Packaging Inventions That Save Lives

Packaging News You Can Use
Tip Of The Week Issue #1278 - June 22, 2007
Publisher: JoAnn Hines
JoAnn@packagingdiva.com
http://packaginguniversity.com/
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© Packaging News You Can Use
By JoAnn Hines The Packaging Diva

MESSAGE FROM THE PACKAGING DIVA:
I know you all missed me but its been crazy with family issues, business travel and upgrading to a new virtual server. But I'm back now having recently spoken at the Invention Show http://www.inventionshow.com/ in Pittsburgh and working and talking tea packaging with Virginia Price from PlanetCanit http://www.planetcanit.com at/ the World Tea Expo.

Couple of new things in my repertoire. I just finished my special 14 page report "Packaging Your Invention To Sell" email me at JoAnn@PackagingDiva.com for details.


FEATURE ARTICLE:
Packaging Inventions That Save Lives by JoAnn Hines Packaging Diva

I just returned from speaking at the invention show, http://www.inventionshow.com/, on how to package your invention to sell. I saw a lot of great, innovative products that had a lot of merit. Some of them could become the next, new, "hot" consumer product. However, what struck me the most was that everyone focused on what they were developing not whether it would appeal to the consumer. They seemed to even ignore a consumer need for their product.

I watched American Inventor while I was in away and that same judgment was reinforced. People invented things that had absolutely no market potential whatsoever. Not matter how clever, catchy or innovative the packaging might be to lure the consumer into the purchase, it can't save these inventions from an unmitigated disaster.

It got me to thinking about unfulfilled or unmet needs of the consumer. These are needs that we all face -- whether we know it or not. How does the package play a role in satisfying a consumer need or creating consumer satisfaction? Look at the growth of the prepared or ready to eat market. All these new food products have been developed because the packaging allows the product to be created. Without the package, the product couldn't even exist. The consumer's lack of time is a major unfulfilled need and consumer goods companies are creating products that address that demand.

Take an everyday item such toothpaste. Where would we be without the package? Consumers never even think about why that product package was created and how it works to contain and dispense the product while keeping it sanitary. The toothpaste tube fulfilled a need.The next great wave of packaging innovation/inventions will come from problems not yet resolved or ones that haven't hit the consumer awareness button. Be aware of issues such as security and integrity of the products we buy and consume. Look at all the recent flourish of product recalls and contamination issues: pet food, peanut butter, common everyday items that could kill you or your pet. Are consumers getting worried and paying attention? You bet! Just from the pet food issue alone there has been a slow down of pet food sales and an onslaught of people making homemade pet food.

Getting back to toothpaste, have you read about the Chinese counterfeit toothpaste that is here in the US? It's quite obvious (according to what I saw in the news) that by looking at the packaging (misspellings and so on) that it's not a legitimate product (that is only obvious if you read the package, of course). The warning signals are there for the consumer to see. But what if the packaging looks normal and the product inside is contaminated? In the next wave of innovation, the package may tell us if the product is bad, contaminated or counterfeit. Seriously, the package may talk, change colors, or do a myriad of other things to inform the consumer to be wary.

A packaging company just sent me this staggering statistic. "Product tampering at the retail level is growing at more than 13 percent each year." That's scary. So, what is your packaging innovation that could nip that in the bud or prove that the product had been tampered with before the consumer purchased it? That is a huge an unmet need. It is an important one because most consumers don't recognize until it's too late. Remember the Tylenol poisonings? That created havoc, after the fact. It created a whole new category of product packaging "tamper-evident."

So think about future consumer issues. Product security is going to continue to grow. We have just seen the beginning of the consumer's awareness to it. Can you create a packaging innovation that will inspire trust and create peace of mind? Think about the untapped market potential and opportunity for the next packaging invention that can save lives.

For more ways to utilize packaging branding, innovation and marketing concepts to "connect" with your consumer contact JoAnn Hines the Packaging Diva at JoAnn@PackagingDiva.com. You can also subscribe to he complimentary newsletter "Packaging News You Can Use" at the same email address.


PACKAGING GREEN WATCH:
Consider packaging when buying foodCharleston Gazette - Charleston,WV,USAMost people have not considered the ecological implications of their choices or do not know what changes they can and should make. ...
http://wvgazette.com/section/Food+&+Dining/200705016

InnoWare, Inc. Launches 100% Compostable Containers Made of ...CSRwire.com (press release) - USA(CSRwire) ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 19, 2007--InnoWare, Inc., a leading manufacturer and supplier of upscale, disposable plastic food containers and ...

http://www.csrwire.com/News/8221.html

Fruit and veg worst culprits for packagingFreshinfo - London,UKThe 24-hour embargo has been designed to make people aware of the environmental costs of their actions and encourage them to cut down on plastic usage. ...
http://www.freshinfo.com/index.php?s=n&ss=nd&sid=41504

Thinking greenCadillac News - Cadillac,MI,USABuy products in bulk to save on packaging. Many health food stores have bulk bins where they sell everything from grains to cereal to cleaning products. ...
http://www.cadillacnews.com/articles/2007/04/21/news/news04.txt

Local Plastic Bag Ban? Not So Fast...WILX-TV - Lansing,MI,USAAnd packaging expert Harold Hughes of MSU's School of Packaging says there's a reason for Wilson's beliefs. "[Biodegradable plastics] are not readily ...
http://www.wilx.com/news/headlines/6759627.html

Less plastic =greener planetNapa Valley Register - Napa,CA,USAUp until this latest product -- called the Original Earth Shipper from Delta Packaging, Inc. -- the only wine-shipping alternative to Styrofoam was using ...
http://www.napavalleyregister.com/articles/2007/04/22/news/local/iq_3920714.txt

love of Mother EarthGroovy Green - Ithaca,NY,USAOf the trash that we Americans throw away every day, 30% by weight is packaging alone. In 1993, we threw away 14 billion pounds of plastic packaging. ...
http://groovygreen.com/groove/?p=1343