Driving in this morning, the trees were coated with a thick layer of snow that looked just like frosting. It’s beautiful to look at, but can be dangerous when we ship products to you.

During the winter a strange phenomenon sometimes comes over our plastic products. When the temperature gets frigid, so do our products, some of which are made from plastic, and everyone at Sunrise cringes and looks on with concerned faces as we try to avoid the damage commonly known as “cold crack”.

We do everything we can to protect your products from winter cold cracking.

It happens most every year and you may have experienced it previously. In the winter you may take the extra precaution of ordering plastic products further in advance than you normally would. This is smart because Sunrise Packaging may need delay your shipping if temperatures reach below zero degrees.

This is the point at which the risk for cold crack increases dramatically and we will not ship your products if we believe they will arrive at your doorstep damaged. In order to protect your purchase, we wait until the risk for cold crack decreases.

Cold crack most often occurs during handling by the carrier. Sunrise will palletize and stretch-wrap larger shipments for further protection. As long as the carrier leaves these shipments intact, cold crack damage should not occur. Individual carton shipments that are handled by the carrier in a “baggage handler” fashion are most susceptible to cold crack damage.

It is wise to let products warm up from frigid temperatures in your facility before handling.

Keep this in mind when the temperatures begin to descend this winter. Order a few extra days in advance and know that even if your order comes a few days later than usual, Sunrise is doing everything it can to fight the forces of nature and defend your products.

Just call us your Super-Plastic-Protecting-Heroes-Of-The-Winter… here to save your products from the cold and protect the investment you have made in our products.

Imagine a brand new customer walking down the aisle of a typical retail store, this potential customer has never purchased your product before and just wants to get in and out. A quick glance of the shelves and in a split second picks up the product next yours and walks away.

It is in this split second that customers either choose your product – or they don’t. As choices increase and it becomes harder to be competitive, packaging is one way to catch the eyes of potential customers and increase sales.

Who wouldn’t want to increase sales? The great thing about creating attractive packaging is you can do it with out busting the bank. Simple and efficient is all you need.

Take the less is more approach. When designing packaging you want to create a unique package that will grab the customers’ attention, not suffocate them. To do this, create packaging with sleek lines and cohesiveness.

One way to give your packaging a professional look is to use the turned edge technique. Turned Edge is a sturdy construction that produces an extremely durable, finished product. Take a look at this YouTube video to better understand how turned-edge covers are made.

Choose a color palette and stick with it. To pick the color palette that will best represent your product, know your audience and what colors appeal to them the most. Then use those colors with the colors that represent your company to make packaging relatable to the customer.

Using metal, foil, or hot stamping is another great way to give your product an elegant look. Using these techniques creates extremely sophisticated packaging.

Another way to create eye-catching packaging is through, giving back to charitable causes. Consumers are more willing to buy products from companies that are interested in the same issues as they are. In fact, sales can increase upwards between 14 to 18 pct when companies use their packaging to support a special cause.

Along with the issue of cause packaging, be sure your company is staying in tune with hot button issues regarding packaging. For instance Going Green, reducing packaging waste, the economy, ease of use and convenience, to name a few. When customers can see you’re aware of what’s going on in the world, they are more drawn to your product.

It truly is all about a split second decisions when trying to reach customers. Packaging can help you make your brand the one that stands out; the one that is taken off the shelf; the one that is purchased; the one that makes money.

It’s been a while since we’ve featured a post on eco-friendly products, so I thought I’d tell you about one of our newest clients who are very passionate about our environment - Green Earth Construction Group out of Tampa, Florida.

Their name says it all. They build residential and commercial buildings using environmentally-friendly methods and materials.

Don’t forget: Sunrise offers a recycling “take-back” program for all products that we make. Once you are done using it, you can send any product we make back to us and we will break it down to its component parts to be recycled.

These environmentally-friendly name tags made from cardboard are beautiful!

Recently, they hosted a symposium on green construction and they wanted their event to be as environmentally friendly as possible. That’s why they decided to use our eco-friendly name badges

The name tags are made from recycled chipboard and steel magnets. The name badges are beautifully printed using dry toner on a digital printer which is part of Sunrise’s vibrant recycling program. The name tags can be taken home and re-used, kept as a memento, or both parts can be detached from each other and recycled.

For more information on Green Earth Construction Group or for dates of upcoming symposiums, contact Virginia Grabowski at 813.241.0222

• On the web: greenearthgroup.net
• On the phone: 813-241-0222
• Direct phone: 813 579-0018 direct

Sunrise Customized Products

There are several things to consider when deciding on a packaging service for your company’s products. Depending on your company’s specific needs, you may want to focus more or less on certain areas. Here are some of the qualities we find most important:

• Quality. A quality product requires quality packaging. You may also want creative and customized packaging to improve the perceived quality of your product and set it apart from the competition. Quality also requires durability. You want to make sure it will last.
• Experience. You are paying for this customized packaging service and you want to make sure they know what they are doing and can meet your needs.
• Innovation. The packaging company should be continually striving to better meet your needs. This may involve customizing your packaging, providing quality packaging, and constantly innovating products available. To do this, the company should be striving towards new products, ideas, and methods of efficiency.
• Communication and Service. The packaging company must know and understand your needs before they can offer you a product that will fulfill those needs. They must listen and know what they are doing. The more attention they are paying to you, the more attention they are going to put into the product that you receive.
• Cost. The quality of the packaging services provided is a part of the cost. Make sure that you are not paying more than it is worth, or pay too little and receive low quality service. You generally get what you pay for. If you want a quality product, it will be worth the investment.
• Location. Some companies will try their hardest to find you the best deal in shipping. A convenient location can also lower your freight costs and delivery time. This should be taken into consideration along with the quality and costs of the services, in order to decide the best choice for your company.

