Market-Driven Innovations

Market-Driven Innovations comes to you in cooperation with Productscan® Online, an online, new-product tracking service from Marketing Intelligence Service Ltd., Naples, N.Y.
Available at www.productscan.com, the service is a comprehensive online database of new products. It has detailed information on more than 500,000 new product SKUs from 1980 to the present. It offers an in-depth look at new products with its Innovation Ratings. The service is updated six times a month with new information.
Where to go for more information...
Productscan Online gets you samples of products. Contact Tom Vierhile at Productscan® Online and Marketing Intelligence Service at 585.374.6326, ext. 28, or mi@productscan.com
Crayola puts the squeeze on kids’ personal care
To make washing up more fun for kids, Crayola licensee Schroeder & Tremayne has redesigned the packaging of Crayola’s Squeeze and Squirt Foaming Hand and Body Soap. The new brightly colored bottle allows children to squeeze the belly of the friendly cartoon character named “Tip” and dispense colored and scented soap. The new design was created by Berlin Packaging’s Studio One Eleven (www.studio111design.com) in Chicago and inspired by the Crayola crayon. The six-ounce clear PET bottle has a cylindrical body, cone-shaped top, molded arms and feet and a shrink sleeve showcasing the cartoon “Tip” face and the product’s vibrant color. Emsar’s (www.emsargroup.com) EcoFoam Squeeze Foamer completes the crayon-tip-inspired top. Schroeder & Tremayne hopes the one-handed squeeze-and-squirt action of the soap will increase the “playability” of washing up for children.
Fresh design to spur brand use
“Convenience” and “effectiveness” were keywords for Product Ventures (www.productventures.com) in the recent redesign of Procter & Gamble’s Febreze bottle. The new, frosted blue translucent HPDE bottle has an upscale, distinctive look that communicates what P&G hopes to be a new role for Febreze in the home: the attractive new bottle is meant to be “displayed” for everyday use rather than hidden in out-of-sight storage areas. The swan-like profile of the bottle evokes a sense of effectiveness; its color suggests purity; the finish of the stock collar and trigger help the product stand out on the shelf; and the water-drop-shaped label features an image of flowing drapery that conveys efficacy, outdoor freshness and fabric friendliness. This redesign has the goal of making the product counter-worthy and, as a result, stimulating repeat use.
Fragrance packaging makes luxury appeal
After La Prairie of Switzerland perfected its feminine fragrance Silver Rain, the cosmetic company wanted to create packaging that would exude the luxury of the elegant eau de parfum. The raindrop-shaped bottle was designed by the brand’s own creative team who took their cues from the name of the fragrance and the sculpted natural form that inspired it. Though Italy’s Bormioli Rocco (www.bormioliroccogroup.com) used automatic production methods to create the bottles, the glass retains a hand-polished look. The use of luxury-grade glass eliminates the possibility of dimples or minor imperfections marring Solev’s (www.solev.fr) metallized finish. And the bottle was topped with Auriplast’s (www.qualipac.fr) ABS electroplated cap—an angled plastic cap fitted with a low-profile pump and nozzle by Valois of America (www.valois.com)—which completes the bottle design and conveys the singular essence of luxury.
Condom packaging goes full circle
Here’s one evolution debate you won’t hear about in the classroom or courtroom—the “evolutionary” concept in packaging and branding from Global Protection Corp.’s new ONE condom line. A departure from traditional, square-shaped condom packaging, the sleek 12-count case features a boldly colored label and takes its circular shape from the product itself. Eye-catching individual foil wrappers, which show through the translucent case, feature unique visual images and witty “one liners” that speak to the brand’s hip target demographic. Global Protection Corp. has stayed with the “one” theme in its packaging and product varieties, which include the Colored ONE. The new brand hit store shelves in June.
Altoids mints now curiously small
As would be expected from a line extension named Smalls, the sleek tins housing Altoids’ new square-shaped mini mints are, well, small. Coming in at just .05 ounces, the slide-top tins contain 60 mints and are designed to sell consumers on an attribute of portability—the packaging is tiny enough to tuck inside a small handbag or in the pocket of a pair of jeans. These new tins clearly represent the concept of “small” that is increasingly big in cosmetics, beverage and food packaging.