at the competition. If your product is sold in retail stores, go to the actual store and look at similar products.
Improving your packaging can increase customer loyalty and satisfaction. It can also boost sales. Using these tips to brainstorm about your packaging can lead to positive results for your product, brand and company.
Recently the New York Public Library announced that they have opened another facility for wireless internet access in the Edna Barnes Salomon Room.
The Edna Barnes Salomon room is by far the most elegant. You can bring your own wireless enabled laptop and some branches even have laptops available to borrow.
All Chicago Public Library Branches have free wireless internet access available for use. In California, both the Los Angeles Public Library and the San Francisco library offer free wi-fi.
Here in the heartland, all branches of the Minneapolis & Hennepin Public Libraries and Saint Paul Public Library offers free wireless internet access at all locations.
So no matter where you go take your laptop to the public library to surf the internet, check your e-mail, and stay in touch for free!
It’s been said that 30 percent of all garbage is packaging…but who says packaging has to be garbage? many forms of packaging can be recycled, such as cardboard, paper, glass, and some plastics. But there still are other options if the packaging is not recyclable. It can be reused again or re-purposed to do something else.
Rodney had the idea to re-purpose one of the most un-eco materials around, Styrofoam, into stunning lamps.
It’s amazing where a little creativity can get you.
Build a base of customer/client connections on LinkedIn. Request introductions to other potential customers/clients through these original connections to continue to expand your base.
Start a company blog. Many companies blog to keep in touch with their customers. For example Toyota has an” Open Road Blog.”
Start actively blogging on related blogs or on the blogs of interested individuals in our target market.
Build an interactive Webpage as an offshoot to your main page to further explain a new product service and to generate interest.
Join Facebook and create an interesting profile.
Provide links to dig, reddit and RSS feeds.
Connect through twitter
Build a MySpace page and use it to blog and post videos.
We have talked many times about the significance of product packaging and design. Not only does it need to stick out and “pop” on the shelf, but there also needs to be brand recognition for your loyal customers. If consumers can’t easily find your product on the shelf, they will turn to another product, your competition.
An example of this was the Tropicana repackaging fiasco you may have heard of from earlier this year. Since Tropicana is such a large, well-known company, they depend on brand loyalty. THey are known for their fresh-squeezed juice, and this was displayed with their traditional packaging with the straw sticking out of the orange.
In January, they decided to change their packaging by going with a very simple design. They removed their trademark orange picture, went with lighter colors, and changed the font of their brand name. Many customers were not able to find the Tropicana juice they wanted in a hurry, or they thought the new design looked cheap and generic.
The numbers proved it. From Jan.1 to Feb 22, unit sales dropped 20 percent and dollar sales went down 19 percent, or roughly $33 million. Count that loss with the $35 million that they spent on the ad campaign for the new packaging, and one can see they made a costly mistake. Not only did Tropicana’s sales decrease, but their competitors, such as Minute Maid, Florida’s Natural, and Tree Ripe showed double-digit unit sales increase during that time. Ultimately, they had no choice but to return to the old packaging.
We can all learn from Tropicana’s mistake. First of all, packaging matters. Secondly, as a company with brand loyal customers, you cannot change the design to drastically, because brand recognition is vital.
Barnes & Noble announced that the have opened the world’s largest eBookstore. The eBookstore has over 700,000 titles and they anticipate having over 1,000,000 titles by 2010.
Electronic book readers do not need to purchase a separate device to read the ebooks, Barnes & Noble offers a free eReader download in teh eBookstore that is compatible with Blackberries, iPhones/iPods, and PCs/Macs.
eBooks are a great resource for travel since readers do not need to carry separate books.
