Message in a Carton

An extension of primary packaging, cartons and set-up boxes are the vital first point of contact with consumers in the retail setting, fulfilling the key role of protecting the product and communicating vital product information, all while conveying a unique brand image and message.

Cartons and set-up boxes are also important to retailers, too. According to the Paperboard Packaging Counsel, retailers want to cultivate brand loyalty by fostering a distinctive merchandising experience and they know that great packaging is the first step in achieving that success. Brian Westerlind, communications manager for the Paperboard Packaging Counsel Rigid, says boxes have successfully been used in this capacity for over 150 years, conveying luxury, exclusivity and ecological viability.

“Paperboard is an ideal packaging medium for communicating a brand’s positioning within a limited decorative area while still allowing for additional at-shelf education and brand awareness,” agrees Dennis Bacchetta, director of marketing, Diamond Packaging, Rochester, NY.

Bijan Pakzad, president and CEO, Pacific Pier Inc./Leo Paper USA, Issaquah, WA, notes that current cartoning trends reflect the changing needs of the consumer, not just in how they view and interact with packaging but also how they discard it. “The current packaging trends of sustainability, transforming decorative finishes, multi and functional forms and interactive technologies are ideally suited to cosmetic, fragrance and personal care packaging,” he says.

Pakzad recalls a recent project his company created in conjunction with HCT Packaging, which entailed a one-piece set-up box with hinged lid and magnetic closure. The limited edition, multi-piece package was a collector’s makeup kit celebrating the March 2014 release of bestselling book-come-movie, Divergent. The retail venue for the product was Sephora stores.

The kit contains three eye shadow paper palettes and one cheek palette constructed to allow consumers to mix and match eye shadow colors by breaking apart and swapping out the palette components. “The eye shadow paper palettes are constructed to connect a four-pane palette and a single-pane palette by a plastic clip,” explains Pakzad. “It was very important to our client to achieve this function using a paperboard palette instead of a plastic or metal palette case for environmental purposes.”

The carton exterior is printed with a Ferris wheel graphic. Holographic foil stamping and embossing accentuates the intricate parts of the wheel. “This Ferris wheel graphic is also replicated on the box interior subtly using spot UV,” he said. “Another unique design of this box is the slanted box lid closure with silver foil Divergent logo.”

Tactile Clues

Special decorating techniques featured largely in the recent work of Brookville, NY-based Tuying Packaging Inc., which has been working with several clients and designers using techniques such as deep embossing, combinations of hot stamping colors and glitter. “The trend is to make them special not only by appearance but by the way they feel,” says Joanna Sasso, the company’s global sales director. “Intricate flock designs have been a common fashion design statement.”

Sasso points to a recent collaboration with Montreal-based Vallee Packaging. Vallee conceptualized a unique design for designer Michele Germain’s Very Sexy Holiday Gift Sets that featured precisely registered flocking and turned to Tuying for help with the execution. “Both the men’s and women’s Very Sexy sets feature intricate black spot flock designs,” recalls Sasso. “When you open the women’s Very Sexy boxes the beautiful jeweled capped bottles are showcased in plush white flock vacuum forms.”

The end result conveys a luxurious, romantic look and feel.

Diamond Packaging’s Bacchetta says that when it comes to cartons, brand owners and packaging buyers usually fix their sights on the perfect combination of innovation and value creation to support marketing objectives. “They seek brand ambassadors that will attract the consumer’s attention when and where it matters most—on the store shelf, whether it’s through visual or tactile clues,” he says.

Cost continues to be a driving factor, prompting greater use of streamlined processes and inline technologies to reduce costs. “Consumers equate highly embellished packaging with high-end quality and branding, therefore justifying the higher costs associated with upscale design choices,” he says. “Carton manufacturers have responded by modifying existing processes or purchasing new equipment with custom configurations to deliver more value-added options in a single-pass operation.

Five Star Fragrance Company teamed up with Diamond to deliver a winning performance for its new Michael Jordan Flight Sport Gift Set. Bacchetta says the gift set carton features metallized polyester film on FSC-certified .018 SBS paperboard and intricate embossing accents that combine to create a strikingly visual and tactile presentation.

Diamond utilized its QuikSet hybrid design for the project to deliver crisp, clean lines and superb strength. “QuikSet provides an attractive and economical alternative to rigid set-up boxes, featuring direct application of graphics and stamping or embossing, flat shipping and storage and easy set-up,” he says. “The QuikSet structure consists of a reinforced base and lid that provides the look, feel, and finished edges of a rigid set-up box.”

In addition to executing the carton, Diamond Contract Packaging (DCP) provided fulfillment services, including adding pad stiffeners to the base and lid, fully assembling the vacuum form trays, and polybagging the units. “Due to Diamond’s design and production efficiencies we were able to provide a cost-effective replacement for rigid set-up boxes—and with shorter lead times since they are manufactured and assembled in the U.S. rather than overseas,” Bacchetta says. “The result is a gift set package that delivers impact in the retail environment, with the look and feel of a rigid set-up box, in a fraction of the time and at less cost.”

Digital Printing Extends Options

Cost will likely always be a pivotal factor in the packaging consideration process, but as technological progress continues to be made, brands and packaging suppliers are able to extend their offerings, even to the point of affordable, limited edition packaging. Marc Schotland, vice president, marketing and global development, Legion Paper, New York, says short run, limited editions are being driven by advances in digital print enabling the use of specialty materials.

