The article is written by Ted Mininni, the President of Design Force, Inc., USA

I wrote and published an article once with the title: “Advertising is Dead. Long Live Packaging”. Since POPSOP brought this up in my recent interview with them, I thought it worth discussing. While the title of the article is a bit of an exaggeration for the sake of grabbing attention, there’s more than a kernel of truth to it. With increasingly fragmented audiences and more consumers tuning out conventional advertising than ever, the whole proposition needs rethinking.

International branding and packaging consultants CARTILS developed the strategic positioning, branding, new bottle shape, and mono carton for Pernod Ricard’s new Royal Stag Barrel Select. Royal Stag, the largest brand by volume for Pernod Ricard globally, is also the valuable spirits brand in India considering net sales and profit. To consolidate the brand’s position and enhance brand power in the country, the alcohol giant introduced Royal Stag Barrel Select, locally produced premium edition of the whisky between the deluxe and premium segments on Indian market.

In 2007, the then newly launched Bounce Balls were criticized in The Grocer, with the Expert Verdict (Category Controller, Nisa-Today) concluding: “The packaging is nondescript and doesn’t shout out to the consumer… the products will only appeal to the health-conscious. They are also too expensive… this is a niche product… the company will find it difficult to market this outside of health stores.”

Smirnoff, one of the most ‘artistic’ vodkas in the world, has embarked on a new creative collaboration with two Australian artists, Nanami Cowdroy and Beastman (Brad Eastman), who created two designs for limited edition Smirnoff No. 21 packs. Starting with a black canvas, the two visual art creators developed two awesome interpretations of Smirnoff purity, which will inspire public to create their own art pieces for a digital wall, which will be transformed into the third design.

Grolsch and CARTILS have revealed the new graphic design for all bottles, cans and other packaging for the iconic Grolsch brand. The design will be introduced into the Dutch market this week. The new packaging will be hitting the store shelves worldwide beginning March. SABMiller teamed up with CARTILS, the well-known international branding and packaging design consultancy, in order to give the brand a more prominent look and feel. The primary focus was on the creation of a consistent worldwide visual identity, which emphasises the brand values as well as increasing the standout factor.

Nivea, the iconic cosmetics brand, which turned 100 last year, is launching new limited-edition packs designed by a fashion designer and leading brand and packaging design agency Bulletproof. The new ‘Nicola de Main’ packaging for Nivea Soft will arrive in stores across UK, Ireland, Scandinavia and The Netherlands in mid-May. The light-hearted and colourful design, which features springs birds, adds to the feeling of the season, sunny cheerfulness and warmth and echoes with the brand’s attitude of making life beautiful.