How hard does your packaging have to work? When your customer is walking down the aisle, you only have two seconds to wow ’em. Not only are you fighting to grab their attention, you’re competing with all the other products on the shelf. Does your package have what it takes to stop the customer in their tracks? This series will look at all the techniques you can use to make the sale.

ZEO, an innovative soft drink experience from Freedrinks Ltd, is expanding its offering with three enticing new variants, aptly called Burst, Crush, and Zest. Global branding and design agency Blue Marlin has created packaging for the new range which will be available from May in bars as well as in retailers from supermarket to high-end department stores, including Harvey Nichols.

SeaPak frozen seafood asked Smith Design to strengthen and modernize brand identity across their entire portfolio. Founded in St. Simons Island, Georgia and owned by Rich Products, the brand wanted to powerfully change its image on shelf. This included restaging all packaging to bring its coastal inspired flavors to life, strengthen branding, and improve shopability & findabillity at retail and club.

Mars Chocolate North America will debut an expanded collection of American Heritage Chocolate products—now including four different formats—available in colonial-inspired, commemorative packaging. The debut will take place at “A Celebration of Chocolate on the Bay,” an event hosted by the San Diego Maritime Museum being held this weekend. American Heritage Chocolate is an authentic historic line of products—based on a recipe from the 1750s—that celebrates chocolate’s important role in the lives of Americans during the 18th century.

This summer, when Coke Zero fans want to pop the top on their favorite beverage, they no longer need to consult the hands of the clock. The brand is now being made available in an option without caffeine.

Integrated brand design agency Blue Marlin has created a brand platform via packaging for start-up gin company, Warner Edwards. Their premium gin, distilled on a Northamptonshire farm, became available to purchase online at the end of last year, and has just launched in retail outlets in the United Kingdom.

In recent years, private label has increasingly gained ground in the marketplace with the majority of U.S. shoppers (86%) purchasing some type of store brand regularly . Store brands now account for one out of five items sold in US supermarkets, drug chains and mass merchandisers . In particular, product categories like salty snacks, soda, cookies and paper goods are gaining ground on their national brand counterparts. The trade-off is that the price/value point is no longer enough of a differentiator and private label brands must step up their game in an effort to meet rising shopper expectations. Addressing this progression partly means understanding shopper preference, but it’s also important to remember that consumer curiosity (and brand loyalty) is sparked through creatively designed brand packaging that leads to shelf interaction.

In honor of the 25th DuPont Awards for Packaging Innovation, DuPont is asking the industry to vote on the past packaging breakthroughs that most impacted people’s lives. You can vote by clicking here. From hundreds of past winners, DuPont has identified six breakthrough groups that range from aseptic packaging that has enabled our current “on-the-go” lifestyle to centralized processing and packaging of meat that reduced waste and kept meat fresh longer.

Doritos, a brand from PepsiCo’s Frito-Lay division, partnered with branding and design firm Hornall Anderson to update its identity and packaging to create global harmonization and unleash the power of the iconic brand.

The new innovative packaging, developed by Dutch start-up Aestech, is a self-heating packaging for semi-liquid food, particularly baby food. Contrary to existing self-heating packages, which contain pre-mixed beverages, this self-heater has a separate chamber in which the milk powder is stored.