MeadWestvaco Honored at Annual PPC Competition
RICHMOND, Va.—MeadWestvaco Corporation received top honors in innovative consumer packaging solutions at the Paperboard Packaging Council’s (PPC) annual competition on March 7, 2007 in Nashville. The PPC awarded the company with the Innovation Award and a Gold Award for its electronically-enabled Kent cigarette box. MeadWestvaco also took home four additional Gold awards in consumer packaging solutions.
“MeadWestvaco’s record of achievement in package development is really quite remarkable,” said Jerome T. Van de Water, president, PPC. “It is quite evident that their designers and engineers are well organized for innovation. The steady stream of new ideas and applications we are seeing is the kind of thing that only happens where there’s dedication, refined processes and resources in place. Congratulations to MeadWestvaco on their latest round of success.”
The Kent cigarette box, marketed for British American Tobacco, was created in partnership with T-Ink, developer of a patented printing process that enables voice, sound, light or motion communication without the use of bulky, costly wires, switches, buttons, or other traditional electrical components. Through the use of the conductive ink technology, the Kent package features visual lighting capabilities that activate when touched, creating a memorable and interactive customer experience.
“MeadWestvaco’s goal is to connect our customers as strongly as possible to their consumers through effective, powerful packaging solutions. Receiving PPC’s Innovation Award is a wonderful acknowledgement of our ability to go beyond one-dimensional packaging,” said Bill Biedenharn, president, consumer solutions group, MeadWestvaco. “By partnering with T-Ink, we’re able to expand the power of packaging even further by adding a new layer of communication through light, sound or motion, making it truly stand out on the shelf.”
“Our partnership with MeadWestvaco is poised for many new directions in smart packaging and we look forward to defending the Innovation Award next year,” said Jonathan Press, executive vice president, T-Ink, Inc.
MeadWestvaco also received Gold awards for the following products:
• Multi-piece DuoDozen beverage package for Anheuser-Busch
• Soccer Bandoleer beverage package for Coca-Cola
• Cluster-Sleeve beverage packaging for Arany Aszok
• Mary Kay Affection Evolution Box
