Kraft’s Green Packaging | DMI Brand Design Conference Day One

Consumer packaged goods marketing has always interested me. So I was all ears when the DMI’s Brand Design Conference kicked off with a presentation from Scott Young, of Perception Research Services.

Young discussed packaging and the environment from the consumers’ perspective.

CPG brands have three (conflicting) challenges when it comes to packaging.

1) Doing “the right thing” environmentally. More accurately, defining what exactly the right thing is when it comes to packaging.

2) Educating the consumer on what makes packaging good or bad for the environment. Young’s research findings showed a surprising lack of awareness around environmental terms.

3) Creating packaging that addresses consumer preferences. Consumers know environmental issues are important. But they still want packages that look good, show off the product, protect the product and are easy to use. And if the package is environmentally-friendly? Consumer’s want them to cost the same (or less) than current packaging.

Defining Terms
Confusing packages and a lack of awareness around terminology has created a clear need for better package messaging and an education campaign (e.g., terms like sustainable are industry terms, not words that consumers fully understand).

Product messages are getting confused with packaging messages. Is a product good for you and/or is its packaging good for the planet? Consider how products tell us they are everything from USDA approved, free trade, organic, environmentally friendly, recycled, locally owned, recycled and several shades of green. The end result is an overwhelmed consumer.

The Impossible Dream?!
Packaging that meets environmental and consumer needs reads like a tough order to fill. But packaging can look good, be easy to use and be environmentally friendly. Kraft’s new salad dressing bottles present a powerful example.

This award-winning package design uses 19 percent less plastic. This means a lighter package, saving more than 3 million pounds of plastic annually, and increased shipping efficiencies by 18 percent as the package is smaller.

Consistency is Key
Environmental messaging is valuable and vital, but they must extend beyond the products. From product to brand, it’s best to link to a larger environmental proposition.

Aveda for example has made the environment much more than a product differentiator. It’s part of everything they do from corporate social responsibility programs and the corporate mission statement to its stores, services and products on the shelves. And they need to go from being the stand out to being the standard.

tags | marketing | brand | design | DMI

Comments

[The Lab]

Remember, it's confusing for educated consumers too. There are no real rules about labeling your products green or recycled or whatever. What's to say that something is made of recycled content and only uses 1% actual recycled content?

A good example is a company like Method which has come a long way since its introduction at Target. Generally considered a green product by way of its toxic-free contents but packaging which is sustainably questionable - depending on what you consider sustainable practices. Sure, you can recycle it but what are the contents that go into it. On their website they promote the fact that they do lots of research on their packaging so it resuces the waste of the product - it's more effecient!

Ahh, it's a wormhole and there will always be questions based on the consumer's definition of what is 'green' enough for them. Just check out discussions about Hybrid SUVs for a taste of 'is it green'.

[Kevin Dugan]

sigh - Depressing, but true. Perhaps we need a food pyramid for green...a dead simple visual that helps folks understand more of this. There is such an opportunity with packaging. Every time I almost kill myself opening up a clam shell, or untie 50 twisties on my kid's latest toy, I am reminded of how much garbage we could eliminate with simpler packaging. Light fixtures are another example. I had a chandelier from Ikea, run of the mill kitchen light and two ceiling fans installed this week. The packaging takes up almost an entire garbage can. Ikea gets the prize for having the least (hail the flat packers). But it was ridiculous.

[Kirsten]

It's true that it can be confusing to distinguish between the different shades of "green." A product could be light and made with recycled materials but shipped over long distances, producing more emissions than a local product made with materials that were not recycled. OR A product could be made with biodegradable materials but it could have taken more energy to create that product than one created using traditional materials. How do consumers determine the best options? How do they find a balance? It's difficult to find a product that is totally, 100% green. What consumers can do, is be informed. Know the differences between the different buzz words circulating the world of green and choose the best you can. Companies have made large strides in creating products that are better for the environment than past products and I think that, while it is difficult to reach the highest level of green, some companies are gaining ground on reaching that level. I highly praise Aveda for their mission and agree that the way they run their company should be the standard rather than the standout. I currently work for a packaging company and we are working on making this a standard for our products as well. Since packaging companies have come under fire, it has become increasingly more clear that we need to work to make our products more green.

[evden eve]

thanks

[hit kazan]

thanks youu.

[temizlik]

thank:)

[temizlik]

thank you wery much

[Beth]

I have to say that although I'm in the biz, I'm as taken in by new packaging as anyone. I do really like the new Kraft salad dressing bottles, even though I think that in some flavors, their competitors make a better product. It turns out they are the only brand at my local supermarket that makes light Caesar, so in that case I bought it for dual reasons.

[izmir evden eve]

thank you wery much

[saç ekimi]

thanks admin