Megatrends and packaging design
Global experts in packaging design yesterday shared the six megatrends impacting the industry at the conference "Packaging Design: How the Consumer Changes Your Business"
The event was moderated by Uwe Melihar, President of the European Association of Branding and Packaging Design (EPDA), and Managing Partner of brand agency Factor (Hamburg). The conference's partner was the Association of Branding Companies of Russia.
Renne Angelvuo, Founder of WINWIN Design, presented the trend of urbanisation. In his report, he cited urbanisation statistics and the case of China, which was largely rural 30 years ago but has developed rapidly to become overwhelmingly urban. This global urbanisation trend is set to change the way we grow and produce food and consequently the way we package it.
China already has many eco-cities, and vertical, multi-tiered farms for growing vegetables and grain crops are being built all over the world.
Renne talked about food innovation projects such as producing insects such as crickets, bugs and larvae for high protein sources. Eating insects is already widely popular around the world.
Zilke Bochat, former Head of Design in Eastern Europe at PepsiCo, presented on the subject of Digitalisation: The Experience of International Corporations.
This talk was mainly dedicated to how e-commerce is changing the packaging industry and how design can help businesses resolve the problems that arise with digitalisation. For example, what packaging should look like so that it can be sold online, how to improve packaging design for cargo delivery, and how to design retail digitalisation systems and create convenient interfaces.
Ilkka Harju, Metsä Board's Director of Packaging for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, demonstrated a case for increasing the value of a product several times with the help of proper packaging. He showed the evolution of the packaging of Korpikuusikon Hunaja honey and how this affected the value of the goods.
Dmitry Peryshkov, Creative Director and Co-Owner of DDVB, presented on the phenomenon of weary consumers. The abundance of content and goods can be confusing leading consumers to reduce or be more selective with their purchases. Consumers are beginning to trust small, local brands, and are more likely to be attracted by simple, clear and concise packaging design. Dmitry also demonstrated several successful design solutions that allowed brands to win the hearts of its audiences.
Eugene Struk, Art Director of Depot Branding Agency, highlighted the megatrend for personalisation and customisation of packaging and product. Many large companies have recently been trying to introduce personalisation into packaging design, but their imagination is often limited to writing customers' names. Evgenia gave examples of successful interesting projects with a personal attitude to the consumer and encouraged companies to work more creatively in this area.
Igor Mospanov, Creative Director of MILDBERRY, gave examples of interaction between start-ups and corporations, showed many interesting start-ups that global companies have acquired. All these projects are united by a personal history of creating a brand, responsiveness to the real needs of ordinary people, adaptability to their needs, and upholding their brand positions.
The conference ended with visitors’ questions for the speakers.
