Halfway through 2010 - are you pulling your hair out?

We’re halfway through the year and many companies are still trying to recuperate from the most devastating economic collapse since the popularity of the mullet.  Although there’s no crystal ball, packagers do have many resources reporting on packaging trends.  While sustainability remains a major driving force in 2010, there are other factors to consider that may alter the direction of your packaging process without losing consumer or brand awareness. 

Sited from an excellent overview by John B. Mahaffie, Leading Futurists LLC, below is an abbreviated version of what I’ve found to be a condensed yet conclusive continuing top 10 trends list that may impact the packaging industry:

1. Limiting Carbon Emissions:  …” In 2010, manufacturers will begin to talk seriously about carbon sequestration and what they can do, individually and collectively, to promote sequestration as a way to offset carbon from production and consumption of their goods.”…
    
2. Digital Printing/Coding:  …"Digital printing allows shorter runs, more SKU variation for products and their packaging, and customization, and can save money, reduce inventories, allow more rapid marketing action, and help move products more flexibly.”…
    
3. Design: … “Design thinking will be applied to creating tools for developing sustainability, as well as in pulling together teams that can apply sustainable design ideas across many product lines.”…
    
4. The ‘Hybrid’ Strategy:  ….”We’ll see more hybrids in the marketplace, and a readiness to try different combinations of materials and processes in packaging. Warning: hybrids can create their own recycling and reuse problems if they don’t “fit” most recycling systems.
   
   
5. Shrinking Packaging:  …” We're approaching a "how-low-can-you-go?" moment for the sector. Packagers must be sure that materials used can be recycled and recovered before they can reach a balance in shrink versus recapture.”  …
    
6. Food Safety:   …” We’ll see smarter labels the consumer can access with her cell phone for information on origins, ingredients, and allergens,…”
    
7. Frugality:   …” The New Frugality fits with being greener, and with Locavorism (supplying as many needs as possible from local sources) which could lead to new strategies for small-scale, local packaging. Leading packaging equipment producers, or start ups, can conquer the market for scaled-down packaging lines and compact systems usable on farms, and by artisanal producers.”
   
   
   
8. Own Bagging:  … “Own-bagging” will spread beyond grocery into restaurants (Tupperware opportunity?), Costco, DIY, and department stores. For packaging, this could sharpen the focus on waste and recycling, especially for plastics.”
   
   
9. Composting: … “The new ISO standards for packaging, in development in late 2009 and due in final form in 2012, are expected to include standards for composting and biodegradation, and will likely extend work done under a long-established European Union directive on packaging and packaging waste that directive requires European member states to reduce their landfill inputs to 75% of 1995 levels by 2010, 50% by 2013, and 35% by 2020. “ …
    
10. The REAL challenge:  … “The real time web is the aggregation of live/streaming content, social network traffic like Twitter and FaceBook. Although not real time, retail online is growing increasingly sophisticated, with greater customization, and faster and more efficient price searches, and speedier delivery.”…

Although many of Mr. Mahaffie’s points may hit a hot button in your future branding or product manufacture, social media is imminent in this emerging technological world.  Former B2B marketing may ultimately change to B2C.  FaceBook, Twitter and YouTube marketing concepts should be thought out long term targeting both audiences.

Obviously, the global recession is forcing buyers to, perhaps, shop a bit smarter than they had in the past in attempt to gain more value in their purchase.  The manufacture now has the role of making that same product just as effective or attractive, but in a much more cost-effective manner. 

I’ve listed several other valuable links below and urge you to do your homework.  As a “boomer” myself, we need to keep every hair on our head from premature graying or pulling it out one by one as we try to figure out what the future holds.  In any event, and without offense, I hope we get through this economic crisis quicker than the recession of  “the original mullet years”.

Packaging Trends Resources:

John B Mahaffie, Leading Futuristics LLC: http://leadingfuturists.biz/future-packaging/future-packaging-20102020/top-10-trends-shaping-packaging-2010/

PMMI Packaging Intelligence Brief – Packaging Trends 2010:  http://www.pmmi.org/pib/packagingtrends2010.pdf

Packaging Digest 2010 Trends: http://www.packagingdigest.com/article/442112-Packaging_trends_for_2010.php

Packaging World Global Trends: http://www.packworld.com/global/

Editor Cheryl Miller: Marketing Consultant to ITW business units and Foremost Media.  Comments to this article can be sent to cmiller@foremostmedia.com

Cheryl Miller has been marketing to the packaging industry for over 18 years.  For assistance in your marketing/media plans, please call 262-893-9679 or e-mail cmille16@wi.rr.com OR cmiller@foremostmedia.com.