Archive for June, 2011
Wednesday, June 29th, 2011
Anyone who has popped open a Pringles can in their lifetime knows that they can’t just eat one. But you usually know where the snacking ends- halfway through. That’s because with the traditional Pringles packaging, once you’re halfway through the can, you struggle to get your hands down there to grab more. Recently, some packaging solutions have been offered by a few
highly touted design firms.
Despite Pringles being a household name for over 40 years, most consumers view them as outdated namely because of the packaging. The brand is in need of an overhaul. The recent announcement that Proctor & Gamble is selling Pringles to Diamond Foods, what better time to speculate what Pringles might look like in the not-so-distant-future.
Package #1 by The Goldstein Group
This is a version of clamshell packaging that features an interlocking freshness seal which provides easy access to every chip. The oval shape of the clamshell reinforces the shape of the chip. In addition, hanging tabs were placed at the top of the clamshell for retail peg displays. Black is used to allow the flavor colors to pop.
Visit The Goldstein Group
Package #2 by Zunda Group
This proposed packaging solution is ergonomic and functions with a simple twist of the bottom that raises the chips to the top of the new can. The lid on the package can double as a serving cup. Zunda Group also contemporized the iconic Julius character making him more animated and youthful.
Visit Zunda Group
Package #3 by Little Big Brands
The goal of Little Big Brands was to give Pringles a fresh look while maintaining its heritage. The concept of this packaging design was to retain the classic cylinder shape while splitting it in half to eliminate the frustration of not being able to access the chips without cramming your hand down the can or tipping it. Both halves of the package have a duo-part lid made from PETG or polypropylene.
Visit Little Big Brands
Source: Brand Packaging
Tags:branding, clamshell, Food Packaging, package design, packaging, potato chips, Pringles, Thermoforming
Posted in Marketing, Packaging Design | No Comments »
Monday, June 27th, 2011
The annual Global Green Brands Study revealed that interest in green products has increased significantly in the past year. The research polled over 9,000 people in 8 countries.
Personal care, grocery, and household products still have the greatest presence among companies in the Top Ten Green Brands List which was produced from the survey (See the list below). This is due to the increased intelligence consumers are getting on green products. Interestingly, the study also found that consumers are ready to take their green purchases to the next level by spending money on big ticket items such as cars and technology.
TOP TEN GREEN BRANDS LIST:
1. Seventh Generation
2. Whole Foods
3. Tom’s of Maine
4. Burt’s Bees
5. Trader Joe’s
6. The Walt Disney Company
7. S.C. Johnson
8. Dove
9. Apple
10. Starbucks, Microsoft (tied)
Just like last year’s study, more than 60% of the consumers polled said they wanted to buy products from environmentally responsible companies even if that meant paying more for them. In fact, consumers in developing countries were willing to pay up to 33% more for green products.
PACKAGING STILL A CONCERN
Another interesting finding from the poll was the concern over packaging, especially among US consumers. 71% believe companies use too much material in packaging while about 50% feel that packaging that can be recycled is more important than packaging made from recycled or biodegradable materials. Only 34% of US consumers polled said they consciously purchase products that use less packaging.
Packaging was also critical as a communication tool. Communicating product benefits to US consumers was vital. Packaging helps explain why a product is green and how green a product is. 40% polled say that packaging is their PRIMARY source for information on environmental issues regarding products.
Tags:biodegradable, burt's bees, consumer, Eco-Friendly, green products, packaging, recycled, research, trader joe's
Posted in Eco-Friendly, Marketing | No Comments »
Friday, June 24th, 2011
“Apple’s been growing like a weed” said Steve Jobs, the charismatic CEO of Apple Inc. And that is precisely why Jobs announced plans of Apple pursuing a new eco-friendly home in northern California to house approximately 12,000 employees. The company’s existing headquarters, which accommodates about 2,600 employees, has forced Apple to rent space in smaller buildings scattered throughout Cupertino, located nine miles west of San Jose.
