Here’s just a few of recent ‘current’ phrases that are tugging at our hearts and minds hoping to capture your interest and make a sale.

What influences you today may not be the same as tomorrow.  With so many competing messages attempting to persuade you, how can you ensure your’s is the message that resonates?

Join me 12/8 as I share the insiders secrets to how to make your packaging speak human @ http://www.instantpresenter.com/AccountManager/RegEv.aspx?PIID=EA50D786854C

Why me? I’m one of the top consumer product packaging experts and I’ll share 35+ years of packaging expertise about what works and what doesn’t.

Best of all its free!

When I read about Bling H20, I initially thought what a great marketing ploy but then I realized that primary target demographics: boomers and women would be the ideal audience. These groups have money to spend and are willing to spend it for the right products. The luxury consumable market is also on the rise and product are being created to meet the demand.  People are willing to invest in themselves with a little luxury spending so why not luxury bottle water.

For those of you that are unfamiliar with this product Bling H20 ($55 a bottle) is no ordinary water. It comes in a thin, tall, frosted glass bottle and each 750ml bottle is handcrafted, corked, and decorated with exquisite Swarovski Crystals.  Wow what a concept! I love Swarovski Crystals anyway.

Photo courtesy Marsaili McGrath/Getty Images

Ask me about DIVA vodka I’m still angling for a review bottle (full of course)

via buzznet.com

Along with other products in the super luxury category comes this example. “ICE ROCKS are a secured ice cube product made from spring water for the luxury market.” But its more that just high priced ice cubes. It touches us in other ways that are important such as product purity and security. They even touch the environmental button too with eco-friendly containers. “The ice cubes are made for savvy consumers who seek the same level of purity for the ice cubes they place in their favorite beverages. These cubes, to be consumed within two (2) years, are hermetically packaged in disposable, eco-friendly containers, providing the user with a complete guarantee with regard to hygiene and safety, while respecting the environment.” Ready to buy some prepackaged ice?

I had to finish with this one. Packaging Crap. Yes, you heard it you can package anything and sell it if you have the right marketing message in your product packaging. This is a direct quote “If the package looks pretty, people will buy just about anything. So says an advertising executive in New York, and he has proved his point by selling boxes of rubbish for the price of an expensive bottle of wine. Justin Gignac, has offloaded almost 900 carefully presented plastic cubes of trash from the street of the Big Apple at between $50 (£26) and $100 each. Buyers from 19 countries have paid for the souvenirs. The idea has been so successful that he is thinking of franchising it around the world.” Yikes buying crap, my husband would love that one. He thinks all my packaging “examples” are crap too so maybe I should put them on Ebay.

Via Alltop

But to recap why and how packaging works as a sales tool.  It sends a message to the consumer. Its up to you the product manufacturer to determine what that message will be and who the audience is. But whomever the demographic the package has an important role to play and its integral to building your brand.

Product branding is a powerful influence on everyone. It’s important to understand the strength behind the brand and why people turn to it for a sense of happiness, satisfaction, security and information. The best of all brands cross gender, ethnicity and age demographics. That is to say that everyone will recognize and identify with the brand.

When you capture the power of the package people will integrate your product into their everyday life. They will not just turn to it as a convenience but as a necessity for comfortable living. So create your own story through powerful product packaging. Whatever your category, you should strive to engage, evoke, and engross the consumer to revitalize your brand through product packaging. Just remember when you connect with your consumer you can package anything even crap!

Like this?

Stayed tuned each week for more branding and packaging examples and dialogue.

For more ways to utilize packaging branding, innovation and marketing concepts to “connect” with your consumer contact me @ http://packagingdiva.com. You can also subscribe to the complimentary newsletter “Packaging News You Can Use” at the same address.

Seventh Generation New Paper Bottle

via greenbiz.com

Heinz Plant Bottle

via Inhabitat.com

I have joked before that packaging is the true cause of “global warming.” But seriously, what is the reality? What is the real truth behind companies touting green packaging for the benefit of society? Environmental issues are a hot topic right now, so people are climbing aboard.  Global warming topics are on the news daily and people are looking for scapegoats as to its cause. Companies such as Wal-Mart are driving manufacturers to consider more environmentally friendly options in their packaging materials. In fact, their packaging scorecard continues their commitment of reducing packaging across its global supply chain by 5 percent by 2013.

