FACING OFF AGAINST ‘WRAP RAGE’ Consumer frustration with packaging has come to a head, and brand owners are stepping up. BY KATE BERTRAND CONNOLLY ou know the drill. You get your may prevent theft, protect the prod- instance, but especially with a new Ynew cell phone or electric tooth- uct or keep children out, but it can brand launch. “It’s very disappointing brush home from the store, and the also undermine your product sales. when the result that comes back from first thing you do is look for scissors, “All of the great things you’re doing, the market test is, ‘I can’t tell you what a knife, a box cutter or any tool to from advertising to product delivery to it tastes like because I couldn’t get into get the clamshell open. package graphics, can all be under- the package.’ That’s when we get a A while later, a little sweaty and mined or destroyed through a poor call,” says Hugh Ross, president of possibly also bloody, you have sepa- experience,” says Scott Young, presi- Payne North America, a supplier of rated the product from its packaging. dent of Perception Research Services. tear tape, an adhesive tape applied to Best case, you’re mildly annoyed. In developing such packaging, packaging that is designed as an easy- Worst case, you’re in the throes of marketers may be looking more at open feature for consumers. what’s come to be known as “wrap theft protection than at the usage rage,” and the brand experience has experience, Young says. But one fre- The raccoon technique taken an ugly turn. quently gets in the way of the other. Among all package formats, the Packaging that’s difficult to open That can be devastating in any clamshell scored as the worst offend- er in Consumer Reports’ 2006 Oyster Awards for hard-to-open packaging. That designation was based on the time it took to open the package— nine minutes, 22 seconds—and the need for sharp implements to open it. Toy packaging that features exces- sive plastic and wire constraints for the product also works consumers’ nerves, according to Consumer Reports. So does CD packaging, with its unfriendly tape seal. Additional items on the magazine’s Oyster list are blister packs for pills; pet food bags with string sewn across the top; and anything sealed in cellophane. Business traveler Martin Kleinman recalls a vivid scene from a recent Jet Blue flight when a fellow traveler engaged a bag of Terra Blue Potato Chips. “This woman couldn’t open her Terra Blues—the only food they serve on a five-hour flight—and she lost it, just lost it, and started frantically gnaw- ing on the package like a raccoon,” recalls Kleinman, managing director of Communications Strategies LLC, a New York-based marketing communications firm. “Then she started pulling with 4 BRANDPACKAGING www.brandpackaging.com OCTOBER 2006 both hands to try and separate the glued parts, and her elbow slammed into the guy in the middle seat and woke him up. He was not amused.” Nestlé’s initiative Kleinman’s is an extreme illustra- tion, but scenes of frustration play out every day with consumer pack- aging. In fact, non-easy-open packag- ing is the number one complaint con- sumers make about food and beverage packaging, according to Helmut Traitler, VP for innovation partnerships at Nestlé. Though, drilling down, Traitler says there are certain categories within ‘not easy-opening’ packaging that are more Nescafé, and Coffee-Mate, the company important than others, such as stick has incorporated either an easy-open packs and pouches. And, he says, caps notch or a tear strip with a zipper. And, on water and other drink bottles have increasingly, Nestlé is using laser pre- also become more difficult to open. cutting on flexible packaging. Nestlé replaced the cellophane-wrapped Nestlé’s approach to the problem is In redesigning paperboard packag- box for its Turtles brand with a paperboard bucket with tabs on either side. Consumers universal design, a method that ing for its Turtles chocolate brand, pull the tabs, and the package’s sides attempts to make packaging equally Nestlé Canada replaced the old cello- splay out to form a serving bowl. friendly to consumers of all ages and phane-wrapped box with a container abilities. The company specifically that provides ease of opening. targets children and seniors as it The old package lacked shelf pres- evidence as well as “an easy direc- designs packaging, because “if it’s ence and there was a “little bit of hos- tional way to get into the box with- good for the very young and the very tility getting into the package, given out prying it open,” Miller says. elderly, obviously it will be good for the cellophane,” says Ken Miller, man- everybody in between,” Traitler says. aging director at laga | One80 Design, New security packaging In 2004, the company launched a which worked with Nestlé Canada to Others, like Costco, are meeting the worldwide initiative to make its pack- redesign the Turtles package. clamshell problem head on. For its aging easier to open and, since then, The new container is a paperboard Lexmark printer cartridges, the it has successfully modified scores of bucket with tabs on either side. retailer has switched from clamshells packages. Nestlé’s approach includes When the consumer pulls on the to a new theft-resistant, easier-to- both easy-open features and on-pack tabs, the package’s sides splay out to open form of packaging—a text or pictograms to illustrate use. form a serving bowl for the individu- MeadWestvaco coated paperboard Particularly with stick packs, “it’s ally flow-wrapped candies. product called Natralock that’s the communication to the consumer The side tabs also provide tamper sealed to a plastic bubble. that counts most. You really need to Consumers still need scissors to lead the consumer to that little notch cut through the paperboard, but or cut to say this is where you start to because it’s flat, they can cut in a open it,” Traitler says. straight line rather than around weld- For flexible pouches, which Nestlé ed ridges. After they are cut, the parts uses in many of its markets around the of the package separate easily. world for products like Purina pet food, “We saw a tremendous amount of consumer frustration [with clamshell packaging],” says Michael R. Costco switched the packaging for its Skrovanek, general manager of the Lexmark printer cartridges from Natralock project at MeadWestvaco. clamshells (left) to a theft-resistant, easy- That, and retailer demand for security open coated paperboard product that's packaging, were key drivers of the sealed to a plastic bubble (right). CONTINUED ON PAGE 6 OCTOBER 2006 www.brandpackaging.com BRANDPACKAGING 5 CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5 Costco project, he says. Indeed, club stores have a strong need for packaging that is both pilfer- THE EIGHT PILLARS OF PAIN proof and easier to open. With rela- The pain threshold in opening clamshells and blister packs is both mental and physical. tively high per-SKU prices, and few Bryce G. Rutter, Ph.D., founder and CEO of Metaphase Design Group Inc., has identified employees on the floor, secure pack- the following “pillars of pain” associated with these user-unfriendly package styles: aging is essential for the channel. For small, expensive electronics, Superhuman strength required. The see the edges of the package. Some the answer until now has been “these strength required to separate the designs compound the problem by monster-size clamshells,” Skrovanek 1. two parts of the clamshell or to peel the incorporating difficult-to-read typefaces says. “The idea is you can’t get into it backing from a blister can exceed and small type sizes even for informa- in the store but you also can’t stick it human hand strength. The problem tive copy, such as directions for open- under your coat.” worsens with age, as strength declines ing the package. In addition to being smaller and easier to open than clamshells, the new and using scissors or other tools Causes injuries. Applying scissors, coated paperboard product is said to becomes more difficult. 6. knives, corkscrews and/or box cut- be more environmentally conscious. Lack of visual direction. Visual ters to the package leaves the plastic That apparently struck a cord with 2. cues that show how and where to sharp enough to cut through skin, if the Costco, which chose the material to enter the package are woefully lacking. tools themselves haven’t already. reduce its use of plastics and because Package designers should know the the coated paperboard is recyclable. Puts product at risk. After twisting, structure’s weakest point and, as a 7. cutting and jabbing at the pack- “The key thing I look for in packag- result, they may know how to open the ing materials is that they fall within age, you finally tear it open. But you do package with relative ease—but they accepted parameters for recycling,” says so with such force that the product flies don’t share the information. Scott Carnie, general manager of across the room. By that time it may Costco’s East Coast packaging facility. Non-intuitive. The actions required already be scratched from the imple- Also with an eye to the environment, 3. of your hands and fingers to open a ments used to liberate it. Costco chose recycled PET for the plas- package should be intuitive. After look- Difficult to dispose. Particularly tic bubble on the Lexmark package. ing briefly at a package, it should be 8.