The spaceship donut-like structure that Apple is looking to build will be set on a proposed 150 acre campus. The huge circular structure will be made almost entirely of curved grass with a heavily landscaped center. Steve Jobs has hired Stanford University’s senior arborist to make the campus 80% landscaped.
Other eco-friendly characteristics of the new project were a natural-gas-fired energy center that would serve as the new headquarters’ main power source. Most of the parking will be underground to create space for thousands of additional trees on the property.
The new site will allow Apple to increase its workforce and consolidate in one location. Jobs hoped to submit formal plans for the new Apple headquarters soon with the goal of moving in by 2015.
So what do you think of this thing? Quite futuristic I must say.
Tags:Alternative Energy, apple, Eco-Friendly, iPad, iPod, landscaping, Steve Jobs, technology
Posted in Eco-Friendly, Marketing | No Comments »
Wednesday, June 22nd, 2011
Rishi Tea, maker of Organic and Fair Trade Certified loose leaf teas, is the winner of Best New Product Packaging at the 23rd Annual SCAA Event in Houston, TX. The SCAA or the Specialty Coffee Association of America is the largest coffee trade association. Each year they host an event that allows the coffee industry to come together to showcase accomplishments, find solutions for the future, and present knowledge to succeed. This years event hosted over 8,000 people from April 29-May 1. From roasters and retailers, to coffee enthusiasts and beverage professionals, this event gave everyone a chance to see innovations and trends within the coffee industry.
This events does a number of competitions, one being the Best New Packaging competition. Rishi Tea had been working on their Chai line to design their packaging so that is has minimal environmental impact. The tins are now printed on easy-peel labels that can be removed, allowing the tins to be removed. The color of the packaging is inspired by the Indian culture and feature hand drawn illustrations. The judges for the Best New Packaging base their decision on three criteria: innovation, design, and value to the industry. Rishi Tea displayed all three of these in their packaging which won them the award of Best New Packaging.
Tags:Best New Packaging award, coffee industry, environmental impact, innovations, packaging, Packaging Design, Rishi Tea, SCAA, Specialty Coffee Association of America
Posted in Custom Packaging Products, Eco-Friendly, Packaging Design | No Comments »
Monday, June 20th, 2011
When is the last time you read a paperback or hardcover book?
a. Just recently
b. Never, I hate reading
c. What is a paperback or hardcover book?
If you responded with c, I want to first inform you that books are those things with pages and second, you may be one of many who have ditched actual tangible books and have hopped on the eBook and e-reader bandwagon. Amazon Kindle, Barnes and Noble Nook, and the Sony E-Reader are just a few of the electronic book readers changing the landscape of how we read. And for the first time, Amazon’s sales of their electronic books for their Kindle have overtaken those of printed versions. For every 100 printed books, Amazon sells 105 electronic ones. It would be unrealistic to think that this could never happen, but now that it has, it is interesting to know how popular eBooks and e-readers have become. E-readers possess qualities like easier portability, ease of use, and they have the ability to purchase books instantly from the device, among other features. They are also a more eco-friendly version to reading as well as more functional.
So what does this mean for printed books? Only time will tell. But in the mean time, marketers can step up their skills and create something unique to keep printed books in the minds of consumers.
Tags:Amazon, consumers, e-reader, ebooks, Eco-Friendly, electronic books, Kindle, marketers, portability, print, printed books, sales
Posted in Eco-Friendly, Marketing, New Products, Product Information | 1 Comment »
Friday, June 17th, 2011
If you haven’t heard of Angry Birds or Farmville, you have been living under a rock. These are just two of the many games that have transformed the trend of social gaming. Social gaming is playing games as a way of social interaction, via social networks like Facebook. Gaming is not only for the stereotyped teens, now moms, business execs, and retirees are reshaping the demographics of who a gamer is. The two top activities people do online is social networking and gaming, so its no wonder social gaming has become so popular.
