Packaging
Turning merchandising upside down
When I began at Nordic Ware, I noticed that the product packaging was very box centric and old-fashioned. I quickly saw an opportunity to influence how the product could be packaged - turning it upside down. I asked the question – why are we creating packaging that does not show the product or how the cakes will look? The pans are beautiful and that detail needed to be the focus.
I began to collaborate closely with our chipboard and corrugated print vendors on how we could package the pan upside down. This new approach saw sales increase because our consumer could quickly see what the product was, touch it and imagine what they could bake with it. An additional bonus was that the new packaging allowed the pan to nest and stack but still communicate what the product was. This stacking and space savings allowed for increasing product volume in plan-o-grams. Nordic Ware still merchandises their product this way today.
Old Bundt packaging
Bundt pan merchandising today
Upgraded packaging for upscale retailers
Typically, in the past, Nordic Ware had issues selling similar product to upscale retailers at higher price points. The manufacturing and tooling was the same, but somehow we needed to find a way to differentiate the way the product was merchandised.
I engaged a corrugated box company and we started to collaborate on a box. I wanted a box that looked like a gift. I imagined the box would appear to have a texture and ribbons. It was important to me that the consumer could open the box easily to see the amazing pan inside. The box also needed to stack in different ways for different retailers depending on merchandising space.
The final result created an impactful display and we were able to set our product apart from other manufacturers because our customer interacted with the product through the cut out. Additionally, the corrugated box company won an award for the box design.