I Hate Packaging

Packaging News You Can Use Tip Of The WeekIssue #1263 - November 29, 2006
Publisher: JoAnn Hines packagingdiva@aol.com , http://www.packaginguniversity.com/
http://www.packagingdiva.com/ http://www.packagingbootcamp.com/©
Packaging News You Can Use By JoAnn Hines The Packaging Diva


I'M HAPPY TO ANNOUNCE:
The Hunt For A.M. Commuter Beverage
The company is seeking ideas for innovative breakfast beverages that will appeal to men 20+ who commute.This new breakfast-on-the-go should be tasty, nutritious, and easy to consume during the average commute. Deadline is December 13, 2006. For guidelines and entry form, click http://www.bigideahunts.net/amcommuterbevhunt.html
This is a great opportunity to have an idea licensed. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions, and please encourage your associates to do the same. Be sure and mention the Packaging Diva if you choose to participate.


MEET AND GREET THE DIVA:
I will be speaking at INPEX 2007 http://inventionshow.com/

If you have clients in the invention world please be sure and have them come to the show or contact me if they need help in packaging their product.

If you want to get your products or services in front of the following industries contact me. Catalog and Multichannel merchants ACCM http://www.accmshow.com/Flexible Packaging FlexPackCon 2006- December http://www.4spe.org/conf/flexpack06/ Handcrafted Soap Makers Guild, Inc. http://www.soapguild.org/


IN RESPONSE TO MY ARTICLES:
"Produce Packaging Crisis"
Spinach scare cuts deep at ChiquitaCincinnati Enquirer - Cincinnati,OH,USA... Earnings from core operations rose as price increases on paper and packaging products offset effects of the housing sector slowdown on its timber business. ...

Diligence required to keep food safeSpartanburg Herald Journal (subscription) - Spartanburg,SC,USA... risks of contamination after food is prepared, during shipping, packaging and storing. ... People's concerns about food safety shouldn't only surface when they are

"Baby's Got Bling- You Can Package Anything"
selling TrashBusinessWeek - USA... Danzico: Let’s talk about the packaging itself. ... People went nuts over certain dolls just because the company decided they were "limited editions." It seemed ...

Has Your Packaging Going To The Dogs? (I mentioned this product)
Packaging professionals attending last week's PACK EXPO International voted the sleek package developed for Beneful® Prepared Meals™ as the winner of the inaugural PACK EXPO Selects™ awards program.


FEATURE ARTICLE:
I Hate Packaging by JoAnn Hines Packaging Diva
It's that time again (the holidays) when packaging will be getting top media coverage by its detractors. Those would be the people looking to complain about product packaging because it’s too difficult to open or there is too much of it or they think it doesn't do its job properly. I always read a slew of articles on how many people were injured or had to go to the hospital trying to open a package. Raps on the packaging industry appear in the news all year but with the holiday and all the gifts giving it’s a natural topic to get additional publicity. Just check out my website www.PackagingUniversity.com to read a few of the most infamous cases. I have been interviewed several times to explain the other side of the story: The role packaging has to play (the good side).

Consumer Reports just put its annual call out for the "Oyster Awards" given to the worst packages out there. You can bet consumers are lining up to rant about various problems with packaging and how packaging is the bane of the public.

Yes, I know there are problems with packages that can't be easily opened. Specialized tools have been created to make this problem easier. I had a recent experience with my husband’s new electric razor which elicited a few choice words while I was trying to get it out of the plastic clamshell. But boy did it look pretty on the shelf. I could see the entire product and the nifty freebie gizmo that came along with it. I was very intrigued to finally get the product out (without mishap I might add). Even I was surprised when I finally got inside the package to see all the interworkings that went into packaging this product. It was really great package design at its best.

It is amazing how much thought and innovation went into the design itself. It sat upright and was very well positioned on the shelf among its competitive offerings. The product was clearly visible had some great marketing graphics which caught my eye. The package was composed of numerous types of packaging materials that were well integrated into the complete unit.

Why did I buy it? The package made me do it, of course, and the fact that my husband broke his old razor so I got to play consumer for a product that I wouldn't normally purchase. It was a reason to experience the process. But the packaging did its job too. It persuaded me to buy that particular product knowing the heartache I would experience to get inside.

Despite what all of the critics have to say, packaging is integral to the successful sale of a product. It has to get it to the shelf, but that's only the beginning. It has to protect, secure and display the product too. It has to convince you to make the purchase. That would be the reason that you just can't live without it.

I'm reading all these rants about excess packaging at the supermarket. Calls to strip away product packaging and leave it at the store. These are the first people that will be complaining if the fruit is bruised or the lettuce is not fresh and even scarier when there is some sort of health threat due to contamination. Have you seen how many food recalls there have been lately? Just think how much more there would be if packaging wasn't doing its job.

Too few of us really understand the role packaging has to play in modern society. Many problems that packaging resolves are taken for granted and only get exposed when it turns into a problem. Look at Tylenol. That poisoning incident changed an industry forever and evolved an entire new packaging category of product security and integrity. This could happen again anywhere in the world. The packaging of food products is 70% of the industry and it is sorely in need of scrutiny for product integrity and security.

So this holiday season think about why products are packaged the way they are. Be on the lookout for cynics and people who give a bad wrap to packaging. Be sure and take the time to explain to them the role packaging has to play. Don't let anyone get away with saying "I hate packaging" without helping them to clearly understanding where would we be without it.


THE DIVA'S PICK OF THE WEEK:
Ladies and Gentlemen, it's time for the annual Consumer Reports "Oyster Awards!" Celebrating hard to open packages, the "Oyster Awards" is no simple snark-fest. The heroes at Consumer Reports start by "sifting through nominations from subscribers." (That's where you come in.) They don't give up there, though! Consumer Reports shops for the types of products mentioned most, find worse examples, and study the packages in their labs.

Finally, a reporter is challenged with the task of opening the nominated packages. He/she is timed, and the order of the choices is based on "a combination of the time it took to crack the package and the potential hazard involved." Get on over to their website and nominate a package for this year's awards.
http://research.consumerreports.org/OysterAwards/poll.cfm?sessionId=2711112801681