Social gaming is not only keeping users entertained, it is also helping companies market and advertise their brands. Marketers use social gaming to reach a wide variety of people. It also gives them the opportunity to target specific groups of people by uncovering their preferences, habits, and acquaintances via social networks. This is where targeted advertising comes into play. Companies are leveraging their brands to create experiences that exist within the games to encourage engagement and interaction. For example, you can get a pair of Nike tennis shoes for your Avatar. The idea is to incorporate businesses and brands into the gaming network instead of overloading users with ads. By integrating brands into games, users will have the chance to interact with the brand instead of being attacked by numerous ad campaigns.
Social gaming enables an interaction to take place. This is the first step in attracting users to a brand, product, or service. By integrating brands into a game, it allows users to have fun with the brand and get to know it. If a user’s avatar wears Nike shoes, the user may be more inclined to buy a pair of Nike shoes for themselves.
Tags:ads, advertising, brands, business, demographics, engagment, facebook, gaming, gaming network, integration, interaction, marketers, Marketing, social gaming, social interaction, social networks, targeting
Posted in Marketing, Social Media | No Comments »
Wednesday, June 15th, 2011
Have you ever wondered what crowdsourcing is? I have heard of it, but never fully understood what it was. For starters, the name crowdsourcing came from combining crowd and outsourcing. By definition, crowdsourcing is the act of outsourcing tasks, traditionally performed by an employee or contractor, to an undefined, large group of people or community. Still confused? Well when a company has a problem they usually hire someone to perform the necessary procedures to fix it. Now a company will involve a crowd to help them solve their problem. A larger group of people has a higher potential of finding a better solution than compared to one person. So the basic idea then is to tap into the collective intelligence of a group of people to perform business related tasks.
Crowdsourcing increases productivity, while also allowing to hear feedback from more than one individual. A lot of businesses are using crowdsourcing to gain insight and solve problems. As social media has become the way we communicate, crowdsourcing is becoming more and more popular. Businesses may use crowdsourcing to get opinions on a new logo design, voting on a product design, or rank songs and movies. Crowdsourcing can be used for any purpose a business needs.
Sony used crowdsourcing to get people from untapped audiences the chance to think of new ways to tackle the sustainability challenges we face. This started in September of 2010 when Sony set up an online open forum. PepsiCo also dabbled in crowdsourcing last year when they created their Refresh Project campaign. They asked for customer’s favorite ideas for community involvement and they would fund the ideas that got the most votes. Mob4Hire is one of the world’s largest mobile research and testing companies and they used crowdsourcing to test products.
Crowdsourcing connects businesses with their consumers and produces collaboration. It gives businesses the chance to hear what a group of people have to say to get more feedback and opinions.
Tags:business, collaboration, collective intelligence, communication, consumers, crowdsourcing, feedback, involvement, marketers, Marketing, outsourcing, Social Media, solutions
Posted in Marketing, Social Media | No Comments »
Tuesday, June 14th, 2011
Introducing the first green Android phone- the Samsung Replenish from Sprint. Sprint has been in the forefront in recent years on establishing their eco-friendly corporate identity by offering green phones that feature green packaging as well as launching their Sprint Sustainability website.
34% of Samsung Replenish is made out of recycled material, even the packaging is green- made of recycled material. The Samsung Replenish comes in Artic blue, Onyx black and raspberry pink color and will cost you $49.99 after a $100 instant rebate, which you should be able to get without much trouble. There is a 2 year contract that comes along with the purchase of the eco friendly android phone.
The phone has a Micro USB charging port at the bottom, a power button and a headset jack at the top, volume rocker button on the left and has voice command plus camera shutter button to its right. The phone has a 2 Mega Pixel camera and a micro SD slot is located behind the back cover. Samsung replenish supports memory up to 32GB and is powered by Android 2.2 OS.
If you are someone who is eco conscious, you could by the optional back cover that has solar panels on it. With qwerty keyboard, packed with the power of android 2.2 and many other unique eco friendly features incorporated in the phone, the Samsung replenish is one of the cheapest and best eco friendly Sprint phones available in the market.
