Short-run printed packaging; a supermarket odyssey – part 10

So today's the day. Seven years in the making, and with billions spent on infrastructure, the 2012 Olympics have arrived in London.

 

I finally did a "Big Shop" last night, the eve of the event’s opening ceremony, and wasn't disappointed by the volume of Olympic-themed printed packaging, or flexibles and cartons simply sporting Union Flag decoration, down almost every aisle.

 

Typhoo Tea, for instance, has a simple Union Flag decorative feature on its cartons. The tea producer is also offering a flexible packaging option, marketed as "Eco Refill" and claiming "92% less packaging weight".

 

Official London 2012/Team GB products are evident too. Caramel shortcake pieces in flexible packaging sporting a Union Flag pattern and a London 2012 color scheme have been seen before, and are joined on the shelf by mini cupcakes in similar packaging.

 

An Olympic traybake cake can be bought in a carton festooned with images of the London 2012 mascots, Wenlock and Mandeville. Like the Pride the Lion celebration cake, which can be seen here, the traybake product features edible likenesses of the London Olympic mascots.

 

Wenlock and Mandeville can also be bought molded in Cadbury chocolate, sold in flexible packaging decorated in their image.

 

Cadbury has featured widely in this blog as it is an official supplier to London 2012, and has been promoting the Olympics and Team GB heavily on its packaging, both flexible and carton.

 

Yesterday I got my hands on a gold medal, albeit a Cadbury chocolate one. While not using printed packaging, the gold foil wrapper is embossed with Cadbury's logo and the red, white and blue lanyard would make any kid in a candy store feel like a champion.

 

Nature Valley is likewise an official supporter of London 2012 and Team GB, acting in the capacity of cereal snack bar supplier. Individual free samples have been handed out around London in recent weeks, with printed flexible packaging highlighting this role, but you can also buy multipack cartons featuring the London 2012 and Team GB logos.

 

Coca-Cola, a worldwide Olympic sponsor, is using different graphics for different products in its range. Standard Coca-Cola has a silhouette of a hurdler, Diet Coca-Cola features a silhouette of a vaulter and Coca-Cola Zero the likeness of a volleyball player. These graphics have been seen on both multipack cartons and collation shrink sleeves.

 

 

Consumer goods giant Procter & Gamble has similarly been making the most of its role as a global sponsor of the Olympic movement, with many of its individual brands featuring a gold medal-style logo, and being given a gold makeover.

 

Gillette razors and Fairy dishwasher tablets are two that have gone gold, both in terms of the packaging and the products themselves.

 

 

Elsewhere in its product portfolio, Head & Shoulders anti-dandruff shampoo features a weightlifter image on its Active Sport packs, while a Union Flag can be seen on other bottles.

 

One of my favorite pieces of printed packaging on store shelves in the UK at the moment is Kellogg’s Rice Krispies cereal boxes, which give children the chance to color in Snap, Crackle and Pop, the three characters associated with the breakfast food.

 

This shows the clever way in which packaging can be used to engage with the intended end user.

 

There are different images available to color in at home as well, evidencing the short-run nature of such packaging.

 

The strict sponsorship and branding rules surrounding the Olympics mean that there are tough guidelines on what non-affiliated brands and products can do with regard to supporting London 2012, so it will be interesting to see how the printed packaging seen in supermarkets changes over the duration of the Games, and the weeks immediately after the closing ceremony, as additional sponsors of individual medal-winning athletes take advantage of the opportunity to give their endorsement to the faces and names that may capture the hearts and minds of the British public over the next fortnight.

 

I’d like to know how this summer is being represented in stores near you through short-run printed packaging.

 

To contribute to this unscientific “study”, just snap a picture on your phone's camera and share it using your own Twitter account, mentioning @D_Pittman_PPW and using #packageprinting.

 

If you're not on Twitter, please email pictures to [email protected] so I can see what you see on the shelf this summer when it comes to themed short-run printed packaging.