The packaging industry is often chastised for having unfriendly environmental policies. I’m not here to debate this point, but I do want to talk about using environmental issues in a positive and realistic manner.

I’m not the only one either an new environmental group has been formed supporting the packaging community from a manufacturing perspective Ameripen.org

I’m not here to debate this point, but I do want to talk about using environmental issues in a positive and realistic manner

Let’s take the word “green” as an example. Obviously, we think of the color first.
But what about the variations of the definition that relate to packaging? How green is your packaging world?

• Green could mean less damage to the environment.
• Green could imply producing packaging from renewable resources.
• Green could entail designing products for environmental sustainability.
• Green could connote the use of less material and recyclable and degradable materials.

So “green” can be maximized for branding purposes in a host of different ways.  If you have a “green” packaging product what ways are you capitalizing on the current media exposure? (In addition to sending out a press announcement.) Here are a few points to consider:

• Did you support or promote participation in any Earth Day activities?
• Do you belong to one of the many organizations that support “green” and the environment?
• Did you orchestrate your new packaging introduction to coincide with Earth Day or other environmental events?
• Have you submitted your green product to the numerous packaging associations that offer opportunities for environmental awards?
• Have you submitted your package to any of the non packaging related organizations that have “environmental” awards?
• Do you have a plan in place for your staff to understand and utilize in order to build your “green” brand?
• Do your employees believe in being “green?” (This is a very important buy in.)
• Have you looked at any web sites such as treehugger.com (great site with lots about packaging) to see what they are doing?

Sure it seems a bit far fetched but Treehugger lives in the blogosphere world and we all know how important blogging is to the media. Try a quick GOOGLE search for “green packaging.” Yes, there are a few products listed but what is more important is what is NOT there. A huge area of untapped marketing potential is available for increasing the visibility for your packaging products.

No matter how unusual or “out there” the opportunity seems do not under estimate who will see and read about your “green” brand.  The branding hot spots I want you to think about are:

1. Is your “green” packaging product is a flash in the pan?
2. Has there been serious brand integration of the “green” message throughout your company?
3. Are you using your “green” message in all the promotion, literature and media exposure?

The reality begs this question. Are you packaging “greenwash” to capitalize on a current media trend or are you saving the environment with “true” environmentally friendly packaging?

Want more ways to capitalize on going green?

Order my ebook Is it Green Or Garbage

Invest in the sustainable packaging answers you need for only $14.95 and order this ebook now

http://www.packaginguniversity.com/pkgustorefront.htm#WhitePapers

It’s common knowledge that the green movement is getting considerable traction. There have been a host of eco friendly product packaging claims and innovations. Companies are seriously looking for ways to resolve the consumers of dissatisfaction over excess or too much product packaging. Although many companies are trying to come up with eco friendly packaging alternatives the answer may not be just to have a “greener” package but to reconfigure the packaging purpose altogether.

The key is to think about packaging differently. Its not going away as so many people would like to suggest. Packaging has a job to do and considering how few problems we have with products, packaging IS performing as intended.

So what other options are there?

Several businesses have begun reusing discarded packaging and turning it into other products. The most notable being Terracycle that has several partnerships with major CPG companies. They take back your old packaging and you even get paid for it like they do with bottle surcharges. From the used packaging they create a whole host of new products and the consumer is happy.

Terracycle has turned this into a very profitable business and partners with companies like Kraft.

Making Money From Old Packaging.

New terms have surfaced packaging that is “precycled” that it be “repurposed” for secondary use. Good examples with be glass containers that have a secondary life, aluminum tins that can be used for other purposes or any package that can be reused in a different method from its primary purpose. This concept has been around for a while, its just that many companies are getting more creative about it.

In addition there are other things to think about, ways that packaging can give back to its users by or donating proceeds to other needy causes. The latest rage is celebrities using product packaging to support their special causes. We’ve all seen the use of the pink breast cancer ribbon on product packaging but other causes are coming forward. You will see statements such as X percentage of proceeds are given back to X charity or a % of profits will be donated to a specific cause. Not sure who monitors that this really happens but the sentiment is good anyway.

