DESIGN INNOVATION

Uniform Packaging Design for Juice Brands

ATLANTA—The Coca-Cola Company has unveiled a new visual identity for key brands in the its family of juice beverages. The uniform packaging design, to be implemented across multiple brands and products worldwide, is part of the company's comprehensive, strategic effort to expand its global leadership position in the juice category.

Reflecting the historic logo and color scheme of Minute Maid, the leading brand in the Company's juice portfolio, the redesigned packaging reportedly brings a cohesive, unified look and feel to the Company's global juice brand lineup. The modernized design is intended to build on elements of the Minute Maid visual identity, including the black rectangle and white logotype lettering while adding a green horizon mark, refreshing fruit photography, and natural imagery to underscore the juice brands as a source of delicious fruit.

The new design also creates a coherent look on shelf when packages are placed side-by-side to showcase the fruit. This further communicates the nutritional goodness inherent in the juice and evokes the imagery of whole fruit as it might be displayed in a produce aisle or farmers market.

Creation of the new flexible and streamlined packaging system was led by the in-house design group at Coca-Cola. "We started this process working closely with the global juice team to understand the objectives and the strategy of growing our juice business," says David Butler, VP of Design, The Coca-Cola Company. "This scalable, common identity was created to address a business challenge, not to simply update a package. This is truly designing on purpose."

TUMS Rebrands Image

NEW YORK—Anthem recently helped GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) to elevate and differentiate its TUMS brand image to remain competitive.

TUMS has been a trusted antacid for more than 75 years, with a brand heritage that centers on fast, safe, effective relief with the calcium a body needs.

GSK employed Anthem to update the package design of its base portfolio of products to increase shelf presence and create a clear differentiation from the competition—especially the lower-priced private-label brands to which lost volume had shifted.

Anthem's approach was to create an ownable design that would communicate at a glance the superior brand attributes of the TUMS brand, its speed, efficacy, quality, calcium, and taste appeal.

The new packaging strategy focused on delivering a more compelling message through copy, color, texture, and imagery, while maintaining all core visual equities of the time-honored brand.

The result is a package design system with a more dimensional, proprietary TUMS brand identity, simple communication, and clear differentiation between variants.

Difficult to mirror by private label, the new design is relevant to the current consumer and has successfully attracted new users to the franchise.

Laminating Corrugated 
Paperboard Offers Strength

TAMPERE, Finland—Giant multipacks of Marabou Chocolate bars, designed to be used as prizes in theme parks, posed a challenge because the packs were to reproduce the look of standard size wrappers. A folding boxboard on its own would not be strong enough to protect all twenty 100-g bars in the pack, and a corrugated liner would not possess all the required printing qualities.

The solution found by converters Smurfit Kappa Lithopac in Sweden was to litho-laminate M-real's Carta Solida folding boxboard onto a corrugated board after offset printing. Carta Solida has the high whiteness and gloss to reproduce brand colors and images accurately, and combines high bulk with a light weight. It is available in sheets, allowing for flexibility in print runs, and Carta Solida's creasability makes it ideal for the multipack.

Marabou is one of the top-selling chocolate brands in Sweden and is popular internationally. The company was acquired by Kraft in 1993.

Carta Solida is a fully coated bleached paperboard with a white back, one of M-real's range of virgin-fiber based cartonboards. It is recommended for graphics and high-quality packaging, and available in 185-320 gsm (114-197 lbs/3000sf or 10–22pt).

International Label Integrates Logo

HILVERSUM, THE NETHERLANDS—Anthem Worldwide, a Schawk Strategic Design Company, has released its new label design for international beer brand Grolsch that integrates "The Mark", a new symbol derived from the Grolsch logo.

Grolsch is a brand and company whose rich traditions date back to 1615. The focal point of Grolsch's commercial activities lies in the Netherlands, Grolsch's historic home market. Made in Holland, yet enjoyed all over the world, Grolsch exports its beer to more than 50 countries. Important international markets for Grolsch include South Africa, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Poland and Russia. The Grolsch brewery in Enschede is one of the most eco-friendly breweries in the world. SABMiller plc, one of the world's leading brewers, acquired the Grolsch business and brand in February 2008.

Recently, SABMiller repositioned its Grolsch beer globally as a "maverick" brand to create a strong and differentiated position. The new global marketing campaign revolves around a mysterious symbol derived from the Grolsch logo called "The Mark," which is composed of the initial capital of the Grolsch logo and a mirrored G.

Ronald van Amerongen, global brand director for Grolsch, says, "The campaign is about harnessing the power of symbols to intrigue consumers and convey Grolsch's maverick character. The integration of "The Mark" into our already distinctive packaging is a critical part of the positioning."

Hans Muysson, Anthem group managing director for Europe, says, "'Untraditional since 1615' has been Grolsch's progressive authenticity and strategy. It's exciting to be a part of this global journey as Grolsch defines and differentiates the next generation of this icon. With the brand's heritage, it is only fitting that these non-conformist ideals have been harnessed in this new positioning as a charismatic maverick."

Arthur Brandenburg Van Den Gronden, Anthem's chief strategy officer for Europe, comments, "Creating relevance means moving the brand forward, while instinctively representing the original parent icon. We have helped to redefine this brand in small steps over a number of redesigns. We haven't been around for all of Grolsch's four-centuries, but our 13-year partnership has allowed us to gain a deep understanding of the Grolsch brand heritage and its visual equities. Our experience, instinct, and knowledge of Grolsch's core equities allowed for the seamless integration of 'The Mark' into the new label design."

He continues, "On label, 'The Mark' has depth and surprise and is shorthand for Grolsch's charisma, craftsmanship, and artistry. As Grolsch aspires to recruit new users in non-Dutch markets, 'The Mark' is an intriguing symbol that will inject a modern tweak."

Victorinox Swiss Army 
Converts to Natralock® Packaging

RICHMOND, Va.—MeadWestvaco's (MWV) secure, sustainable Natralock® packaging solution has been selected by Victorinox Swiss Army, Inc., creator of the Original Swiss Army Knife, as the package of choice for replacing plastic clamshells within its pocket knife and multi-tool categories in North America and Europe.

"As a brand that just celebrated 125 years of iconic design and innovation, as well as a long heritage of environmental responsibility, we are proud to incorporate more sustainable packaging into our product line with Natralock," says Victorinox Swiss Army, Inc. president, Rick Taggart.

Natralock is a paperboard-based alternative to plastic clamshells. The proprietary technology behind Natralock creates a high-strength, tear-resistant package that can easily be opened with scissors, leaving a smooth, safe edge and preventing the "wrap rage" commonly associated with opening traditional plastic clamshell packaging. It uses 60 percent less plastic on average than petroleum-based PVC clamshells and uses about 65 percent less energy in production. It's made from sustainably sourced paperboard with a clear plastic APET or RPET bubble.

"MWV also provided design and emotional rebranding strategy support to Victorinox Swiss Army to capture new select niche audiences. Our ability to maneuver in those markets allows us to control the production of our packaging, ensuring that the look and feel of the Victorinox Swiss Army products in Europe is consistent with its branding in the U.S.," says Jeff Kellogg, vice president of MWV's Natralock packaging business. "Given MWV's unique global capabilities, we are able to meet Victorinox Swiss Army's needs on an international level throughout the supply chain." pP