Ted Mininni on Packaging as Part of the Product

Design Force, Inc. proudly announces that its president, Ted Mininni’s latest article: “Why Can’t Packaging Become Part of the Product?” has been published on TheDieline.com, the #1 package design web site in the world with millions of regular visitors from over 100 countries. Mr. Mininni regularly contributes thought leadership articles to the site.

In his article, Mr. Mininni points out that sustainability is a hot topic when it comes to packaging, yet the first and most important question is rarely asked: “how can packaging actually be part of the product”? Mr. Mininni states: “I’ve advocated for this when working on toy packaging for years but invariably received the response: “Unfortunately, Walmart doesn’t give you scorecard points for doing this.”

Mr. Mininni’s response: “Regardless of retailer focus, manufacturers can save themselves a lot of money on package materials and their associated manufacturing costs including energy by thinking about the simple proposition of making packaging part of the product. Not to mention the good will and positive buzz they’ll get from consumers for their efforts.”

As the article progresses, he points to several examples of package design ingenuity. The first, Tube Toys, features packaging that is in fact, part of the product. The second, Y Water, is inventive packaging that isn’t meant to be thrown away since it becomes a toy kids can build designs with after the product is consumed. B. Toys’ packaging is cited for its inventiveness in a number of different ways. Lastly, Mr. Mininni points to PUMA’s clever little bag; sports shoes in unconventional and reusable bag versus the typical shoe box.

“The possibilities are endless when marketers collaborate with their design partners to reimagine packaging with the mandate to either make it part of the product; make it reusable eliminating waste or to design the product as a storage unit with the most minimal amount of waste. There are so many brilliant marketers and package designers out there: how can we push sustainable package design initiatives using these ideas to build on?”