The Jury
| JURY CHAIRMAN'S REPORT 2004 This is only my second year as Chairman, but I can confirm to you that being part of the jury is an exciting and infectious experience. Before the judging, as we waited to enter the room where all the exhibits are laid out, we wondered what surprises were in store this year. And we were definitely not disappointed in the richness of quality of the large part of the submissions. The number of entries was also very high (thank you sincerely all contributors!), only a little less than last year, so there was plenty to choose from, but and there's always a but, the dominance of some categories, both in numbers and in innovative thinking, is all too obvious. For the routinely well supported categories, there is always a surplus of good ideas. But, for the weaker ones, nothing stands out as a great solution. Worse, there may not be sufficient quality in any of the entries to get a prize. This is a great pity because, as Richard Dalgleish says in his foreword, there are lots of fantastic packages out there in the stores. Why aren't they getting into the contest? If this was only a competition about technical excellence, I'm sure there could have been many winners. There is no doubt that the standard of execution is exemplary. However, it is a competition about broader attributes, principally consumer benefits, which includes an aesthetic element. This is even true about so-called "functional" packaging. This is the area where we encounter difficulty. In fact, this year the pharmaceutical category was judged not to have the standard of entry that merited an award. This is very sad, considering it is a category where there is not the same squeeze on pack costs as would be found in mainstream food and beverages. What is the problem? Are there not enough innovations/renovations going on? I don't believe this. Are we not getting a representative set of entries? This is more likely. I would like to suggest that, if we want to create the high profile we need to make packaging a genuine high-performance media, we need to get those missing entries into not just pharmaceutical, but every category. Marketing people in client companies are not necessarily only interested in mass media. If they see a genuine opportunity created by exciting packaging, they will grab it with both hands. A few personal comments on the winners. |
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| Allan Boyle has spent 35 years in packaging, starting on the supplier side, where he was Product Development Manager for a large UK company. Since 1983, he has held various positions within the Nestlé Marketing Communications Group in the International Head Office in Vevey, Switzerland, and spent two years in Canada as Design Director. Currently, he is Creative Services Manager, responsible for Packaging and Branding for the Worldwide Strategic Brand portfolio, Corporate Identity and Design, Internal Marketing Communication and Graphics Project Development. Training in Design and Point-of-Purchase material all over the world is also a major part of his team's responsibility. Allan has degrees in Industrial Design and in Marketing. |
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| Katrin Werth is Product Manager for BALEA, the premium private label of dm-drogeriemarkt, a German drugstore retail chain. After her graduation as a business economist from the University of Saarbrücken (D) in 1998, she worked as product manager in the adhesive industry, before joining dm-drogeriemarkt in April 2001. Before starting her professional career, she worked as a freelancer involved in the planning, and co-ordination of consumer marketing projects commissioned by various companies. | ||
| Satkar Gidda is the sales and marketing director of the packaging design company SiebertHead (UK). Having studied business management and marketing, Satkar gained his brand experience during five and a half years at Rowntree Mackintosh, working his way up through several positions including sales, trade marketing and latterly in new product development as Brand Manager. He joined RHM Foods as Trade Development Manager within the newly formed trade marketing function before joining SiebertHead in 1989. There he was appointed a director in 1991. | ||
| Pascal van Beek has been active as a packaging buyer throughout his career, which started at Mars in 1991, where he worked for a company called Masterfoods, producing sauces in glass jars (Uncle Ben's, Dolmio and Suzi Wan). After 1.5 years as management trainee, he became a packaging buyer. Subsequently, he worked for Nestlé, where he was European Purchasing Manager printed packaging for their petfood division (Friskies, Gourmet, Felix, Winalot, Bonzo etc. etc.). In March 1999, he joined Unilever Ice Cream and Frozen Foods Europe (ICFE). His team is responsible for all packaging buying for the factories in Europe incl. Poland, Hungary, Turkey and Israel. Special advisors to the jury were Richard Dalgleish (Managing Director of Pro Carton) and Jürgen Bihler (Pro Carton Germany). | ||
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| The innovation award, that recognizes outstanding "out of the box" thinking was well merited by the barbecue starter kit. It displayed a rare characteristic - it was self liquidating! The jury really appreciated the inescapable fact that this pack was really "holistic" and even disposed of itself at the end of its life. Any more out there like that? I hope. Get working on them for 2005! The Carton of the Year was simply a very elegant use of the capability of solid board - to make itself into a really pleasing shape that wasn't a rectangular box. The technical and aesthetic aspects of this pack really came together beautifully to make an almost organic shape. Furthermore, it opened to make a great tablepack for family sharing. The other winners brought a variety of surprising features:
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| A last thought. Packaging is clearly a high performance medium; at its best the equal of any other media. It is absolutely value for money. But, it is not something that we can stop pushing and supporting. If we do, it will lose its momentum. We count on you, the material suppliers, the pre-press industry, the printers and converters to help us promote this great medium. Thanks a million for 2004 - and let's make 2005 even better! Allan Boyle, Vevey, August 2004 |
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