Flexible Packaging
THE BIG REVEAL IN TOY PACKAGING By Tom Kerchiss of RK Print Coat Instruments
when as a child you opened a pack: a moment defined in marketing-speak as ‘The Big Reveal.’ It was generally the toy you wanted: sometimes it wasn’t but if it was Christmas and if you were fortunate enough there was always another parcel and package to unwrap. Tearing open gift-wrapping paper to
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reveal perhaps a box with a custom die cut windowpane that offers a tantalising glimpse of the pleasure to be found inside is a zeitgeist moment? Perhaps. Not much has changed, our children or
grandchildren derive as much pleasure as we did when we were young from opening packaging. Indeed some on social media have capitalised on the thrill of this with short video clips showing hands unwrapping black wrapping paper with a question mark on it: when torn open, what does it reveal? The viewer never finds out: for the video clip is on a loop and simply begins again. Perhaps for some it enables the obsessive to relive that anticipatory moment over and over again. Sometimes the pack is almost as
interesting as the toy inside. Often young children will temporarily leave a toy and return to the empty cardboard and other forms of packaging where they will happily use their imagination and play for a while. In fact a number of manufacturers have imaginatively addressed this issue, turning the box into an extension of the toy. For example, soft toys are being sold for
young children in cardboard boxes that decoratively resemble miniature wardrobes complete with double doors. The box contains a floppy eared rabbit and a teddy that can be dressed up in tiny clothes (supplied), which can be kept when not needed on little clothes hangers fitted to a rail that stretches across the interior width of the box. In this instance, the brand owner and the packaging technologist have turned a throwaway item (paperboard) into a play item and a collectible (extra hangers and clothes can be purchased) with an added bonus in that material throwaway is delayed for some considerable time, even eliminated, which is an attractive selling point for many environmentally concerned parents. Like life, significant changes are taking place across the world with regard to the toy market. Once not that many decades ago, the toy industry was gender orientated in that girls had dolls, etc., boys had guns
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and soldiers. Gender specific toys can still be purchased but the emphasis today is more on products that can be enjoyed by everyone. Plastic, wooden and mechanical toys are available but so too are licenced products that are spin offs from movies, cartoons, TV shows. Electronics, high-tech, educational, internet/web related and collectible items as well as art and craft products are also available. Apart from protecting the product
within toy packaging is as much about story telling and in enabling a child to imaginatively engage with the product within. Depending upon the product and targeted age group, most of the pack illustrations for the younger age group tend to be larger than life; when associated with TV, film and cartoon characters must be instantly recognisable. On-pack colour favours the bright end of the spectrum. Not all products are brash; ‘toys that teach’ is an increasingly important product sector, particularly in Chinese, Indian and Japanese markets. In this sector brash and bright colours would be out of place, this is a sector where packaging and labels is often understated. The colour palette used restricted to one or two colours and the language used for on-pack information is direct and often straight to the point. The same applies to many of the electronic items and games produced by the big
brand names. Here the emphasis is on brand recognition. Consequently, design, graphics and colour must be consistent across the product range and in all countries. Electronic items, colouring books, games and model kits are as relevant to adults as much as children. Toys for adults are regarded as being a
future profit generator. In the United States 40 per cent of toys are purchased by adults for adults. Many items such as games, model trains, etc., are bought for reasons of nostalgia and for collection. China is expected in the coming years to be the biggest market for adult collectible toys as adults are now in the position to buy toys that were unaffordable or not available to them when they were children. In conjunction with a brand owner and
marketing department, a packaging technologist has a daunting range of materials from which to choose from including clam shell, trapped and traditional blister packaging, paper board, corrugating, etc. Blister packaging is invaluable when it
comes to protecting a product that may have vulnerable parts, such as the arm or head of a figure. They are also tamper proof in that if a part is removed it is quite obvious from the break in the packaging. Many parents find them annoying when it comes to opening them. The difference
ast your mind back. Who can forget that moment of anticipation and exhilaration
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