CannedWater4Kids.com

Via PackagingWorld

Lastly products like the Cargo lipstick packaging that gives back as another product entirely. When you plant the package embedded with seeds it turns into flowers.

Cargo Plant Love (plantable container)

Or this shipping box embedded with tree seeds.

LifeBox that keeps on giving.

via Inhabitat

However you package your products think creatively about the packaging. Can it see another life as something else or is it just something going into the trash. As brands struggle for differentiation one way might be to create packaging that keeps on giving long after the product is gone.

• Kashi announces packaging reduction @ http://bit.ly/hO4Bmp
  If one company reduces can others be far behind?
• One of the 6 Packaging R’s – Reduce. You can take 6 Easy Steps To A Greener Package
• The media loves problem packaging especially when it gains negative momentum @ http://bit.ly/9arZ5r
• Banana Leaves as Natural Packaging! @ http://bit.ly/h6bizh
  More on ”natural” packaging in Packaging Lessons Learned From Nature
• Plastic Bag Ban On The Long Beach City Council Agenda @ http://bit.ly/i7JdeX
  Bans, Mandates, Laws, no  packaging entity is safe. The question is Are You Wanted By The Packaging Police?
• Global Packaging Project to issue a sustainable packaging guidance document in 1st quarter 2011 @ http://bit.ly/gemH9B
  Here’s a link to a great sustainable packaging framework, Project of Consumer Goods Forum @ http://bit.ly/fCR2YZ

Green Packaging Innovations Worth A Look

Green Box Builds Cutlery Right into its Packaging

Photo of Green Box Via: tuvie

Flexible Eco Packaging. Stretchable paper could revolutionize the plastics industry.

Photo of billerud fibreform Via: billerud

What about less packaging by eliminating the liner?

• MSU leading the way in green packaging @ http://bit.ly/h4X86j
  I love MSU. I’ve been there to speak at career fair day. Did you know that MSU is the largest packaging school?
• Packaging Takes On A Green Tone @ http://bit.ly/dIa4EO
  If it’s ”green” anything its going to make the news.  When Packaging Is In The News Capitalize On It
• LMI Packaging Solutions Makes Commitment To Renewable Energy @ http://bit.ly/hDrAOo
  A “feel” good story but will it make you buy?
• Thinking green outside and inside the box @ http://bit.ly/eVUGj4
  Some very good points here.

You can learn more about “going green” with your packaging.

The Packaging Diva shares 6 steps toward greener packaging.

http://bit.ly/9RfNtz

Packaging is designed to convey and protect but what other functions must it serve too? Green product packaging and sustainability is the hottest issue facing manufacturers today.

There is considerable confusion about what really is considered sustainable and why? Will “going green” change your brand perception from customers or more importantly will consumers really care?

JoAnn will show you how to separate fact from fiction as you learn these 6 steps towards “greener” packaging while keeping it out of the garbage too.

This easy to read tutorial is filled with examples and insights about what works and in some cases what doesn’t. So before you launch your new packaging be sure and read this ebook to ensure you are not making a packaging mistake.

Invest in the sustainable packaging answers you need for only $14.95 and order this ebook now @ http://bit.ly/9RfNtz

Special Bonus: Understanding sustainable packaging terminology and definitions, sustainable packaging icons and sustainable packaging resources.

Trying to understand the “eco” packaging landscape? I can help you. Just email me @
packagingdiva (at) aol.com

• Food for thought! I need more packaging, not less @ http://bit.ly/eFPPlO
• S 510 Food Safety Modernization Act passed Senate. All food, feed, beverages come under this law. Stay tuned for more about this new law.
• 62% of consumer product goods companies’s (CPG’s) are expected to change packaging @ http://bit.ly/dIa4EO
  This is interesting because companies are being drive to change. But sometimes it doesn’t work out as expected. I’ll be covering exactly what happened with SunChips compostable packaging and why they are taking it off the shelf @ http://bit.ly/9arZ5r
• Although this is for the UK, plain packaging proposed for cigarettes @ http://bit.ly/hy3rUM
  It can very easily transition to the US and other countries.
• Disney slashes Pooh’s packaging http://bit.ly/fyS6Is
  When high profile brands make packaging history other brands will follow suit.
• Survey shows 1/2 food packagers expect machinery purchases next 12 months @ http://bit.ly/eq913e
  More machinery means more packaging. Yes!

