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Conceptual Packaging - A Creative Type Company

Spotlight: Glass Packaging
by Mary Ellen Reis and Jung Weil

One-of-A-Kind Glass Bottle Crystallizes Branding Vision For POM Wonderful Juices

Behind many leading food and beverage products are packaging design strategies that have made the crucial difference in their marketing and branding successes. While other elements of the marketing mix are working to attract a consumer’s attention, only the packaging can visually and tangibly deliver the product (and brand) to the consumer. It meets and greets every consumer, delivers just the right message, and entices a purchase.

The distinctive POM Wonderful bottle conveys the benefits of glass as a packaging material: rich color selections, creative decorating options, and specialty shapes. Glass communicates a clean, inviting image and denotes premium quality, helping products packaged in glass to stand out on crowded store shelves.

Los Angeles-based POM Wonderful’s pomegranate juice product of the same name is a first-rate example of how a company used an innovatively designed glass bottle to communicate the quality of its product and build its brand. The juice’s packaging, available in 15.2- and 24-oz. glass bottles supplied by Saint-Gobain Containers, is truly unique. Shaped like a stack of pomegranates with leaves at the neck, the bottle is eye-catching and suggests instant brand identity. The minimal ceramic decoration gives an uncluttered view of the pomegranate juice and underscores the health-conscious image of the product, promoted as a rich source of anti-oxidants.

The bottle’s distinctive shape alone makes for a superb case study in the value of creative proprietary packaging. The ACL (applied ceramic labeling) decoration involved four passes to apply two colors, red and white, on two “bulb” sections of each bottle. (ACL is a process whereby ceramic inks are screen printed directly onto the bottle. The bottles are then heated to fuse the ink directly to the surface, creating a permanent decoration.) For each of the five flavor varieties, POM Wonderful chose a metal lug closure in corresponding colors: maroon for 100% Pomegranate, blue for POM Blueberry, red for POM Cherry, golden yellow for POM Mango, and orange for POM Tangerine.

A choice as clear as the medium
The decision to choose glass as the container substrate was made at the outset of the packaging design process. According to Fiona Posell, POM Wonderful’s director of corporate communications, “The bottle design was conceived and designed internally. The bottle represents our business—pomegranates—and the shape of the container was a crucial element to the design. It continues to leverage our brand differentiation goals. Glass was the substrate of choice, since it best communicates the finest quality.”

The package development process was enhanced by bringing together all of the key packaging suppliers to work in unison on evaluating design challenges. During the commercialization phase, the POM Wonderful and Saint-Gobain technical teams developed and successfully implemented solutions for key operational issues such as glass distribution, bottle handling, and bottle-to-bottle contact during filling.

According to Posell, the bottle has been received very positively in the marketplace. “Our retailers are very pleased with POM Wonderful’s outstanding shelf presence, and sales have been excellent,” she says. According to Information Resources Inc. (IRI) POM’s base SKU skyrocketed to the top of the super-premium juice category in Los Angeles, reaching the No. 1 ranking in sales within the first four months of its launch in the fall of 2002. While there was initial resistance to POM’s placement in the produce section, this has proven to be a key competitive advantage as compared to other beverage brands located in the beverage aisle or near the checkout areas. The produce aisle signifies “fresh” to consumers, and being placed in this location further complements POM’s positioning as an all-natural beverage.

Tina Gaines, manager of corporate communications at Saint-Gobain Containers, is equally pleased with the reception for this package in the marketplace. “Glass continues to feature the key attributes that make it a desirable packaging substrate,” Gaines says. “POM was the sales success category winner in the Glass Packaging Institute’s 2003 Clear Choice Awards. More importantly, the container design met the needs of our client and is a winner in the marketplace.”

Mary Ellen Reis, CPP, is president of Packnology (www.packnology.com), a consulting firm specializing in creative packaging solutions. She also is a spokeswoman for the Glass Packaging Institute (GPI, www.gpi.org). Jung Weil is GPI’s Director of Communications and Creative Services.

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DESIGN DIRECTIONS for SUSTAINABILITY

SETTING THE BEST COURSE REQUIRES AN ACCURATE COMPASS

DECEMBER 4, 2008
1:00 PM EASTERN

This special 90-minute webinar will feature up-to-date insights into the market forces affecting package design and sustainability. Registration for this program is $89.99. Attendees will receive a copy of Packaging Sustainability: Tools, Systems and Strategies for Innovative Package Design (a $49.95 value) by Wendy Jedlicka.

Keynote Address by:
MINAL MISTRY
Project Manager, Sustainable Packaging Coalition/GreenBlue

COMPASS is an online software tool for packaging designers and engineers to compare the environmental impacts of their package designs.

DESIGN DIRECTIONS for SUSTAINABILITY

SETTING THE BEST COURSE REQUIRES AN ACCURATE COMPASS