AN UNCANNY SOLUTION: THE COMPOSITE CAN Sonoco s i6 Innovation Process creates a perfect package
97% OF CONSUMERS SAY THEY RE LIKELY TO BUY THE COMPOSITE CAN AGAIN Composite cans have been a packaging mainstay for years for products like infant formula, coffee, snacks and refrigerated dough. In fact, 97 percent of composite can consumers say they re likely to buy this packaging format again, ensuring that your product will be a recurring houseguest. 1 Of those consumers, 96 percent of millennials and 99 percent of consumers aged 55 and older who have purchased products packaged in the composite can said they ll purchase this format again. 1 But how can we be sure that it s the correct solution for you? Let s find out.
PACKAGING THAT PROTECTS AND SERVES Today s retail market is more challenging than ever. Over the past 29 years, the average supermarket has gone from carrying 9,000 products to nearly 47,000. 2 Additionally, the average consumer in the United States is exposed to over 1,000 advertising messages and impressions each day. 3 Despite the thousands of messages and products to choose from, the average shopper only purchases 0.7 percent of available UPCs in the supermarket over an entire year of shopping. 4 Well-designed packaging like the composite can is a brand manager s greatest tool to engage with the overwhelmed consumer. Packaging should be much more than just a container for your product it should work hard at every stage of the product lifecycle: engaging shoppers, inspiring purchases, protecting the product and servicing the end user. Packaging Challenges: You want packaging that gets attention on crowded shelves. You want customers to have a positive brand experience and become repeat buyers. You need packaging that protects your contents and keeps food fresh. and you want your packaging to be cost-efficient, lightweight and ecofriendly. So how do you manage all of these competing needs? You need a partner with packaging expertise who understands the market challenges.
WE BRING MORE TO PACKAGING THAN JUST THE PACKAGE. Sonoco is the only company with the resources to handle the entire packaging lifecycle: THE UNCANNY COMPOSITE CAN As the world s largest provider of customized packaging solutions, Sonoco has the freedom to use the latest technology to invent brand new, innovative packaging or to use time-tested solutions. So, with every packaging format available to us, why choose the composite can? As we mentioned earlier, composite cans have been a packaging mainstay for years for products like infant formula, coffee, snacks and refrigerated dough. Composite cans are not the right choice for every product, but they re a good match for most dry or powdered products. Composite cans can be manufactured in almost any shape or size: tall and skinny, short and broad, or wide-mouthed like a coffee can, easily meeting your specific requirements. PACKAGING CHALLENGE: You need packaging that gets attention on crowded shelves. UNCANNY SHELF PRESENCE In a CPG Promotion Strategies Study, researchers found that four in 10 consumers tried a product because it caught their eye while at the store. 5 As for the products that don t catch their eye? Over one-fourth of consumers are overwhelmed by the amount of choices on store shelves. 2 A variety of sizes in height and diameter allow your brand to have a demanding presence on the retail shelf. Our container heights and diameters are easily adaptable to fit special usage occasions or retail space considerations, costing little change-over time.
PACKAGING CHALLENGE: You want customers to have a positive brand experience and become repeat buyers. UNCANNY BRANDING, EVEN POST-PURCHASE Consumers who have a positive interaction with a product at home are more likely to buy that brand again. Factors like resealability, ease of opening and being lightweight can all be a factor in whether the customer becomes a repeat buyer. RESEALABILITY In our in-home tests, consumers disliked having to transfer food to another container after opening. Composite cans have an easy-to-reseal plastic lid, which means customers don t have to transfer the food to a different container. The majority of millennials and consumers aged 55 and older agree that the most important benefit of the composite can is the ease of opening and reclosing the container. 1 EASE OF OPENING Consumers also disliked having to use a can opener to get into the packaging. Thanks to this insight, we created an easy-peel membrane and a resealable lid for the composite can. With this simple, peelable film or a quick pop of the lid, they can open the package right away without special equipment. The membrane and lid also eliminate the dangerous jagged edges typically left by a can opener. LIGHTWEIGHT Consumers liked that composite cans are lightweight and feel sturdy in the hand. They preferred the composite can over a metal can, because the can was easy to pick up, easy to carry and easy to pick out of a crowded pantry. Additionally, features that make the product easy to use, such as shaker tops, scoops and measuring devices, which can be integrated easily into composite packaging and reinforce the benefits of a brand at home, influence the repurchasing decisions of the majority of consumers over the age of 55. 1