This set of criteria should give you some insight in choosing a customized packaging company to best meet your needs.

Packaging could be one of the most essential components of a product. Not only does it have to grab the customer’s attention, but it also has to portray the product and the message it is trying to convey. If a product does not have good packaging, it is less likely to sell.

Packaging can enable the product to stand out on a shelf versus the competition. Many leading brands try to differentiate their product by making their packaging completely different from that of their competitors. They want their customers to be able to distinguish the difference between the two. If it is easy to find, they can grab it in a hurry, rather than turning to another product. As you can see,

Tic Tacs and Altoids have distinctive packaging for their breath mints. Consumers could see the packaging and know which product it is without seeing the label. This helps these products stand out from the competition.

We also believe packaging gives identity to the product and shows the sophistication of the brand. It allows the customer to relate and connect to the product. Many times the brand and packaging gives added-value to the perception of the product. If it looks like an upscale and trendy product from the packaging, customers may be willing to pay more for it or choose it above the competition. This also has to do with websites, brochures, and business cards. If they are eye-pleasing to the customer, they are likely to spend more time looking at it and increase their appeal for the company or product.

The packaging can help make the product “pop” on the shelf. Sunrise Packaging provides services of creative and customized packaging to help your product do this. The custom design can be tailored to reach your specific needs and give your product the unique edge over the competition. To hear more about what we have to offer, give one of our Design Experts a call at 800-634-8160.

Santosh Desai, CEO, Future Brands, puts it succinctly when he says, “If the content is prose, than packaging is the poetry.” Ever more sophisticated today, packaging decodes and glorifies what’s inside of it. Packaging, the silent and most important salesman, is critical to products weighing down long retail shelves. 

You probably have the greatest product in the world, but if you hide it under a basket or in a paper bag, no one is going to understand it and if they don’t understand what you are selling, why would they buy it?

That’s where packaging comes in! Creative, custom packaging that is designed for your product with graphics and images on the outside that communicate the features and benefits of your product. We can help you with that.

An unusually shaped or sized or colored package will be eye-catching.

Think chocolate:

Easily recognizable packaging is part of this company's branding.

Or department stores:

Tiffany Co. incorporates their signature blue into their brand image.

Not only can shape command attention for your product but vibrant colors and pictures will draw looks, this may be exactly what you need to stand out from the crowd.

On the retail shelf, you must do everything you can to be seen. Bright colors do just that!

Or if products similar to yours are bright and eye-catching, you might want to simplify your graphics. Even face-blotting papers can be elegant when packaged by Chanel.

Sometimes less is more - out of the ordinary materials don't need fancy printing.

 

Use your packaging to stand out from the crowd

 

Your packaging color and decoration can give your product that extra "Wow" factor.

Everyday packaging shapes are made new with specialty materials and printing.

The shape, color, texture, and material you use are important!

Even 3-ring binders command attention with special materials, vibrant graphics, and non-standard page orientation.

Loose leaf binders are a great way to present and organize information. Salespeople regularly carry binder to hold product information and other materials they need to be effective. Teachers and students rely on binders to protect their work. Businesses use binders to store documents.

STEP 1: Depending on your need, there are many types of binders to choose from:

Clear overlay binders are versatile and customizable for smaller projects

Clear Overlay Binders are a cost-effective, convenient binder that can be used for many projects. When you need a binder, you create and print out cover and spine identification and put them in place. For projects that require only a few binders or when each binder is completely unique, clear overlay binders are a great choice.

Screen printed binders are great for simple artwork and larger quantities.

Screen Printed Vinyl or Poly Binders are great for presentation materials, directories, catalogs and manuals when the cover artwork is not complex and does vary much from binder to binder. Screen printing is most cost-effective when you need 1200 or fewer binders. The cover artwork will be the same on each binder and with poly or vinyl binders you can have a clear pocket sealed to the outside cover or spine that will let you customize or identify the contents inside.

Offset printed turned-edge binders are an elegant choice!

Offset Printed and Turned-Edge Binders are an elegant option for your most important projects or when you need a large number of binders. The outside cover can be almost any material you want. And when you incorporate offset printing, the graphics can be very detailed. Offset printing is the most expensive type of printing and is most cost effective when you need a minimum of 1000 binders. You get the greatest latitude for customizing the covers with turned-edge binders. The cover can be made from a variety of materials like:

• Paper
• Cloth or canvas
• Vinyl or poly
• Metal or foil
• Leather, bonded leather, or faux leather

Printed or unprinted, eco-binders protect and organize your materials while also protecting the Earth!

