Synonymous with efficiency and safety, packaging does not forget how to seduce the consumer. A major challenge for manufacturers and distributors who allow the brand to strengthen its image with their customers.
The consumer under the spell
LES MARCHES
Niche markets: this gamble to be apart
Each market has its generalists, its specialists and its “niches”. The universe of packaging does not go against this state of affairs. The concept of “niche” will involve a single or a confidential technical
orientation, an extremely narrow target market, a state-of-the-art specialisation ... or even several of these approaches at the same time. Beyond this typology, the study of the ins and outs of this type of market reveals a complex and exciting stance. What is the reality of choosing to move into a niche? Are the niches of yesterday still the niches of today?
When the pack offers a second life to the consumer
Packaging is a product media. It must communicate, to provoke the act of purchase. However, its function is not always confined to protection and seduction. Indeed, designers and brands can assign other goals, in its second life, to the customer. Packaging, then breaks its initial use, to take place, as an object of daily life, for the purchaser.
Art of Innovation
To innovate is the idea of introducing something new. We innovate to replace. We innovate to change the world. We innovate to distinguish ourselves. We innovate to attract new customers, to conquer new markets. Behind the Word hides many motivations, and even more, when we approach the question under the prism of packaging. In an industry as competitive as packaging, innovation is fundamental. But what is an innovation? Between marketing gimmicks and true technical revolutions, when can we talk about innovation? Join that which is useful with the agreeable, the challenge of size, a quest for meaning for the professionals.
When the food packaging makes the mouth water
We eat to nourish, but we also eat for pleasure. According to the study FOOD360 ™ (an international study conducted by Kantar TNS, conducted in 14 countries, 2016 edition), consumer expectations for food and food innovations are pleasure, taste quality and variety. Packaging, as the first medium of communication for the product, must use these attractions to instil a desire in the consumer, ideally followed by the impulse of purchase. The agri-food sector is unique in that it is strongly impacted by impulse buying, in a universe - supermarkets - where the competition is fierce. The role of packaging in determining the choice of the customer is therefore, key.
E-commerce: the intelligence of the pack at the service of a booming market
The French Packaging Council (CNE) opens 2018 with a spotlight on the challenges of new modes of consumption and devotes a practical document to the theme, including e-commerce. Published on the 9th of January, this document highlights the issues raised by the growth of new patterns of consumption: “At the time of the digitalisation of all economic sectors, consumption patterns and therefore distribution, are evolving at a rate that surpasses all that preceded. In this context, packaging must adapt, providing ever more services and being perfectly ‘compatible’ with life and the speed of digital technology: it must become ‘omni-channel’. [...]” (“Packaging facing the challenges of new modes of consumption”, ©Conseil National de l’Emballage, January 2018.) Packaging is strong to respond intelligently to the requirements of this market, marked with new practices, requests and constraints.
Childproof packaging: between a respect for standards and a true audacity
Despite the precautions usually taken by parents, it is common for children under 5 years old to easily grasp and open packages containing products that are harmful to their health, such as detergents or medicines. Alerted by the number of intoxications, concerned with the respect of the norms and resolved to optimally protect the consumer, the packaging companies are today mobilized to imagine packaging solutions that resist the temptation of even the youngest.
THE LAWS OF ATTRACTION
Brands are making a difference by looking more and more at displaying a strong and captivating personality. The packaging, which is the first contact with the consumer, is an inexhaustible playground to highlight all the facets of their personality and to succeed with this subtle alchemy between visibility, meaning, emotion and desire. What are the preferred principals of attraction of the brands? A brief look at 3 of the major sources of enchantment.
PULP, CARDBOARD AND PACKAGING, THE WHOLE STORY
From the first paper pulp to cardboard packaging, from the pioneers to the leaders of the industry, from the first paper mills to the large-scale industries, the development of paper and cardboard materials sheds a new light on today’s market and the challenges of tomorrow.
FREEZE FRAME
COUNTERING THE ABILITY OF THE COUNTERFEITERS
A real scourge for the luxury market and a source of health risks for the consumer, counterfeiting has been exposed in a Parisian museum, in which the products and their falsified packagings adjoin their originals. Often appalling, sometimes hilarious, or particularly similar to the originals, the copies are confusing to the untrained eye.
PACKAGING: AN OPERATION OF SEDUCTION CARRIED OUT ON ALL FRONTS
.png "post-img1")
Be distinguished. Stand out from the crowd. Be noticed, approached, touched. Inspire confidence. Create affirmation. Stimulate envy. Respond to desire. Between the games of love and the stakes of successful packaging, the terminological boundaries are thin or even non-existent. In a creative world, where passion is the driving force behind ever more audacious ideas, in a universe where the artistic and the practical have established a happy marriage, comparing the approach of love and the tools of seduction implemented by packaging is provoked certainly, but more than just being extravagant.
PRINTING, A SECTOR IN FULL TRANSFORMATION
From the traditional to the digital market, the world of printing continues with its transformation. For packaging professionals, new technologies are paving the way to promising horizons. In parallel, 3D printing widens the scope of possibilities.
THE PACKAGING MARKET IN EUROPE: B TO B AND B TO C RELATIONS ARE LIBERATED
Reactivity, flexibility, interactivity ... The relationship between contractors and packaging manufacturers, between brands and the final customers, free themselves from traditional restraints. The brand uses packaging as a means of communication with the consumer. Manufacturers invent new partnerships, in line with unprecedented demands and in anticipation of market developments. Visionary, packaging is constantly renewing.
THE TENDENCY OF DEEP BLACK: A QUEST FOR PERFECTION
Black is luxury. Discerning. Seduction. Distinction. By its intensity and strength, so-called “deep“ black is at the heart of trends. Timeless and universal, it is acclaimed by the brands to stand out in elegance. “Black is the color that takes the most time in the process” says Axilone. “Black is a creative challenge” says Fedrigoni. It is a meaningful trend, but also a double challenge?
« The Black Butterfly Collection » by Fedrigoni
WOOD: A BRANCH FULL OF PROMISE
Ecology, new consumer expectations, artisanal trends... The packaging sector faces many challenges. Long time put aside, wood could be an answer to some of these questions. In recent years, this noble material has become a must for the packaging industry. By its qualities, its high-end and authentic image, its flexibility and its innumerable possibilities, this material finally comes out of wood!