Without Knowing These, How Can You Do Packaging R&D and Design?

Design is the essence; form is function.

As 2017 approaches, Mintel has released the five major trends that will shape the global packaging market next year, exploring the impact they may have on consumers, brands, retailers and packaging manufacturers.

Without Knowing These, How Can You Do Packaging R&D and Design?

Combining Packaging Structure with Brand Promotion

The clean label trend continues to sweep the globe. One-third of US adults say that excellent food packaging is an indicator of product quality; six in ten UK consumers say they pay attention to beverage packaging formats; and 21% of Canadian consumers are interested in resealable or reclosable packaging that reduces waste.

If a brand launches a distinctive packaging structure, it will not only make the product stand out on the shelf but also help build the brand image, making consumers willing to spend more time with it.

Most consumers pay attention to packaging form and design, and their purchase motivation is either directly related to the packaging or to the product communication conveyed through the packaging.

The successful transformation of Daisy sour cream from a plastic tub to an inverted pack worked because the brand used the same design and messaging on both packs, allowing consumers to recognize the familiar brand at a glance.

In the summer of 2016, alcoholic beverage packaging entered a whole new era. In a category where anything is possible, OceanOrganicVodka's spherical structural packaging strives to reinforce the brand's message.

Pom's newly launched Superteas line uses a classic gourd-shaped structure, and this familiar packaging helped lift its sales by 17% compared with a year earlier.

The Face and Role of Online Packaging

As shoppers embrace e-commerce and buy everything from convenience goods to luxury items online, food and beverage brands have yet to realize the role packaging plays in online shopping scenarios. Although e-commerce remains a niche, its importance is growing as more consumers use online shopping to supplement in-store purchases.

This trend will only strengthen: one-third of UK consumers say they will likely do most of their shopping online in the next decade. Its short-term impact on packaging may be unclear, but the packaging experience brands currently present online leaves much to be desired. Since packaging remains an indispensable part of people's shopping decisions, brands must explore the opportunities and threats that online shopping brings. In the year ahead, Mintel's global packaging team predicts that the online experience and the shift from store to home will become a core part of packaging design expression and philosophy.

Personalization, Portion Control and Mailing

The Graze brand offers personalized products. Consumers choose four snacks to put in a four-compartment pack. The box is designed to fit through a letterbox, and when opened, the snacks inside are presented beautifully. The brand has recently expanded into retail store channels.

Balancing Retail and E-commerce

Nutpods' packaging design balances both retail and e-commerce channels. To attract shoppers in both channels, it uses a clean design dominated by green and white, with obvious colors identifying the product's flavor or variety. A simple image of a cup of coffee with creamer indicates the product's use. When choosing a packaging format for e-commerce scenarios, the constraints of express delivery must be considered:

Compact shapes are easy to ship

Resistance to sudden temperature changes

It is time for brands to launch packaging with unique structures — packaging that not only stands out on the shelf but also helps cultivate and support the brand's image.

Smart, Interactive & Intelligent Packaging

People increasingly seek food safety, waste reduction, habitual consumption, and avoidance of contact with hazardous substances or counterfeit products. These few core factors alone have driven the rapid rise of smart, interactive and intelligent packaging. Although there is no standard definition of such packaging yet, there is no doubt that these smart, interactive, clever and even phone-connectable packs make the connection between products and consumers measurable — and in some cases have even saved people's lives.

Mintel's global packaging team sees this as a business opportunity. Brands can use futuristic smart, interactive and intelligent packaging technologies to express complex ideas while presenting them to consumers in a simple form, thereby encouraging, delighting and educating consumers — and profiting from it. 50% of US consumers are interested in scanning food packaging to learn more about where the product comes from.

The smartest packaging is usually the most intuitive to humans; smart and interactive packaging must first attract consumer participation. The outcome after participation determines whether the packaging succeeds or fails.