More Than Just a Box
In April 2022 Diageo announced it was starting a programme to phase out the use of 183 million cardboard gift boxes from its premium Scotch portfolio around the world. The move is part of its ambition to contribute zero waste to landfill from its offices and operations by 2030.
In May 2022 Pernod Ricard India announced an initiative to remove mono-cartons from its portfolio of brands, starting with the 500 million it produces for its Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) brands. Should the initiative be accepted by consumers they will expand it to include its portfolio of imported brands.
Both of these initiatives are to be applauded for their potential benefits beyond waste minimisation - like the reduction in the use of natural resources, lower energy consumption and emissions - and for their contribution to both drinks’ conglomerates’ overall sustainability goals.
Both also raise interesting questions. The first relates to the role of the boxes being potentially phased out because these boxes are so much more than functional packaging designed to protect the bottle within. For decades gift boxes have been used to tell a richer product/brand story. Their different faces have enabled these stories to be told in an engaging and layered manner. For decades gift boxes have also contributed to consumers’ perceptions of a particular brand; the imagery and words, materials, finishing and structure all contributing to perceptions of a brand’s positioning in a particular segment of a category (e.g. Ultra-Premium in the whisky category). And for decades gift boxes have elevated brands as gift purchases; the additional packaging adding to the perceived value of the gift.
The second interesting question the initiative raises is the reception to the move in certain markets, where gift giving is tied in with societal behaviour and the aspirations of the giver and giftee. Pernod Ricard India’s announcement includes the words “and based on consumer acceptance” which suggests there is some sensitivity to dispensing with the gift boxes.
Should the initiatives prove successful, and gift boxes be either eliminated altogether or restricted to certain releases or purchase occasions then packaging designers like ourselves will have to bring all our skills to bear on a brand’s bottle and cap to project the brand, differentiate it from the competition, tell a story and project its gifting value. Some brands are already using QR codes to tell a richer story but in markets like India, where mandatory requirements can turn back labels into the equivalent of trying to get a pint into a quart bottle, there’s not the space for this additional element. Perhaps brands' future exploration of bottle enhancements will result in other formats coming to the fore like booklet labels or innovations like the printing of graphics onto the reverse of labels, like INESSENS printing onto adhesive.
