The zero moment of truth: that crucial point in time in which a consumer puts a product into their basket.
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What decides that a product will be chosen by a consumer at that zero moment of truth? And how does the consumer's thinking process differ when their shopping experience isn't on the high street or in a supermarket, but browsing on a smartphone or a laptop?
One company that is considering the changing way people shop and respond to packaging is Jabil Packaging Solutions, a division of Jabil Inc. Jabil Packaging Solutions is an innovator that will freely admit it has lain slightly under the radar for many years. The company started out as Nypro Packaging in 2005 and has developed into an organisation that provides packaging solutions that address the challenges facing brands in a changing shopping environment. From appealing to the millennial consumer, to developing packaging that can automatically call for replenishment when supplies are running low, to sustainable solutions as the 'green' dollar/euro/pound reigns, Jabil is focused on squaring up to the real challenges facing brands both on the shelf and online across the entire consumables spectrum and beyond.
Jabil Packaging Solutions invited a clutch of industry journalists to a central London hotel to introduce themselves and their unusual work in the field of packaging in February. Nypro founding member and Jabil Packaging Solutions COO and Global Business Unit Vice-President Joe Stodola explained that rather than tell brands what they need, or how they ought to evolve their packaging, Jabil Packaging Solutions instead takes a brief or challenge and then develops the packaging solution that addresses it.
"We take on the biggest challenges our customers have in terms of understanding consumers, designing products that meet their needs and then delivering those products," Stodola explained.
"We don't have a stock portfolio solution. We run an end-to-end product offering where we help our customers with innovation. Whether that product is a computer or food packaging, we understand the customer's needs and we pull from capabilities that we invest in intensely."
There isn't a trend that the team at Jabil Packaging Solutions hasn't explored for its customers but the overwhelming need for connected packaging and for smart packaging is something the company is proud to be able to lend its expertise to.
The nerve centres of the company are at its Blue Sky Innovation Centers in San Jose, California, and in Tortosa, on Spain's Balearic coast, supported by its optical communication and Blue Sky Center in Marcianise, Italy, and its Digital Lab in Singapore. The company operates some 100 sites in 29 countries around the world, serving the biggest brands on the planet. In all, the parent company, Jabil is an estimated $19 billion (€15.3 billion, £13.6 billion) company - the biggest packaging innovator you've never heard of.
Zeroing in
"Our jobs are to connect with our customers in packaging to understand how they connect to the consumer in a meaningful way," Stodola said.
He explained that the 'zero moment of truth' is the most important point to remember when relating packaging to a customer. It is the single moment in time when a customer puts that product in their basket - online or otherwise - and the lead-up to that decision is vital to understand in a changing shopping environment.
Amazon
There are lots of trending factors that can contribute to the desired outcome at the zero moment of truth and all of these were discussed at length by Jabil Packaging experts at the London press meeting, which included insights from CPG and CHP Business Unit Director Isabelle Orhan, and Neil Court-Johnston, Business Unit Manager for Food and Beverage.
Smart packaging
Every Jabil solution that makes it to the consumer is a smart package, offering the Jabil Brand Brilliance standard of packaging that meets the challenges of the modern day.
Orhan explained that nowadays, the average Fortune 500 company has a much shorter life expectancy - a sign of changing times.
Brand loyalty becomes less bankable, we live in smaller accommodations in urban areas, and we are on the go a lot more; this means we need convenient, compact packaging, as we do not have the space or appetite to bulk-buy, and this packaging has to relate to the consumer.
"With smart packaging, you need to ask where is the impact?" she asked. "Is it at home? How will the consumer connect with this product?"
With beauty products, Orhan said, the connection is personal - a personal skincare regime, a foundation that perfectly matches your own skin tone. The consumer is looking for a personal experience, influenced by social media.
Sustainability
Arguably, sustainability is the most pressing issue for any packaging developer in Europe, especially given the recent news reports concerning ocean plastics and their devastating impact on the natural environment. Sustainable packaging by definition is packaging that reduces the amount of unsustainable material needed in the manufacturing process, it is packaging that can be reused, or it is packaging that can be recycled.
"We want to develop packaging that uses less plastic, as well as taking a holistic approach to sustainability by looking at giving back to the community," Orhan said.
Court-Johnston added that Jabil is focusing on the disposability and reusability of packaging, by creating recyclable products and helping to encourage recycling.
As far as targets for sustainability are concerned, Jabil's sustainability goals are set by its customers and are another challenge for its team of innovators to rise to, nevertheless, the company itself is mindful of sustainability and its corporate social responsibility.
Stodola explained that Jabil makes green choices in its facilities such as replacing old lighting systems with energy-efficient lighting, reusing pallets and setting up agreements with recyclers while limiting the amount of waste the company sends to landfill.
"We do everything we can for sustainability and encourage our customers to reuse their pallets, for example. Our job is to bring capabilities to them to help them realise their roadmap around sustainability," he stated, adding that now more than ever, green promises on paper are being turned into actions.
Ageing population
As well as having smaller homes, making compact packaging more appealing for the modern kitchen or bathroom, the general population is living longer. This is a crucial thing to consider with packaging, because it has to be easy for an elderly person to open while staying child-proof in some instances.
Food packaging
"It has to be hard to open for a kid and easy to open for an adult, so we have to come up with plastic packaging designs that can fit both situations," Stodola stated, noting that packaging solutions that dispense one dose of a product at a time are a good way to ensure usability that is child-friendly.
Industry 4.0
The number one buzzword in plastics in recent years has ultimately been Industry 4.0, a trend that has not passed the innovators at Jabil by.
The company uses Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) to form the foundations of its smart factory, with all of Jabil's centres integrating Industry 4.0 capabilities. Automation is the future for packaging, as labour costs rise and the talent pool shrinks.
"We've got to get labour out of our systems," said Stodola. "It's just not available and it's getting more expensive so we need automation and we need Industry 4.0."
The company is facing the packaging challenges of today head on, trying to find the formulae that work for new environments such as Amazon and remote shopping.
Stodola describes 'Amazonification' as an unstoppable force, and Jabil Packaging Solutions is the innovator that is filling in the blanks Amazon disruption has exposed for brands all over the world.
"The normal packaging companies of the world don't have the deep capability of the Jabil Packaging Solutions platform," he stated.
