CCL CONTAINER HAS ALL THE RIGHT ELEMENTS
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To that end, CCL Container Aerosol Division and Snapple Beverage Group developed a container that speaks volumes about Snapple’s Elements® drink line. The recyclable aluminum bottle offers a resealable lug cap, frosted finish and extreme graphics sure to appeal to the product’s target audience–16-24 year old males.
Last year the two companies collaborated on a resealable aluminum beverage bottle for Snapple Beverage Group’s Mistic RE™ energy drink, the world’s first mainstream beverage product to be packaged in impact-extruded aluminum. The packaging proved a stunning success, earning international acclaim and winning a number of prestigious industry awards, including a 2002 WorldStar Packaging Award.
Snapple’s Elements line, originally presented in curvy, 20-ounce glass bottles with tapered necks, debuted in April 1999. Three of the line’s cutting-edge flavors–Fire (dragonfruit), Rain (agave cactus) and Meteor (tangelo)–will be repackaged in CCL Container’s 66 mm x 206 mm, resealable aluminum bottles. A new flavor, called Sub-Zero (Siberian Cherry), has also been added to the line.
“We want to offer options to the Elements consumer,” said Snapple’s director of packaging, Susan Chirico. “The durability, resealability and “chillability” of aluminum bottles make them ideal for active people who want to just grab their beverage and go,” she continued.
Elements is sold via convenience stores, up-and-down-the-street accounts, and selected grocers. According to the company’s vice president of marketing, Maura Mottolese, the brand currently accounts for a significant portion of Snapple Beverage Group’s volume. “The Elements consumer is young, experimental and trend setting,” she explains. “To grow this market, we need to keep refreshing the brand and packaging is a big part of that.”
Chirico echoed that viewpoint. “Our packaging serves several important objectives beyond just holding the product,” she explains. “Our packaging is a major component of our communications strategy and a powerful tool in defining our brand.”
CCL’s aluminum packaging immediately positions Elements as the drink to grab when you’re on the go. Lightweight and unbreakable, the container is highly portable. And the rugged grip rings make it easy to drink on the run.
Consumers are getting the message. In extensive testing prior to re-launch, Snapple received “a very positive response” from trial participants, according to Chirico. “Consumer interest to purchase was extremely high; in fact, consumers wanted to keep the bottle after the testing was over,” she adds. “With Mistic RE™, we were the first beverage company in the country to commercialize the concept of the resealable aluminum bottle. With Elements, we’ve taken that concept even further.”
For example, CCL achieved the container’s head-turning graphic by applying a silver metallic base coat with a gloss over-varnish, then adding an ice crystal design with a proprietary white ink during the printing process. The “icy” look reflects the container’s advanced performance. The aluminum bottle keeps beverages cold, an attractive feature for those more likely to reach into a backpack for a drink than into a refrigerator.
The container’s graphics and lettering are bright and bold, and rendered in an animated style that conveys youth and fun. Lucy Raia, director of creative services of Snapple Beverage Group, directed the graphic development with HMS Design of South Norwalk, CT, and had high praise for CCL’s design implementation. “Working with Jeff Radice, CCL’s lithography manager and graphics coordinator, and his team, was a wonderful experience. They understood our needs and goals and worked around the clock to get us where we needed to be,” she commented.
The graphics presented a bit of a challenge during production because the grip rings on the neck distorted the lettering. CCL compensated for this by elongating the lettering during the printing process. Once completed, the lettering looked fine. In the end, several test runs were required to determine how the lettering should be altered.
“It’s about helping Snapple differentiate themselves in a busy marketplace,” according to CCL’s vice president of sales and marketing, Ed Martin. “We are continually looking for ways to offer our customers something different, something that’s going to set them apart from the competition. If we can challenge ourselves to come up with unique shapes and concepts utilizing our existing equipment, and thereby minimize our customer’s cost, then we’ve achieved our goal.”
Elements in aluminum will launch in the West in early February and be available nationally by the spring. The Snapple Beverage Group, a unit of Cadbury Schweppes, plc, has a beverage brand portfolio that includes Snapple®, Mistic®, Nantucket Nectars®, Orangina®, Stewart’s® and Yoo-hoo®.
CCL Container is North America’s leading manufacturer of recyclable aluminum packaging for the beverage, food, personal care, pharmaceutical and household markets. The company’s manufacturing facilities are located in Hermitage, PA, Penetang, ONT and Mexico City, Mexico. All facilities are ISO 9002 Registered.
For more information on CCL's products and services, please contact:
Charlie Herrmann
VP Sales & Mktg.
CCL Container, Inc.
One Llodio Drive
Hermitage, PA 16148
Tel: (724) 981-4420 x 381
Fax: (724) 342-1116
Email: cherrmann@cclind.com
For further press information, please contact:
Ed Delia
Delia Associates
Tel: (908) 534-9044
Fax: (908) 524-6856
Website: www.delianet.com
Email: edelia@delinet.com
