Although the basic carton elements have stayed the same in recent years, today’s packages push the engineering envelope in an effort to differentiate on shelf. Recent paperboard and plastic cartons employ unusual substrates, special decorating techniques and clever shapes to stand out. And as the line blurs between mass and prestige, more and more products are sold in a secondary package.

Carton Trends

Although nothing revolutionary has hit the secondary package market in recent years, brand marketers and their suppliers are making clever use of the resources available. Below are several of the major trends affecting paperboard and plastic carton constructions:

Unusual Shapes. “We’ve had more companies asking for different shapes. They say, ‘It’s a gift box. Let’s do something that’s non-traditional, not a rectangular flat piece,'” said Patrick McGee, marketing manager of AGI/Klearfold in New York City. Relatively new to the market is the use of injection molded plastic end caps. AGI/Klearfold recently used the technique for Procter & Gamble’s Olay Regenerist brand. The finished cartons looked more like a cylinder and less like a cube.

Even without the use of a plastic end cap, paperboard can still be used to create unusually shaped cartons. Arkay Packaging, for instance, created an origami-inspired package for its Curious By Britney Spears carton.

Textured Substrates. “Textured substrates have been very popular,” said Dennis Bacchetta, marketing manager for Diamond Packaging in Rochester, NY. “The texture is often created by embossing a pattern over the entire sheet. When someone picks it up it has a different tactile feel than a standard or smooth board. Although we can apply gloss or matte finishes, most customers have preferred a matte finish in combination with the textured substrate.”

Other suppliers agreed. “Customers are looking for substrates that are a different type texture. They are looking for boards with a pebble grain effect to it, a suede feel, etc,” said Jeff Nykerk, marketing manager for Rex Corporation in Jacksonville, FL. Texture can also be created through the use of coatings.

Showcasing the Primary Packaging. Increasing emphasis has been placed on allowing consumers to get a glimpse at the primary packaging as well. “So much money is being put into the design, the development, the molds and some of the primary packages to where they become sculptural and collectors’ items,” said Norman Kay, president of IBC Shell Packaging in Lake Success, NY. “More and more, with appropriate products, boxes are showing you a visual of the interior and what you are getting.”

While this can be done through paperboard cutouts, other brand marketers are choosing to accomplish the goal through a combination package, where a window of plastic is inside a paperboard construction. “We notice that paper and plastic is a very strong combination in the future,” said Kay.

Glitz and Glamour. The use of shiny and eye-catching material is also on the rise. Special effect inks, coatings and metallized substrates play to this trend.

“Clients are looking more and more to set themselves apart while keeping an eye on costs. This is why ink manufacturers are proposing increasingly innovative products for litho offset presses like metallic inks or pearlescent varnishes with larger flakes,” said Benoit Bourguignon, director of sales and marketing for Wilco in Candiac, QC, Canada.

“A lot of people are looking for what’s the next level of differentiation and this is a different substrate, which could be holographic or silver foil,” said Nykerk.

“This year specifically I think it’s going to be all about color. I also think that you are going to see lots of glitz-cartons with a lot of embellishment,” said Dianne Vanover, marketing coordinator for Thoro Packaging in Corona, CA.

Market Trends

In addition to carton construction trends, suppliers are also noticing trends within the secondary packaging marketplace. The most notable shift is the number of mass products that are housed in secondary cartons.

“There’s one pervasive trend and that is the mass marketers are using more secondary packaging. Products that were traditionally limited to the department store level, or the marketers that were traditionally going strictly to the department store level, are beginning to develop brands for the mass market themselves. Traditional mass marketers are also employing or encouraging higher value mass brands within their market. They tier their brands right at the store level,” said Kay.

Notable Carton Constructions

The National Paperboard Packaging Competition, sponsored by the Paperboard Packaging Council, honors craftsmen each year by selecting the best examples of paperboard packaging. The 2005 winners highlight a number of the trends pointed out by carton suppliers. Below is an in-depth look at several of the paperboard carton winners, supplemented by an innovative plastic carton that was not involved in the competition.

Curious by Britney Spears Cosmetics Gold Award Winner Manufacturer: Arkay Packaging Customer: Elizabeth Arden Specific information: Featuring an origami-inspired carton, this package touches on the trend toward unusual shapes. The carton is assembled using three paperboard end products and two internal vacuum formed trays that hold the fragrance bottle. The lid lifts off with one half of the vacuum formed tray in order to expose the primary package. The packaging also features its share of glitz and glamour, another trend identified by suppliers. The lid cover box was flat stamped in three separate passes with pink, blue and silver foils. High gloss UV coating was also employed.