So let’s get a little reality check here. Yes, there is bad packaging, yes, some things are overpackaged, yes we should give more consideration to the way we package products and how much packaging is used; yes, we should investigate more environmentally friendly materials, (the jury is still out on this one as to the true cost benefit analysis) and finally yes we the packaging industry should do a better job of educating the consumer about product packaging.

Need to know whose got the latest concepts in packaging innovation? I know, that’s what I

do – track packaging trends and innovation and how it is going to impact your business.

Get connected with me JoAnn Hines Packaging Diva for:

Answers, Advice, Results

But seriously, this is how I make my living. I understand and analyzing how the packaging industry works. It’s complicated and it’s big business. To be cost effective consumer products companies have been forced to use packaging as an integral part of their marketing campaigns. Remember the salesperson? When was the last time you saw one who actually knew anything about the products inside the store? Selling – that is one job of product packaging. It has to tell the customer all about what’s inside the packaging. It helps you make an informed purchasing decision too.

Let me pose another question. When was the last time you bought something in a beat up shopworn, dog-eared package? That’s another packaging job — to protect and secure the product inside (what a concept).

One factor these nay-sayers never consider is who pays for damaged products? You do, the consumer of course! One study says that there is a 20% waste factor in fresh produce that’s packaged properly. The detractors say no excess produce packaging! What will be the waste factor with no or limited packaging? And who will absorb this cost? You will again not the package manufacturers or the retailers.

My mind is numb from all the hue and cry about problem packaging: bad packaging, excess packaging, wrap rage packaging, get rid of packaging, leave packaging at the store and so on. This one gets to me too — stories about how many injuries there are from people trying to open packaging.

Packaging is under attack by the very people who need it the most and understand it the least: The Consumer. I counted no less than 10 stories this week decrying the bane of packaging. But it’s true that what is considered excess packaging is in the eye of the beholder. But with media headlines like this how can one not be swayed?

Weekend of action against packaging waste;

Don’t fall victim to Wrap Rage this holiday;

Parents urged to fight toy packaging,

and don’t forget these current trendy buzz phrases: Packaging Hall Of Shame,

Consumer Reports Oyster Awards; and packaging related accidents. Yikes! Who wouldn’t be on the lookout.

But let’s get down to packaging basics. Here are a few packaging factoids you might consider before beginning your annual holiday rant.

True packaging facts:

• Packaging is the third largest industry in the US;
• 10% of every dollar spent at retail can be directly attributed to packaging;
• The packaging industry employs over a million people;
• Food accounts for 70% of all product packaging;
• Packaging is a trillion dollar industry;
• The US accounts for 25% of the global packaging economy with China closing fast;
• The consumer has no idea the role packaging has to play in modern society;
• Without a package, you can’t have a product (in most cases).

So what is the “packaging” reality here? While researching this article I came across a staggering amount of what I call misinformation or misunderstood information.

These are packaging facts I’m not so sure about:

• Packaging makes up 1/3 of the average household’s garbage? Defined by who?
• US consumes about 660 pounds of packaging per person?  Are we eating this? ( just kidding).
• 90% of that packaging becomes solid waste. I know this is not true from a seminar I attended recently. It’s closer to 30-35%.

So let’s get a little reality check here. Yes, there is bad packaging, yes, some things are overpackaged, yes we should give more consideration to the way we package products and how much packaging is used; yes, we should investigate more environmentally friendly materials, (the jury is still out on this one as to the true cost benefit analysis) and finally yes we the packaging industry should do a better job of educating the consumer about product packaging.

Need to know whose got the latest concepts in packaging innovation? I know that’s what I do-track packaging trends and innovation and how it is going to impact your business.

Get connected with me JoAnn Hines Packaging Diva via email at Packaging Diva Email me for a special discount code saving you $100 @ packagingdiva (at) aol.com