Today’s consumers have increasing apathy towards traditional promotional tactics (recent figures suggest they are subjected to as many as 3,000 advertising messages a day).

That’s why marketers are continually inventing new ways to connect with their targets. The ad industry, for instance, is beginning to re-establish traditional design disciplines as key services within their companies. This would seem to suggest a realization of something that we in the packaging field have all known for decades: nothing can replace the experience consumers have when interacting one-on-one with a physical representation of your brand.

Great structural packaging should stretch the limits of imagination and innovation to reach far beyond traditional perceptions of boxes, bags and bottles. Today’s consumers are educated and demand “packaging with personality”. Moreover, the package should marry with, and enhance, product delivery—especially if it includes proprietary features that offer “added value”.

By simply considering the use of the product along with the situations and emotions that a consumer experiences when using the package, you can identify opportunities to gain advantage over competitive brands through innovative package design.

Our concept for “anti-flea anti-tick” formula demonstrates many of these attributes. The package is a simple extrusion blow-molded bottle with a plastic cap that has been designed to highlight the different pet each product is intended for in a fun and eye-catching way.

This also opens up graphic space and allows for a more flexible print identity, eliminating the need to differentiate SKUs with expensive bottle forms and colors. The back face of the container has been dramatically textured so that the package can be used to massage the product into the fur of the animal, eliminating the need for a secondary brush or the consumer's hands to apply the product. The plastic package can then be easily rinsed clean and stored for next time.

This simple packaging innovation makes the product immeasurably more useful and dramatically extends the physical interaction and relationship that the consumer has with the brand on each application. By creating relevant, real-life connections with consumers that offer a meaningful advantage over competitive products, brands can create a stronger and longer-lasting relationship that goes way beyond this season’s ad campaign.