Short-run printed packaging; a supermarket odyssey – part 13

What a great Olympics. For Great Britain, it has led to a record-breaking medal haul, while overall it has been hailed as the “friendly Olympics”.

 

Last night's closing ceremony was another triumph for Britain, melding various elements from the island's cultural and musical heritage. The Who and Madness are worth singling out, although I had my own favorite moments.

 

I'm part of the generation raised with the Spice Girls on the radio, on the cover of magazines and filling music store racks, and was happy to see them arrive in and perform on a fleet of London black taxis.

 

I'm not ashamed to admit I own two of their albums and have seen them perform in concert.

 

I'm also a big Annie Lennox fan, both as a solo artist and as one half of Eurythmics, so am always happy to hear her perform at these events.

 

Percussion group Stomp and DJ Fatboy Slim's arrival in a giant octopus were other personal highlights.

 

My friends and I came up with a few recommendations for acts that should have performed during the closing ceremony, including Spandau Ballet with "Gold" and Duran Duran performing "Rio" in honor of London passing host city status to the Brazilian party hotspot, and location of the 2016 Olympic Games.

 

In general, the celebration of Britain's musical and cultural heritage brought a fitting close to a very good Olympic fortnight.

 

The closing of the Games also marks an important time for printed packaging. There have been many examples of brands and products using the Union Flag to give their support to the Olympics and Team GB, but many have been unable to celebrate individual successes due to the strict sponsorship rules that exist around the Olympics to protect official partners.

 

This past weekend, I found more examples of brands using the Union Flag in the hope of capitalizing on British sentiment.

 

Pre-mixed cocktail supplier My Cocktail features a Union Flag made of berries on its “Summer Fruit Punch” pouch, baking ingredients producer McDougalls has been using a Union Flag design in different color schemes for its various products and supermarket chain Asda’s own-brand Power kitchen towels feature the flag on their packaging, as well as different designs inspired by Britain and the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee on the product itself.

 

With the closing ceremony behind us, and the medals all handed out, we’re now likely to see the faces of athletes such as diver Tom Daley, heptathlete Jessica Ennis and swimmer Rebecca Adlington on packaging across UK store shelves.

 

Procter & Gamble is a worldwide partner to the Olympic movement, and has already taken advantage of this position to use the face of cyclist Sir Chris Hoy in its post-Games marketing.

 

Hoy became the most successful British Olympian ever by winning two gold medals in London, and was seen on Gillette display stands this weekend.

 

The face of fellow cyclist Mark Cavendish can also be seen on bottles of Head & Shoulders shampoo.

 

I expect to see more and more faces appear directly on packaging over the coming weeks, especially given the success of athletes such as Daley, Ennis, Hoy and long-distance runner Mo Farah. There are plenty of others, so I’m excited by what further changes we’ll see over the next few weeks.

 

I’m interested to know if international markets will likewise promote the success of native athletes on packaging. I’m thinking Ryan Lochte, Michael Phelps and David Boudia in the US, Usain Bolt and Yohan Blake in Jamaica and Qui Bo, Ye Shiwen, Sun Yang and the men’s gymnastics team in China.

 

I’m heading to the US shortly, so will take a look and report back on what I see, but I’m very keen to see what you see on store shelves in other parts of the world.

 

You can help me compile this unscientific “study” of short-run printed packaging as seen by consumers on store shelves this summer. 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.