For example, Legion recently completed a limited edition packaging run for Nouveau Lashes’ The Royal Lash Mink Strip Lashes, which featured Mirri Pak, a mirror-like, HP Indigo metallic board. For Nouveau Lashes, the Mirri sleeve was royal blue and accented by a custom Cellotouch finish and a spot UV gloss pattern.

“This bespoke combination of finishes produces a wonderful metallic effect that is soft to touch with a glistening contrast, created through the use of gloss spot UV,” remarks Schotland.

“We wanted to create a premium feel, with a look that suggests royalty and luxury, and are very happy with the result that Celloglas and Mirri have achieved,” comments John McNiff, creative director at Nouveau Lashes.

Narrowing Down the Choices in Deco

Carton decorating options are virtually limitless, especially in the beauty segment. But sometimes a library of deco choices can be daunting for brands. Packaging suppliers are more often stepping into the role of design consultants, helping brands navigate and narrow down exactly which deco options are the best fit for the desired brand image and budget.

Maria Jones, director of sales, Marrs Printing & Packaging Inc., Walnut, CA, says her company is frequently pitching packaging possibilities to brands, helping them shape not just the package but also the brand image. “Customers look to us to help them come up with designs that make their packaging different,” she says. “We’ve helped several brands currently sitting on-shelf in Sephora with critical designs because a 3-D engineered carton is much different than a typical flat, 2-D presentation.”

Add to that, brands are tweaking their packaging more frequently in an effort to be more responsive to what they think consumers want to see. “Clients want to modify and decorate the heck out of their packaging to stand out from everybody else because that outer piece is what people truly see first,” she says, noting how important speed to market is, especially in this case. “Our manufacturing is set up so we can do a lot of decoration inline versus as separate processes, which lends itself to being cost effective and more time sensitive.”

Joe Cicci, president and CEO, Color Optics by Arcade, Rockaway, NJ, is excited about the ongoing trends that continue to expand the preconceived boundaries of what cartons can achieve as packaging mediums. “The carton or set-up box must seduce the ultimate user at the point of purchase by grabbing their immediate attention and subliminally communicating quality,” he says. “We still see our customers pushing the limits of challenging graphics to differentiate their packaging on the shelf.”

Sustainable Plastic Cartoning

Cartons are typically synonymous with paperboard, given its inherent sustainability, however plastic folding cartons are also becoming more popular as interest in renewable, sustainable plastic packaging materials grows. “Well-executed clear plastic folding cartons are the ultimate way to showcase beauty products, and well-executed plastic cartons have a proven record of enhancing brand performance,” says Patrick McGee, vice president of marketing for HLP Klearfold, New York.

To that end, HLP Klearfold recently introduced a new addition to its Klearfold RPET packaging with Klearfold PlantBox. “PlantBox cartons are premium-quality plastic folding cartons made from box-grade bio-PET (bio-based polyethylene terephthalate), up to 30% of which comes from plant-based sources,” McGee says.

He goes on to explain PET (polyethylene terephthalate) is made up of 30% monoethylene glycol (MEG) and 70% terephthalic acid (TA).“The MEG component of the PlantBox substrate is produced from a renewable agricultural crop, sugarcane, reducing the consumption of fossil-fuel resources,” he adds. “Bio-PET resin has all of the same performance and characteristics of fully petroleum-derived PET, and PlantBox cartons have the same appearance, quality and performance as, and are indistinguishable from, standard Klearfold PET cartons.”

Standout Carton Trends

In recent years a variety of trends has impacted cosmetic, personal care and fragrance carton designs. Pacific Pier’s Bijan Pakzad spotlighted five of the most influential trends (in random order):

Environmentally Friendly - As a packaging trend, the green movement is continuing to gather momentum. Environmentally friendly packages are a great way to make in-roads with concerned customers. As a result, many businesses are looking toward investing in packaging that is environmentally friendly either because it’s biodegradable or made from recycled products. It makes for a meaningful selling point and reduces consumer guilt about buying products in packages.

Multi-Use Packaging - Packages that serve multiple uses are going to be even more popular in 2015. Even if the packaging itself isn’t environmentally friendly, a product that has a package providing multiple uses will still be seen as superior to one that only contains the product and is discarded. However, the package design must make these multiple uses clear or this trend won’t succeed.

Functional Packaging Forms - In line with the environmentally friendly and multi-use trend is the functional form. Functionality goes beyond multiple uses. It’s about packages that help solve problems for the seller as well as the consumer. Packages that can pack out flat to save on shipping and that are easily stored and stacked, that can be interlocked, or that provide greater storage capacity are likely to increase in popularity as well.

Interactive Packaging - Interactive packaging is a developing trend that promises to create innovative new ways brands can connect with their customers and provide greater appeal for their products at point of sale.This will be in the form of scanable codes, NFC (near field communication) or embedded sensory responses of sound, lights, and more that will provide information, security, or engage the customer on many levels.

Transforming Finishes and Effects - Another ongoing trend is the demand for new advances in design. Brands continue to look for finishes and printing techniques that can help differentiate their products at retail and thus boost their sales. For example, decorative finishes that increase the perceived value of the package by transforming the look and feel of paper into other materials such as metal, leather, suede, or wood. Also included are various films, foils and coatings that create dazzling colors, new touch and feel textures, and 3D imagery. These techniques will only continue to gain in popularity.