PACK-TRACK

Pack-Track™

Packaging is a key force in you business and you can employ Pack-Track to:

• Stay informed on packaging trends and innovations
• Enable you to seize packaging ideas from other markets
• Build and maintain your packaging strategies
• Drive new pack/product development
• Stay stimulated and ahead of the game
• Reduce your risk, investment costs and increase confidence in pack change

About Pack-Track

Pack-Track plays a critical role for FMCG brand owners by being the active, independent pack expert.  It is a comprehensive service that informs on the future of packaging and allows you to observe your competitors and other markets.  It gives insight into the globalisation of packaged brands, as well as ways to add value to your brands and identifying responses to the environmental agenda and of course, delivers on a wide range of pack innovation.  It is unique and exceptional in enabling you to seize pack ideas from other markets anywhere and apply them to your own brands!

Pack-Track was built and is run by packaging specialists. It has been in operation for over 17 years and for many companies is the benchmark for pack ideas and trends.  Today Pack-Track is an online service and is available in 2 formats:

• Membership
• One-off studies

Membership

This is the gold standard and delivers you a comprehensive package including:

• Your own database of PackFocus, PackFocus is easily assimilated information pages on pack ideas and innovation and is rich in images and detail
• Setting your own management brief for Pack-Track to work to. We seek out innovation and trends on a wide lateral basis that meet your brief and each month provide you with a cluster of PackFocus recommended viewings
• Workshops! Pack-Track provides you with up to 4 workshops a year at your location; to demonstrate the pack trends and innovations that are in your market and globally in FMCG. Like PackFocus, they are rich in visual material and detail and each workshop is led by an international packaging expert who will outline a series of recommendations for you at the end of the session
• Back-up - If you want to know more about a pack, for example, who makes it, how efficient is it for filling or distribution, or just need a sample, the consultancy arm can normally provide this swiftly for you
• You own dedicated liaison manager who looks after you and is available to you by phone, fax or email to deal with any enquiries you may have

Membership is by annual subscription and with an agreed number of personnel in your company accessing Pack-Track.

Learn more about PackFocus

Like Pack-Track itself, PackFocus was conceived by packaging specialists to ensure good understanding of a pack idea or innovation.  PackFocus images rotate and there can be as many as 20 showing different aspects of the pack. Once you are in your Pack-Track online site you can explore and seek out PackFocus by:

• Browsing the entire site map to find information on a specific area
• Or utilising our keyword search engine to focus on a specific topic or item

Once a month you will be emailed with your personal key/code to access PackFocus material specially chosen by our consumer packaging specialists to meet your brief.

Studies

Managers use Pack-Track for one-off studies. It is a powerful research tool in this respect and has the unique benefit of adaptability coupled with expert insight able to consider a lateral brief in-depth.  Recent examples of this include closures for liquids that aid consumer usage, enhanced standout at PoS, PET that looks like glass, as well as the conventional narrow research briefs, like researching water bottles in France, or identifying non-board cigarette packs.

Pack-Track Studies are a well used facility and typical ways of employing them as a research tool include:

• Packs in a product sector by country, region or globally
• Country or regional pack characteristics, by sector through to all FMCG
• Pack format developments
• On-pack feature developments
• Exploiting the lateral approach by identifying methods and innovation to fulfil a task, irrespective of the market and sector involved. This is a powerful Pack-Track strength
• Understanding branding graphics solutions by country, region or globally prior to comissioning a design agency
• Seek out cost reducing pack solutions

Studies include in-store pack images, pack samples and studio images, interpretation and analysis of the information gathered, an overview report and, as required, a PowerPoint presentation by an interantional packaging expert.

Other Pack-Track services
We can identify and provide you with pack samples from around the world.  We also have probably the largest image bank of FMCG packs, in-store on the shelf, as well as studio images. In recent years images and samples from our significant pack smaple archive have been hired out at the request of senior management for their meetings or for international workshops, to gain understanding and create stimulus.

Pack-Track
Your Personal 24/7 ProActive Pack Expert

Samples

Samples are always needed and you can use Pack-Track™ facilities to obtain Samples

Pack-Track™ Samples will:

• Acquire pack samples from around the world to order.
• In some cases, Pack-Track™ can locate and acquire packs withdrawn from the market.
• Provide back-up on a specific pack by identifying the manufacturer and how it is made.
• Provide you with a dedicated Pack-Track™ manager to deal with your enquiries.

PackFocus-packaging database tool/Workshops

Pack-Track™ information is brought to you in 2 ways. Each has its own specific key features; our thorough understanding of packaging is firstly delivered through a special information tool - PackFocus™

The following are some key features of PackFocus™:

• Unique packaging database tool
• Focussed and specific
• Easy to assimilate and remarkably proactive without being unnecessarily time consuming
• Rich in detail, which is cross referenced and critiqued
• Photographs explaining how the pack and its components work
• The PackFocus™ web pages are printer friendly
• Can show you what your competitors are doing if included in your brief
• Takes you into supermarkets around the world
• Built and conceived by consumer packaging experts to match what FMCG manufacturers tell us they want

There are 3 ways to access this information:
1. You can browse the entire site map to find information on a specific area
Browse the Pack-Track™ categories and select the page you want. 

2. You can enter a specific keyword search to focus on a specific topic
Use the Pack-Track™ search facility to find a specific page 

3. Enter your personal key/code to access material specially chosen by our consumer packaging experts to meet your brief
Use the Pack-Track™ login and enter a specific key/code

To view some examples of our unique and interactive PackFocus™ click here - and enter the key/code "demo".

Secondly we provide Pack-Track™ Workshops to help you understand the bigger picture, trends and gain further value for your team -

 Pack-Track™ Workshops

• Skilfully managed sessions at your location led by a senior Pack-Track™ person
• Highly visual and creative
• Trends on the global packaging scene and how it impacts on your brief are revealed, showing you the bigger picture
• Specific areas are focussed on in more detail
• New technologies, materials and formats are revealed
• Up to 4 of these interactive and creative workshops a year as part of membership
• Opportunity to see and touch real packaging samples