Eco-Binders can be offset printed, screen printed, or undecorated. They help you demonstrate your commitment to the environment. Premium eco-binders are made from sturdy chipboard construction and have either a curved or flat spine. Lightweight eco-binders are made from white or natural coverstock paper. Your materials are organized and protected in binders that help protect the Earth!

STEP 2: Once you’ve determined they type of binder and the best printing method, there are other considerations to making the exact binder to fit your needs.

How much material the binder needs to hold. The number of pages and other materials the binder needs to hold will determine the size of the ring metal your binder needs. A good rule of thumb is that each 1/2” holds about 100 pages of standard copy paper. Ring metals start as small as ½” and come as large as 4”. They are measured from the base to the widest diameter of the inside of the ring.

Even greater capacity are found in qua can vin and Trojan expandable mechanisms:

What type of use will the binder be made for? Binders are made for many different environments and usage. Some binders are opened only a few times a year, others are referred to every day. Some binders sit on a shelf and are not taken from place to place. Other Binders need to be transported and are carried in a briefcase, bag or backpack. When you describe how your binder is to be used, we choose the materials and construction methods that will create a binder that will last as long as you need it to.

Add pockets so your binders do more

What else does the binder holdbesides paper?

• Does the binder need to hold a business card or two?
• What about a CD or DVD?
• How about pamphlets or other materials?

You can have standard sized or specially shaped pockets added to the inside covers of your binder for holding loose objects

Pockets or foam CD/DVD hubs can be added to hold discs. Even if you have a VHS tape or audio cassette that goes with your printed materials, we can add pockets or trays to securely hold tapes too.

Pockets, trays and hubs can add functionality to your 3-ring binder to fit your exact situation and your unique needs.

What color should the binder be? Clear overlay binders usually come in white and black. Screen printed binders are usually vinyl or poly and they can come in many different colors to compliment your artwork. Turned-edge binders can be made from many different types of materials in just about any color and texture that will evoke the response you want to generate.

Background colors can really add a punch!

What specialty decorations your binder needs? You cover can be decorated using a variety of specialty decoration methods like: foil stamping, embossing, debossing, tip-ons, lenticular printing, and appliqué. Lamination can be glossy or matte lamination depending on the look you want. We can spot screen print or spot laminate to draw the eye to a particular feature of your cover artwork.

Depending on your needs, there is a clear overlay or custom binder that will serve your needs and your materials. Sunrise Packaging is your binder solution expert!

Marketers have been relying on the marketing mix, often referred to as the four P’s of marketing – price, promotion, place and product – to successfully sell a product or service utilizing the wants and needs of consumers. These are the four controllable factors that a marketing department can manipulate to create the perfect marketing plan.

Where does packaging fit in? Often, packaging fits into the mix under the “product” factor. Customers buy your product, and they buy your packaging as a consequence. If you choose the most functional, efficient packaging to compliment your package, you have fulfilled your needs for packaging under this marketing category

What if you look at packaging as part of the “promotional” segment of the marketing mix? In many ways, your packaging is promotional. It is often the first thing that consumers see, and thus, the first thing to acquaint them with your product. Packaging generally includes advertising or marketing copy and sometimes the packaging can affect the media coverage that your packaging can receive.

The following are examples of packages that have created a positive buzz for their products, brands and companies:

Humorous use of images can create a positive buzz. Using fonts and printing can amuse and inspire.

The next example is of packaging that has received negative attention and has attracted a negative buzz toward the product itself:

Packaging must elicit a positive response in the consumer.Too much packaging appears wasteful and will have a negative impact.

Consumers appreciate creativity and are turned off by wasteful packaging. The packaging that you choose to represent your company and products is an important part of effective marketing. In looking at packaging in terms of the marketing mix, it has significant impact on marketing efforts directed at the “product” and “promotion” segments of your marketing program.

Lightweight Paperboard Eco-Binder

Continuing our trend of constant innovation in the green packaging field, we are pleased to announce our new line of lightweight recyclable paperboard binders!

Our new 3-ring eco-binder are made from biodegradable cover stock, these binders can be screen printed or 4-color process printed with your cover artwork and feature pockets on both the inside front and back covers.

They also feature our standard nickel rings, which are recyclable at any scrap metal facility. These binders make a beautiful and functional addition to any office, presentation or event.

We have more information about our Lightweight Eco-Binders here.

Buy any of our undecorated Eco-Binders on-line at: shop.sunpack.com

Reuters news reported on a study that shows children think food tastes better if it comes in a McDonald’s wrapper!  In the study, the children ate McDonald’s food.  The same food, prepared in the same way was presented it in McDonald’s packaging and in unbranded packaging.  Overwhelmingly, the food presented in the McDonald’s packaging was preferred to the unbranded food.

Why? Researchers found that the perception of taste was “physically altered by the branding.”

Packaging and product branding can generate a physical response in consumers simply by the way it looks.

Distinctive packaging that is identified with your product (think “Golden Arches” and “Target Red”) can physically influence your customers to purchase your product.  One more reason why custom packaging is so important.