Tags:android, cellphone, eco-frendly, green packaging, green phone, Replenish, Samsung, Smartphone, Sprint, sustainable packaging, technology
Posted in Eco-Friendly, Marketing, New Products | No Comments »
Saturday, June 11th, 2011
The Sustainable Packaging Coalition (SPC) is an industry working group that is committed to creating and implementing an environmental vision for packaging. Their mission is to advocate and communicate a robust vision for making packaging more environmentally friendly. They also support innovative and functional packaging materials that promote economic and environmental health. SPC has been working on a new project and they are preparing to launch a voluntary labeling pilot program for packaging this fall that intends to increase recycling and make it easier to understand. The hope is to eliminate confusion that is caused by some labels. SPC will allow members to use this new labeling program on their products, and plan on opening the program to others. The overall goal of this program is for it to become a universal label.
Eco labeling has taken some heat recently because it can be confusing and misleading. Some companies that participate in greenwashing use eco labels to make their products appear to be eco-friendly. This has led to consumer confusion and frustration. Consumers want instruction and direction on what is actually recyclable. This pilot labeling program will help give consumers the right information on what to recycle, with the goal of keeping everyone on the same page.
The labels have three classifications: widely recycled, not recyclable, and limited recycling. A black diagonal line will classify the not recyclable label. Limited recycling will have the phrase check locally above the icon and it will identify the material. Plastic bags and films will be classified by store drop off or recycle if clean and dry.
Tags:consumers, eco labeling, Eco-Friendly, environmentally-friendly, functional packaging, greenwashing, packaging, recycle, recycling, sustainable, Sustainable Packaging Coalition
Posted in Eco-Friendly | No Comments »
Friday, June 10th, 2011
Social media has encompassed our world and lifestyles. Not only is social media used for personal reasons, but now businesses have put their mark on social media. Marketing via social media is a great way for businesses to get connected with a vast amount of people at the same time. It creates communication among consumers and has the potential to attract new ones. One of the main benefits of using social media is that it is free and easy to use. All you basically have to do is create a profile and let the marketing begin! Keep in mind that content is key to having a successful social media campaign. If your content is not interesting or useful, you will have no luck with social media.
Social media allows you to share, network, publish, and discuss. Although social media has these benefits for businesses, it is hard to decide which ones to use. There are so many social media outlets to choose from that it can get confusing. Let’s take a look at the most popular social media networks and what benefits they provide.
LinkedIn: LinkedIn sets the stage for networking with business professionals. It allows you to personally brand your business and market yourself to others within your industry. It is also a great outlet for providing knowledgeable content that informs and educates users. Lead generation is the most valuable outcome of using LinkedIn.
Facebook: Facebook has more than half a billion users, making it a great way to share a message and reach a large amount of people simultaneously. It opens up a communication portal and creates social interaction. Facebook works great as a promotional tool. You can promote your products, services, and events to a mass audience, giving your business the opportunity to expand. Frequent and interesting posts will help to keep users attracted to your business.
Twitter: Twitter is your outbound messaging tool. It consists of tweeting 140 characters or less messages to users. These tweets are short and concise, creating a social buzz. This buzz creates interaction with users. While you are tweeting it exposes your business and brand, and then you get to hear who is talking about you and what they are saying. Twitter is all about listening to others through feedback.
YouTube: Known as the largest video sharing community, YouTube is also a marketing and advertising tool. It gets an informative and positive message right in front of existing and/or potential customers. Creating and sharing a video on YouTube provides the opportunity to share knowledge, market products, show off expertise, and connect with users. Videos that are compelling and entertaining will catch the attention of users, also creating interaction for your business.
Tags:brand, business, communication, content, facebook, linkedin, Marketing, networks, promotion, social interaction, Social Media, Social Media Marketing, Twitter, youtube
Posted in Marketing, Social Media | No Comments »
