Nicole - Supermarket Psychology

This video gives an insight into how customers view the shelves and make decisions based on the packaging and the information it contains.

Nicole - CAT Visit

The Centre for Alternative Technology was an interesting insight into the way we could live in order to reduce our impact on the world.


The new building in particular was quite beautiful, big rooms, high ceilings, south facing windows, remote control sky lights, solar panels - all very desirable things in the housing market!


Jo's talk and tour of the centre was interesting as it enlightened us to things that we wouldn't have otherwise spotted/known, such as the longevity of the toilet block roof.

glasses recycled from bottles

a seat made from recycled plastic

a compostable sack

The remote control sky-light

The theatre

The mud wall of the theatre.  The hole is where the steel support was removed after construction

Mud and wood - the majority of the building materials used

a solar panelled roof

insulating materials

Very wordy information board

small stand alone solar panel

an information board obscured by a tree

an interactive information board  - or at least it would have been if it had worked!

Another interactive board - more images and less words would have got the message over much quicker

Nicole - An interesting second use

Reusing builders' bags as vegetable beds

A builders bag makes a great growing container. When our neighbours had a loft conversion last year we rescued a builders bag with about 15cm of sand remaining in the bottom from the skip. We topped this up with the contents of the compost bin and a couple of spent grow bags previously used to grow squashes in. The sides are folded down so it’s just under 40cm deep.

Last year we grew a crop of potatoes in it. This year we have the most fantastic crop of cut and come again salad leaves. It’s right outside our front door and much more convenient for salad picking than a 15 minute round trip to the allotment.

What a great idea!

Nicole - How buying behaviour has changed

When consumers are out shopping, they are looking for entertainment; they expect more engagement and relevant offers from brands and retailers.   Brands should offer a product experience to enhance the consumers’ buying decision.

Shoppers can use multi-sensory cues with which to evaluate and select or reject products. The way you communicate with your consumers or expose your product can have a big influence on their buying decision. 


The packaging market is getting crowded with several competitive products trying to get a bigger slice of the pie.  The satisfaction of the consumer on use of the packaged product is the primary factor in the decision making process.  The visual aspect has maximum sales appeal.  However, once the visual components of packaging have been fully exploited, the differentiation of brand is dependent upon different sensory aspects.  Researchers have found that vision appeals about 60% of the time in the consumer's decision to buy, smell is the next important sense (almost 45% of the time).  The other sensory aspects that have different ratings on the purchasing decision include sound (40%), taste (30%) and touch (25%).


The use of environmentally friendly favourably certified packaging materials also impacts on the buying decision. 


Appealing to consumers five senses through innovative packaging techniques can result in increased brand loyalty and greater impact at point of sale.  A new kind of thinking is emerging about realising the full potential of packaging and elevating it as one of the most significant marketing tools brand managers have at their disposal.  Packaging with multi-sensory effects provide differentiation on the shelves and target impulse purchases.


Research has proved that addressing several senses at once through product packaging increases consumers' brand loyalty from 30% to 60%, if only one sensory impression is conveyed and recalled then this value is halved.


Nanotechnology, interactive packaging, intelligent and active packaging, multi-sensory packaging and edible packaging are developing innovations that are likely to have an impact on the future of food and drinks packaging.

Absolut has recently created edible flavoured glasses made from agar agar (a vegetarian alternative to gelatine). The flavours of the glasses correspond to the flavour of one of Absolut’s signature cocktails and serve to enhance the flavour of the drink when eaten.

Nicole - Initial Mock ups

Box & Sleeve

Box & sleeve

Box closed

A box shape with more shelf shout?

An alternative top

An interesting fastening

A standard box for die cuttimg

Lidded box

Aerial view!

Base to secure bottles

Nicole - Eco-Friendly Product Groups

Some useful information about the different types of eco-friendly resources available for packaging manufacture.

The more I read about this subject the more interesting it becomes however, it also becomes apparent that the UK are not really geared up for the whole 'environmental' thing.  Information relative to the UK is hard to come by, frustrating to find and the resulting suppliers seem to bw few and far between.  It's a shame that there isn't a UK resource/register available for approved suppliers of 'green', 'environmentally friendly' products.  If the information was more readily available then people might be easier persuaded to consider and then possibly choose the green option.

Nicole - Packaging with seeds

PANGEA ORGANICS

This is the company Pangea Organics and their idea of zero waste packaging.  Their zero waste pulping process is responsible for the 100% post-consumer newsprint boxes used for all of their products.  The boxes contain seeds from different herbs, so that they can be soaked with water and planted in the garden.  What a great idea!

Their company motto is 'Always Beneficial, Never Artificial'.

RESOURCE - DESIGNING SUSTAINABLE PACKAGING BY SCOTT BOYLSTON (LAWRENCE KING PUBLISHING)