Puma's Clever Little Bag

This one kind of speaks for itself.

It's a great example of a company doing some good, getting attention, and winning fans by doing so.



I don't think anyone is going to buy Puma's just for the bag.
But it gets attention for some very good reasons.

It makes Puma different; not just the packaging, but the way I view the brand.

Mad props to Fuseproject.
www.fuseproject.com

Looking Directly Into The SunChips (bag)

Sun Chips is a Frito-Lay brand that’s tried to tout its “powered by the sun” positioning. Presumably, they’ve got some solar panels powering their facilities. And now, they’ve got something else to talk about.


They’ve redesigned their packaging to use compostable bags. What the hell does that mean, you ask? It means the bag will crumble in the dirt in just 14 weeks. It means, “The new SunChip bag's outer layer will be made with polyactic acid (PLA), a compostable, plant based renewable material. By Earth Day 2010, all North American Sunchips bags will feature the new 100% compostable packaging.” In enviro-speak, it will significantly reduce greenhouse emissions, and since the new packaging is plant-based, it will cut down on petroleum use.

So? So, now they’ve got something else to talk about, and the greater snacking public has another reason to go for the Sun Chips. They're a leader (in one respect) in their category. They're different.

Now let’s wait to see if the ads are any good.

You can read the more complete story, HERE.

UPDATE: the ads are good. Here's a nice, simple video from their agency, Juniper Park. Thanks to their planner/strategy guru Jason O. for sharing.)

Tide: Leading With Their Good Foot

From Brandweek, 4/10. “Procter & Gamble has redesigned its Tide detergent bottles, as part of a cause marketing program to raise funds for disaster relief. The packaging change is the most significant in the brand’s 60-year history.”

Tide is going crazy for doing “good.” From their ads, to their social media experiments, it’s one of P&G’s biggest brands, and they have seen the future.

Their societal (“cause”) sub-campaign called “Loads Of Hope,” has begun wagging the dog.

Saatchi and Saatchi is the agency. Read the whole Brandweek story HERE.

Thanks to Griffin F for this one.

All Beer is Good. This Beer is “Good.”

Can it be? We have the first official entry into the “Good” Awards. And to think, I didn’t even think it was real. Apparently it is. I got a actual, live submission from an old colleague who now runs LittleBigBrands in New York. Here’s what they done did. Take it away, Pamela …

“We recently gave Lionshead beer, a popular beverage in the Pennsylvania college scene, a complete packaging overhaul - contemporizing the brand with sustainability in mind.

Key to the new design is authentic graphics, tongue-in-cheek neck labels (e.g. "The Best Head in Town"), and four "paw holes" that replace the standard six-pack handle. The smaller labels use 40% less paper than the previous labels, and baskets and cartons are unbleached kraft stock. Cube 12-packs use 25% less material than traditional 12 pack boxes. The design allowed for the use of 47-lb. paper as opposed to the previous 51-lb. paper, and we moved the client to a printer who offered vegetable-based inks. Additionally, copy was added to the 6-pack, 12-pack, and case to encourage recycling. "Your favorite lion encourages you to keep our natural habitat clean. Lionshead beer uses recycled bottles and recycled content materials. Do your part and practice recycling in your own den."

Results to date have been outstanding - the redesign made it possible for the brewery to gain new distribution in New York and New Jersey, and the beer is flying off shelf. Lionshead has been featured in publications such as Brandweek, Package Design magazine and Packaging Digest. It will also be included in The Big Book of Green Design (fall 2009). You can see the end result at our web site http://www.littlebigbrands.com/littlebig.html.”

Beer just got better.

Got a “Good” award submission? Send it my way.

Again, Where Are The Bottled Water Brands?

It’s plastic, but not.

It’s plastic made from corn, and they say it’s “completely compostable.”

Water bottles account for Carl-Sagan-sized amounts of plastic in land fills. It’s every water brand’s huge Achilles’ heel.

(For two manufacturers of these corn-plastics – cups, bottles, etc – click HERE and HERE. And a sales site, HERE.)

How big a deal is the plastic bottle problem? In marketing terms, two huge brands with huge budgets have staked their entire positioning around it. One is Fiji Water, promoting all the carbon offsets they buy to make up for their bad practices. They now claim to be the first “carbon-negative” brand. But that’s only thanks to all the carbon offsets they buy. (Wouldn’t it be better support for an earth-friendly position to not use plastic in the first place?)

This ad is HOOEY.


The other brand is Brita water filters. You’ve seen the ads. They sell against the whole category of water in plastic bottles.


The first water brand to adopt corn plastic bottles can lay claim to the true positioning of “good for the earth.” Lots of water brands cozy up to the earth – falsely. Here’s a chance to lead. A chance to use your package as media.

It’s not just about positioning. It’s about delivering.

The Bottled Water Race Is On

This piece of creative packaging isn't for any particular bottle water brand, but it should be.
It's such an obvious idea, it's rings like a starting gun.

A lot of water brands claim to be "earth-friendly." I can't wait to see which one adopts this packaging first.