Gravure Boxes Self Promotions Gold Award Winner Manufacturer: Wilco Inc. Specific information: With five colors in gravure, four process colors and an opalescent ink, the boxes are richly colored. In addition, the three hot stamped colors offer a little glitz and shine in keeping with the trends of the day. This package was a manufacturing challenge. “What makes this package unusual is that we used litho offset printing in a second pass and then went back to gravure. The carton was also hot stamped many times all in perfect register,” said Bourguignon.

Enamel Care Cartons Novelty Items, Mailers and Marketing/Promotional Packages Gold Award Winner Manufacturer: F.M. Howell & Company Customer: Ferrara & Company Specific information: Used as part of a campaign to launch Arm & Hammer’s Enamel Care, this piece is mailed flat with molar cutouts that pop up when opened. “The challenge was to precisely cut to match the irregular graphic of the molars for maximum three dimensional effects,” said Steve Duff, director of sales and marketing for F.M. Howell. Texture was key in this promotional piece, as it was used to show the effectiveness of the product. “The real achievement of this promotional piece is the simulation with printing and embossing of the subtle changes possible with the use of the product. The magnified areas contain very fine embossing and variation in color that had to be realistic and accurate,” said Duff.

L’Oréal USA/Matrix 2004 Holiday Promotion Personal Care & Accessories Gold Award Winner Manufacturer: Diamond Packaging Customer: L’Oréal USA/Matrix Specific information: The cartons created for L’Oréal’s promotion came in an array of colors and use special graphic techniques as a means of getting attention. To further enhance the look, the packaging utilizes solid bleached sulfate (SBS) foil board, and is complimented with holographic foil stamping and embossing. “Our designer looked at many different structural concepts. L’Oréal eventually chose a standard tuck, auto-bottom carton that we elevated to another level with different decorations such as foil stamping, embossing and matte UV coating. The cartons also incorporate diecut windows and perforated price tags,” said Bacchetta. The diecut window serves to showcase the primary packages, an increasingly popular idea.

Rex Promotional Kit Self Promotions Gold Award Winner Manufacturer: Rex Corporation Specific information: “The idea of the kit was to promote Rex and to show everything that we can do,” said Nykerk. The kit features six folding cartons that highlight specific capabilities. The company tapped into two familiar trends: unusual shapes and glitz and glamour. The boxes titled “Rexotic” and “Rexplore” for instance, fold into two interconnected boxes. Rex also made smart use of metallic effects. It’s “Rexactly” carton was printed on silver metallized polyester board. By laying down white ink to certain portions of the carton before printing the graphic, the metallized effect was dramatically dulled and enhanced in strategic areas.

Jaqua Girls Cartons Cosmetics Excellence Award Winner Manufacturer: Thoro Packaging Specific information: The carton shapes for this project are anything but ordinary. Modeled after three stores in Santa Barbara, CA-Jeannine’s Bakery, The French Bulldog Café and The Fleur Magique-the pinch top closures and hex shapes make for an unusual looking package. Aside from the unusual shape, the texture of the box is also in keeping with today’s carton trends. “The biggest challenge was giving our customer the look they were going for-being able to accomplish that soft, matte finish and making the cartons look like little buildings,” said Dianne Vanover, marketing coordinator for Thoro Packaging in Corona, CA. The paperboard has a feel of watercolor paper and the printing appears matte.

Evolution Box Innovation Excellence Award Winner Manufacturer: AGI/ Klearfold Specific information: The Evolution box is a hybrid package. It features a printed, finished solid bleached sulfate (SBS) paperboard blank, joined to a scored chipboard stiffener. The structure supports a variety of finishing techniques and allows for deeper embossing than paper wrap cartons. In the picture, one box features a cutout that showcases the primary package.

Start Clean, by Estée Lauder Plastic carton not involved in competition Manufacturer: IBC Shell Packaging Specific information: The challenging tote construction, which is inverted on the ends, was created by using IBC Shell’s own Micro-Perfect scoring system. Aside from the complicated construction, the package also taps into the trend of texture. To create the look of water on the shower door, IBC Shell Packaging used a combination of opaque and transparent inks. UV spot coating was applied in the shape of drops to create not only a look-but also a feel-of water droplets. And because the package is clear, the primary package can be seen inside, another growing trend in secondary packaging today.