PACKAGING CHALLENGE: You need packaging that protects your contents and keeps food fresh. UNCANNY PERFORMANCE Great-looking packaging alone won t win repeat buyers. We evaluated performance and determined that composite cans excel at providing physical protection for delicate foods and maintaining freshness, both before and after the container is opened. PRESERVE FRESHNESS Foods need to be as fresh as possible when customers open the package. Composite cans are vacuum-sealed to help prevent damage from air and moisture, ensuring a fresh product and a happy customer. In fact, 89 percent of female consumers with one or more children believe composite cans keep their food safe. 1 PREVENT CRUSHING Ever open up a bag of delicious snack dust? Composite cans provide complete protection for delicate flakes and chips, resulting in up to 50 percent less breakage. Consumers believe that the composite can protects their food due to its sturdy structure. 1 ELIMINATE SPOILAGE Customers don t want to feel like they wasted money on a product that went stale overnight. An easy-to-seal container helps maintain the freshness they want without the hassle of having to use a separate closure, like a chip clip (or whatever is on hand, be it a rubber band, hair tie, or the worst we ve heard jumper cables). Ninety-five percent of women who have at least one child agree that products packaged in a composite can are convenient for their family to use. 1 Knowing all of this, have you decided the composite can is the packaging format for you? Let s get started.
WHAT IS IT LIKE TO WORK WITH US? The work we ve done for our customers to research and develop the composite can isn t by accident it s part of our approach to solving our customers biggest challenges. We understand that innovation occurs daily, not in a day. We also believe that you can harness the power of process in the service of innovation, which is why we have formalized a repeatable, scalable process we call our i6 Innovation Process. This disciplined process takes a step-bystep approach to the development of innovative packaging solutions that meet the unique needs of our customers. At its core is the belief that insights and information lead to invention. OUR i6 INNOVATION PROCESS 6 ITERATION In the last step of our process, we ll evaluate product, promotion and package performance. We will also look at supply chain integration, as well as things like manufacturing performance systems and recycling. 1 INSIGHTS We gather market and consumer insights using research tools like focus groups, online panels and in- home studies. 2 IDEATION Using these consumer behavior insights, we invite packaging engineers, marketing gurus and designers to participate in cross-discipline brainstorming. This helps us develop a suite of ideas and approaches to evaluate. 5 INTERACTION Here we may conduct testing in a retail environment, evaluate in-store marketing programs, or conduct eye-tracking studies to determine graphics and design appeal. 4 INTEGRATION We determine how to best incorporate the solution from an operational perspective, where we consider things like process development, manufacturing, designing for sustainability, and graphics management. 3 INVENTION We test the most promising ideas. At this phase we are able to utilize our rapidprototyping capabilities, our packaging and material science labs, and our pilot plant to conduct manufacturing test runs.
360 CUSTOMIZED SOLUTIONS The i6 Innovation Process allows us to quickly respond to developing market needs and design perfectly-customized packaging solutions for our clients with a large toolbox that you can access to help you meet your goals. When we integrate our i6 Innovation Process with our unparalleled range of packaging formats and services, along with our extensive scientific, technical, design and process capabilities, we are able to deliver a truly packaging neutral, 360 Customized Solution.
WE RE READY TO GO. Composite cans are just one of the many products we offer, and our portfolio of packaging services and products is unparalleled in our industry. With 15 packaging formats and 18 process, design, research and serviceoriented options, we offer a truly packaging-neutral, customized solution to our customers in the following markets: Pet food Snack and nuts Confectionary Cereal Grains and rice Coffee Powdered infant formula In a different market and looking for an uncanny solution? We d love to design something special just for you. Call us today, and let us get to work to create your perfect packaging. ALLISON DUNSMORE rigidpaper-sales@sonoco.com (843) 383-7846 SOURCES 1 Rigid Paper Packaging report, performed by Ask Your Target Market on behalf of Sonoco, January 2014. 2 Are there too many products on store shelves?, Scripps Media, Inc., January 30, 2014. 3 Jeff Bernstein, Universal McCann Worldwide, during a presentation at the 2013 Mobile Media Summit. 4 Engaging for the Selective Shopper Report, Catalina, 2013. 5 CPG Promotional Strategies Study, 2010