Recyclable holographic effect puts the ‘wow’ in Gillette razor
Posted by Jim George, Marketing & Design Editor, Packaging World, October 4, 2010 | Post first comment
For its most technically advanced razor, Gillette pulls out all the stops, creating a design that is eye-catching on shelf, cost-effective, and environmentally friendly.
Gillette.jpgThe “trifecta” in package design today is a package that delivers sales results for a brand while also being environmentally friendly and reducing materials use and costs. Gillette scores on all three counts in launching its premium Fusion ProGlide razor.
• Gillette meets the design objective of a package with pickup power on the store shelf by achieving a metallized, holographic effect through a special coating that offers increased shelf presence of the packaging graphics.
• The package components as a whole are recyclable. The coating, cut precisely to reduce waste, replaces film and foil laminates, which are difficult to recycle. The process of applying it to the razor cartons reduces energy use.
• Costs were reduced through efforts such as shortening material lead times by up to 12 weeks and introducing production efficiencies, including the printer’s elimination of multiple steps with other vendors.
“The darker colors are more premium-looking. The package has a definite ‘wow’ factor, says Michael Marcinkowski, senior engineer R&D, in Gillette’s Global Package Development area.
From a marketing perspective, the foremost objective was achieving a metallized, holographic effect so shoppers could easily distinguish Fusion ProGlide from competitors on shelf. Fusion ProGlide is Gillette’s most technologically advanced razor, and the carton graphics’ hologram-like appearance enhances perceptions of shaving comfort and performance.
Gillette achieved this visual effect with MiraFoil®, a UV metallic coating that provides the decorative effect of hot-foil stamping. Henkel Corp. supplies the coating. Several aspects attracted Marcinkowski’s interest in the coating. It can be put anywhere on a package, and it helps optimize colors such as copper on the razor carton’s package graphics. “It also eliminates the step of hot-foil stamping,” he says.
During package printing, Diamond Packaging implemented a process that combined the metallic coating with its own proprietary cast-and-cure holography technology, which is performed in-line.
The inks are printed on paperboard cartons (Gillette also has reported success in printing MiraFoil on plastic packaging). Marcinkowski explains that board selection was important during Gillette’s trials to optimize the package’s smooth appearance.
“We found that the smoother the board, the better,” he says. “A smooth board gives a more mirror-like finish with better light reflection off the surface. Once we ironed out those issues, we put together production-like comps and presented them to the marketing people, who were satisfied with what they saw.”
Beyond on-pack presentation benefits, Gillette also noted sustainability advantages. Dennis Drummond, senior key account manager at Henkel, explains that the metallic coating replaces film- and foil-laminated board stock, which is difficult to recycle. In creating package graphics, the MiraFoil coating can be applied to specific areas only, to avoid waste. After a ProGlide carton has been discarded for recycling, for example, the metallic coating can be removed during de-inking.
Peter Cecere, director of business development at Diamond, describes his company’s holographic technology as an extension of the company’s greenbox sustainability initiative. “The ProGlide packaging meets very high standards of innovation and sustainability,” Cecere says. “It reduces packaging, reuses material, and promotes recyclability.”
Besides the advantages of a design with marketing, sustainability, and cost-reduction benefits, Gillette’s new Fusion ProGlide packages also deliver on security. The MiraFoil coating used on the cartons enables Electronic Article Surveillance (EAS) tags to be completely readable, preventing product theft.
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