CARDBOARD PHARMACEUTICAL PACKAGING AS A POWERFUL COMMUNICATION MEAN
At the end of 2017, the World of Packing magazine published an article by our deputy director on
cardboard pharmaceutical packaging. Rather, how it affects the purchase of goods. The article was
the result of much research and study of the history and development of cardboard packaging.
We suggest you also read this article:
Pharmaceutical carton packaging as a powerful communication tool
We do not notice that we always and everywhere accompanied by packaging. We are used to it to such
an extent that when we go to the pharmacy, we would rather be surprised to see the goods without
packaging. We enter the pharmacy and immediately hundreds and thousands of drugs begin to fight for
our attention, for us to believe in what they promise. This happens unnoticed by ourselves.
Packaging for pharmaceutical companies is a powerful weapon in the fight for the buyer, as well as a
means of communication with him. It has a personality. It inspires
confidence and faith in healing. It helps sell. It forms the attitude to the product. In the end: it
is the face of the company.
The history of the development of cardboard packaging
Carton packaging originated in the distant 18th century. At that time, no one knew the word
“marketing”, but the sellers felt that with the help of a beautiful framing of the goods one could
attract the attention of the buyer to a certain product. So, at first, the most expensive goods were
framed in cardboard packaging: pharmaceuticals and jewelry.
Gradually, the production of cardboard packaging became so profitable that it was allocated in a
separate craft. Finished packages, as a rule, had a round or oval shape, because this flexible
material was easier to bend than fold and make it square.
One of the first drugs that achieved incredible success in 1750 among consumers of the high society
of England was the drug “Dr. Hooper’s pills”. This medicine was widely known among wealthy
Englishmen. And one of the reasons for the staggering success was the beautiful cardboard packaging
of the medicine.
In 1850, the first foldable packaging appeared, which is delivered to sellers in the form of flat
blanks. Mandatory attribute of the package becomes a beautiful label. In Europe, packaging is
usually oval or round. Interestingly, rectangular packages were much less common and were considered
not the best option for selling drugs.
In 1879 the first convenient folding carton was invented. According to Gair Today, 1879, the driver
who worked for Gair’s company “allowed the ruler to go a little higher on the print press. Before
this mistake was noticed, the ruler cut neat but destructive slots on several thousand paper bags
for seeds … Gair experimentally raised all the metal lines above the required level and found
that his press made the perfect cutting of the folding box. ”
Thus, Gair established the production of cardboard packaging, using his innovation. Work on the
manufacture of cardboard packaging was qualified as hard manual labor. Therefore, its cost was still
high. But with the advent of the new packaging technology, more and more pharmacists have become
lovers of cardboard packaging, the pharmacists stopped packing their own drugs in boxes, and the
manufacturers themselves began to invent unique designs for their products.
Anyway, the real reason for the success of Gair’s packs was that it opened the doors to
marketing. Businesses have found six new free space for ads in a carton. Manufacturers had a huge
amount of information about their product on the package, including recommendations of other people,
history of creation, useful properties and a list of other reasons why this product should be
purchased. The need for paid advertising gradually faded into the background. Numerous posters that
hung the store shelves changed their numbers and now began to hang out on the street or on the
windows. Counters pharmacies and shops have become much more colorful
thanks to the bright patterns on the packaging. By framing their goods in a cardboard box in a
factory, not in a store, advertising directly in magazines and posters, and making their packaging
recognizable, manufacturers were able to control the market.
In the 1900s, cardboard packaging ceased to be a deficit and an indicator of human prosperity. It
was necessary to urgently put on the market products in the packaging of expensive, special design.
Therefore, in addition to fashionable design, in the pharmaceutical cardboard packaging, businessmen
are beginning to use labels with embossing for gold.
By the mid-1920s, the art deco style gradually made its adjustments to the design of pharmaceutical
carton packaging. Here, bold geometric features, halftones, lack of bright colors, ethnic geometric
patterns and at the same time the use of expensive materials or complex colors can be noticed more
often.
During the Second World War, Switzerland was neutral in the global conflict and engaged in its
development. Thus, in the middle of the 20th century, a completely new, unusual design of cardboard
pharmaceutical packaging was created in Switzerland. The post-war world saw a strict, logically
built style. New school typography took the basis: simplicity and functionality, documentary
photography, strict composition, free space, asymmetry, readability (sans serif font), the most
economical design and simplicity of forms. An important principle of the Swiss style has become the
principle of conventionality, namely: the same symbols are equally perceived by different audiences.
When you first look at the packaging, made in the Swiss style, striking uniformity of forms and
elements, strict geometry, abstract stencils, unusual color combinations.
The Swiss style has won wide recognition among designers due to its novelty, objectivity, speed of
perception, versatility, clear focus and visual language. This style made it easy to establish
communication with the customer.
