How Wal-Mart Is Reshaping Packaging

When Wal-Mart speaks, you had better listen. Why? It sells the most dog food, disposable diapers, photographic film, toothpaste and pain remedies, according to Fortune magazine.
About half of all the case-ready red meat sold in the United States passes through Wal-Mart's doors.
The retailer's call for RFID tagging on packaging is sending a large ripple through consumer packaged goods companies and their suppliers.
As Wal-Mart continues to expand and dominate the retail landscape, it will place new and greater demands on your packaging design and material specifications.
If you want to know more about Wal-Mart's impact
on packaging, you won't want to miss BrandPackaging's Packaging That Sells II Conference. This year's event will focus on "Driving Brand Growth Through Powerful Packaging."
The two-day conference will take place June 9-10, 2004, at the Millennium Knickerbocker Hotel in Chicago.
William LeMaire, Managing Director of PakIntell LLC, will discuss "How Wal-Mart is Reshaping Packaging."
Other speakers and topics include:
Gary Schum, Manager of Digital Consumer Products Packaging, Eastman Kodak. Gary will talk about "Maximizing Brand Penetration: Using Different Packaging to Meet the Needs of Multiple Sales Channels."
Claudia Kohlman, Design Manager, Global Snacks, Procter & Gamble and Bryan Librandi, Director of Brand Design Strategy, LPK Design, will do a joint presentation on "International Marketing: How Pringles Uses Packaging Globally to Meet the Needs of Diverse Cultures." (See article on Pringles' packaging strategy on p. 18.)
Rob Wallace, Managing Director, Wallace Church, will present "Techniques for Measuring Packaging's Impact on ROI."
Not only will you hear about packaging strategies that drive brand growth, you'll be able to see first-hand a multitude of innovative packages at the "Great Packaging in the Palm of Your Hand" session.
At this special hands-on session, you'll will be able to view, inspect and judge more than 50 novel packages from a broad range of product categories—food, beverage, cosmetics, personal care, consumer electronics, etc.—and packaging material types—flexible film, rigid plastic, glass, paperboard, metal, composites, etc.
For more information on the conference and to register, call 866.265.1975
Bob Swientek, Editor-in-Chief