The pack makes the brand

 
Packaging Highly refined packaging is all the rage. The Model Group's customer symposium was held under the motto "Glitter & Glamor". 
Innovative packaging solutions made from solid and corrugated cardboard are the core business of the Model Group. The company produces a wide range of different packaging solutions at its sites. In addition to transport packaging and displays, these include highly refined cardboard boxes for food, confectionery, cosmetics and perfumes. The development and production of high-quality sales and presentation packaging is one of the specialties of Model PrimePac in Au and Model Kramp in Hanau, Germany. Exciting specialist presentations in the morning and an interesting factory tour of Model PrimePac AG in the afternoon gave participants the opportunity to gather ideas and find out about the wide range of finishing techniques on site.Underestimated mediumWith the words: "We want to show you at this symposium how we can finish packaging," Elisabeth Model, CEO of Model PrimePac AG, welcomed the more than 50 participants. Gold, glitter and mica are words that have always fired the imagination and fascinated people all over the world, Model continued. However, the decisive factor is whether the product also has the value that it radiates. The aim is therefore to develop and produce packaging that suits the product on the one hand and also takes ecological aspects into account on the other, she emphasized.
With his presentation "Packaging, the underestimated medium", Bernd M. Michael, one of Europe's renowned brand professionals, took up the cudgels for packaging. "People talk about all media, but there are far too few figures on the impact of packaging," said Michael. He could not understand why the packaging industry was doing so little about this and not finally putting the medium of packaging in the right light. The industry should therefore take the fairy tale "Clothes make the man" to heart like the Bible.
Technology as a creativity killer "80% of packaging today is colourless, confusingly similar and therefore interchangeable," criticized Michael. Michael sees one reason for this situation in the areas of responsibility within companies. As a rule, technology and not marketing is responsible for packaging. However, this means that the focus is on stackability and transportability rather than attractive design. The controllers, who make decisions based on cost rather than marketing aspects, also have far too much influence. They are the real bosses of the marketing departments. In market research tests, the cliché always wins and rarely the unusual. And the design ultimately gets lost in formal aspects. Michael cited the standardized bottle, which was introduced in Germany a few years ago, as an example of the destruction of brand differentiation. However, the brand needs the power of distinctiveness, he appealed to the participants. Michael is convinced that many old and very well-known brands, which are known for their unmistakable packaging, do not stand a chance with the controllers today. However, brand differentiation is absolutely essential due to the fierce cut-throat competition that exists in almost all product categories today.
Being uniqueMichael also warned of the danger posed by private labels. These increasingly look like established brands, but are much cheaper. In the future, private labels would ride in the slipstream of established brands even more systematically and copy packs. Brands must therefore make their packaging unique and unmistakable, he emphasized. "The pack is the most concentrated advertising unit and ideally the core of the brand world. It is also a way out of the daily threat of trivialization."
Michael described the perfumers as kings who always knew how to skillfully emphasize the personality of the brand with the packaging. He cited the triangular shape of Toblerone, the square packaging of Ritter Sport chocolate and the Maggi bottle as examples of distinctiveness. In Germany, 50,000 brands are advertised. However, the average adult's vocabulary is only 3,000 words, which means that a lot of information is no longer absorbed. "We have to help people. The uniqueness of a pack is one way." In recent years, some well-known brands have even succeeded in establishing the pack as a status symbol and positioning a purely functional product as a high-quality gift. This is the case with the packaging of Faber-Castell's colored pencils and pencils or Bosch's screwdrivers, which are packaged in a high-quality tin box.
New effects with pigmentsThe presentation by Corinna Ludwig, Merck (Switzerland) Ltd, entitled "Activate, differentiate, position - challenges in marketing" was dedicated to the power of colors. Colors are sensory impressions, visions, ideas and emotions and part of the respective culture, she said. "We have also stored brand images in certain colors in our heads." The perception of color in connection with certain effects is also the same for most people. Blue stands for fresh and cool, red for warm and cozy and yellow for fun and sunny. With effect pigments, it is possible to create an additional layer and add a new dimension to the effect of a color. With such pigments, natural effects such as mother-of-pearl sheen or glitter effects can be reproduced and used for the coloring of products. Tests have shown that blue with an effect stands for innovation, while blue without an effect stands for status.
Ludwig criticized the fact that so-called colour trends are used too little in practice for product positioning. Currently, silver tones are very popular, with which the observer associates high-tech, functionality and design. As an example of how colors can be used as an individual sales tool, Ludwig presented the Japanese packaging of a single cigarette brand. Different colored flower motifs on the packs allow the consumer to choose the pack according to her respective outfit. A strategy that was a complete success, at least with the female buyers.    
Sabine Flaxman
Model GroupThe Model Group, which operates in the packaging business and is headquartered in Weinfelden/TG, achieved consolidated Group sales of 700 million Swiss francs (+17.3%) in the past financial year.
The Group consists of 20 subsidiaries in seven countries and employs 2,861 people. Investments of over CHF 100 million are planned for this year, of which the fundamental renovation of the corrugated cardboard plant in Czosnów near Warsaw and the construction of the new Model Kramp GmbH plant in Hanau are the largest single investments.