The pharmaceutical industry almost immediately began to use an international style in the design of
its packages. So the manufacturers of medicines on the packages could display what exactly a
particular drug is intended for.
Practically on all pharmaceutical packages, photographs of people were used instead of graphic
illustrations. The presence of photos, as the Swiss designers believed, raises the level of consumer
confidence in the drug.
In the 1960s, there were important changes in the form of drug release, as well as in the design of
secondary packaging. Given the fact that the consumer now needs to be fought, the packaging must
maintain its appearance for a long time in its original condition. Since during this period the
first supermarkets appeared in Europe, as well as pharmacies with large windows, an important
condition for pharmaceutical companies was the ability of the cardboard packaging to perform
exposition functions.
In the early 1970s, the era of Swiss international style came to an end and the world was
overwhelmed by the “new wave” of moderate postmodernism, which could not but affect the design
pharmaceutical packaging. Postmodernism meant a departure from extremism and a partial return to
tradition.
The first half of the 1990s was very difficult for designers and manufacturers of cardboard
pharmaceutical packaging. This was primarily about creating something new and bringing it to the
market. It seemed that producing something new was too risky. And a new product packaging or a new
design appeared only in the most extreme case, when sales managers and sellers themselves lost
patience at the end due to a decrease in sales.
Since the second half of the 1990s, packaging production in the world, as well as in the countries
of the former USSR, has begun to develop intensively. The production technologies of pharmaceutical
carton packaging are constantly being improved, its range on the market is growing.
Since the 2000s, many pharmacies now look like small supermarkets. Packaging of medicines is an
integral part of modern life. Most packages have a design that the customer will react to it, even
if he does not need the medicine.
Cardboard packaging in the modern world
In today’s world, consumers are more likely to trust packaging than the seller. The idea is
not new. Back in 1928, Richard B. Frenkin wrote in his book Packages That Sell: “The appearance of a
container is the same seller as any employee of flesh and blood, and even better.”
Packaging design itself today is characterized as “effective” or “ineffective”. Therefore,
pharmaceutical companies hire the best design specialists, psychologists, and marketing specialists
in their design departments to create a “shell” for their medicines.
In Europe and America, designers are more focused on consumer associations, easy recognizability of
a necessary drug, light design, but all this together with informative content. Here packaging is a
powerful means of communication, it can “talk” with the patient. Photo 4 Today, the design of
pharmaceutical packaging is developed in accordance with the age of the person. For adults, its
design should be refined and clear. The drug, its use, purpose, use should be clear to the buyer
from the first minute of familiarization with the package. When designing pharmaceutical packaging
for children designers must add a photo of a child, children’s pictures or cartoon characters.
Thus, it is easier for an adult to select a child’s drug in a pharmacy, and the child will take it
with great pleasure. Colors, textures play an imperceptible role in the decision of the buyer to
choose a particular drug.
In 2017, “intelligent packaging” was presented at the Pharmapack exhibition. The most important
advantage of her was the presence of a QR code, thanks to which, at the required time and day for
taking the drug, the patient comes to his gadget as a reminder that it is time to take the medicine.
Not only that, the attending physician can also track how his patient, monitor his blood pressure
and other data he needs.
French advertisers say – “Even God needs bells!”. It will be true to try this
statement on medical packaging. After all, it has long been selling products on its own, replacing
salespeople and consultants. She has a personality, she permits to dream and believe that dreams
will come true, she becomes an assistant in the choice, she inspires faith in healing, she
emphasizes the authority of the manufacturer or, on the contrary, leaves him in the shadows. No
matter how much we resist the fact that packaging affects each of us when choosing a product, all
the same she was and will be our faithful invisible adviser.
Who knows what the packaging will be in 20, 30, 40 years. The world is changing rapidly. Here it is
necessary to give free rein to fantasy, because none of us have any idea what fate it will befall in
reality. Perhaps the cardboard pharmaceutical packaging will take on new forms, or each will have
protection from children or from being opened by strangers. Or maybe she will talk to the consumer
and tell him the purpose of the drug and instructions for its use. Or one picture will be magically
replaced by another.
Perhaps there will be new developments in packaging design and it will remain only the name of the
drug. Or, on the contrary, it will be forbidden to use multi-color printing and effects to attract
the attention of consumers. Even today, people are moving away from the mass and require
individuality in products. Therefore, it may be made in very small quantities and specifically for
the tastes of a single group of consumers. Who knows what awaits us?
Still, the packaging is likely to survive a lot of transformations, but I doubt that it will ever
disappear. It will remain a loyal assistant to manufacturers, designers,
marketers, sellers and even us, consumers. Packaging is a simple, yet powerful tool for
communication and consumer commitment.
After all, as Thomas Hein said: “Packaging is a temptation. It helps the product go to the consumer.
”
Valery Grankina-Zolotaryova, Deputy Director of Slaven LLC