Consumer convenience, engagement rate high

ENHANCING users’ experience and consumer convenience were high on the list of priorities of packaging entries for the 2015 DuPont Awards for Packaging Innovation. Leading the trend at the annual awards for design excellence was Canada-based IPL, Inc., which earned the Diamond Award, the program’s highest honor, for SkinnyPack™ Technology.  This mono-material package marries flexible and rigid packaging to create a thin, light, strong structure that uses less material, enables recycling and allows more message space. 

Personal care packaging entries, Squeezable Mascara, Deodorant Can and Ultra-Slim Spray Bottle, grabbed three of the five gold awards. All were honored for “Excellence in Technological Advancement and Enhanced User Experience”.

The squeezable mascara tube from AmorePacific ends all consumer frustration to with inconsistent delivery, dried out product, and inability to extract mascara from the tube. A hybrid package made of a silicone tube with aluminum laminated inner pouch, the tube looks like a traditional mascara tube at first glance, but surprises users with its enhanced features that help to dramatically reduce the amount of unusable mascara remaining in the tube and extend the useful life of the mascara, while providing a unique tactile sensation.

The Axe and Lynx aerosol cans from Unilever (UK) combine complexity with simplicity and balance technology and enhanced consumer experience in a sleek, yet sophisticated way that differentiates it from competition. The vibrant aluminum cans feature a squround (half square, half round) shape to deliver a unique look while accommodating the industry standard 1 inch valve. The square body rotates to reveal the valve and trigger button, allowing consumers to experience the same twist-open action of the previous cans. As the body rotates, the button emerges from the flat top and tilts to provide a pleasing opening experience.

MiiSTS™ is the only flat travel-size ultra slim spray bottle in the market. The ultimate in portability and convenience, the bottle is the rough dimensions of a credit card and just 5mm thick at its thinnest point. Each MiiSTS™ contains approximately 11mls (about 150 sprays) of the MiiSTS™ product, including natural hand sanitizer, natural insect repellent, sunscreen spray, lens cleaner, stain remover, burn and bite relief, and more. Pump housing allows consumers to spray the product while keeping the package leak-proof. The precise engineering of the tight welds on the very thin corners of the injection-molded, polypropylene bottle gives a smooth, virtually seamless, appealing finish.

The DuPont Awards for Packaging Innovation is the industry’s longest-running, global, independently judged celebration of innovation and collaboration throughout the value chain. An independent panel of packaging experts evaluated nearly 140 entries from more than 25 countries and last night awarded one diamond winner, five gold winners and seven silver winners based on "excellence" in one, two or all three categories: technological advancement, responsible packaging and enhanced user experience.