Improving packs with an innovative spirit

Two months ago, 45 packaging producers from across Europe congregated in the Edinburgh offices of drinks giant Diageo. In the heart of the Bauhaus-inspired building, Diageo presented a series of innovation challenges, the results of which are eagerly anticipated this month.

The Supplier Innovation Programme (SIP), as it is known, laid out a series of packaging-related briefs based on the gripes of marketers, packaging specifiers and technologists within Diageo. The scheme charged material and packaging suppliers – old and new – to fulfil the broad briefs laid out by the company. Of those in attendance at the Edinburgh launch, around 30% were new to the brand, having only been used by the company in the past year.

The event was a hugely positive session and I was delighted with the response and encouraged that all suppliers are up for the innovation challenge, says Gary Crawford, Diageo’s packaging technology manager of premium packaging technology. One supplier present at the event praised the scheme: It’s refreshing and great to see a business being positive, planning and thinking growth at times like this. We are not seeing this anywhere else.

Hillside hub
The SIP was masterminded by the team at Diageo’s packaging hub, nestled in the Stirling hills, not far from the Wallace Monument that holds the sword of William Wallace. Here, Crawford and his team investigate ways to improve the packaging of Diageo’s spirits range, from Johnnie Walker and Gordon’s gin to Smirnoff vodka.

Diageo operates three packaging manufacturing sites across Scotland. Leven on the east coast packs the white spirits: Smirnoff, Gordon’s and Tanqueray gins. Shieldhall in central Glasgow deals with the high volume brands such as JB or Johnnie Walker Red and Black. Finally, the Kilmarnock site on the west coast is the home of Johnnie Walker and low-volume luxury lines.

Diageo’s origins lie in the 18th century when Giacomo Justerini arrived in London and formed Johnson & Justerini, which later became Justerini & Brooks, wine merchants and blenders of the famous J&B whisky range. The company still holds a product archive, which is frequented by marketers seeking branding and packaging inspiration.

The archive holds hundreds of years’ worth of advertising, memorabilia and packaging for all of Diageo’s brands, explains Crawford. Marketers use it for inspiration and as a reference to the brand heritage and the history for packaging changes and redesigns.

According to Crawford, packaging redesigns have increased from every four to five years to every two to three years. Brand redesigns go beyond tweaking label design. One of the key areas for us is brand value engineering, where it’s about cost optimisation and finding technology that could potentially reduce costs without downspeccing, says Crawford.

For example, Diageo investigated a move to a whisky bottle weighing just 298g, but was deterred by the fact it was only available in flint, as opposed to the green favoured by many Diageo whiskies. Additionally, the company was concerned by how a change of bottle would affect capital expenditure.

The company’s resulting pack weighed in at 340g. To us it’s about finding the balance and having optimum packaging that meets all of its functional, environmental and brand aesthetic needs, says Crawford.

Tricky business
Sustainability is a key aspect of Diageo’s packaging focus alongside its responsibility to its many long-established brands. It’s a complex process, developing packaging, says Crawford. Our job is to make sure that whatever goes out to the market is 100% quality, runs down the line and meets our marketers’ and customers’ expectations.

The company has set itself sustainability targets. It is in the process of developing a tool that measures its performance in relation to transport, recyclability, sustainable sources, weight and more. We want to be able to benchmark packs, says Crawford. We need to have an environmental conscience and to measure that.

Over the past year, Diageo has visited packaging shows such as Emballage and Luxepack to find out where it stands in terms of its packaging, trips that have also opened Crawford’s eyes to what can be learnt from other sectors like the perfume industry.

We are looking at other sectors as inspiration to discover different ways to use materials, says Crawford. Whisky and spirits packaging has always been very traditional and I believe we can learn from other sectors on packaging.

Sustainability and innovation will continue to be high on Diageo’s agenda, but through its engagement of suppliers this could present itself in new ways on-pack. This is particularly true in light of the SIP. How the company’s old and new suppliers fulfil briefs is yet to be seen, but could potentially change the face of spirits packaging – and solve a few of the Diageo team’s gripes at the same time.

DIAGEO: A HISTORY
1749 Giacomo Justerini arrives in London from Italy and forms the Johnson & Justerini partnership
1759 Arthur Guinness establishes his brewery in Dublin
1779 Johnson & Justerini start selling Scotch whisky
1830 Charles Tanqueray formulates his recipe for gin
1886 Smirnoff becomes the sole supplier of vodka to the Russian Imperial Court
1909 Johnnie Walker Red Label and Black Label launched
1989 British launch of Guinness Draught in cans
1997 Diageo formed by merger of GrandMet and Guiness business
1999 Smirnoff Ice launched in UK
2000 Paul Walsh becomes chief executive
2005 Acquires Bushmills Irish whisky and the Chalone wine group
2007 Diageo acquires 43% of the equity of Sichuan Chengdu Quanxing group
in China
2008 Bushmills whisky celebrates its 400th anniversary

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