The 20th Pro Carton ECMA Award trumped with a new record: more participants, from more countries, and even more entries. On 15 September 2016 the prizes were presented in festive surroundings at the ECMA Congress in Cannes – to an audience of leading personalities from the European cartonboard and carton industry.
Moderator Tony Hitchin guided the guests through a superb show set against the magnificent backdrop of the Palm Beach Casino in Cannes. And it became more than clear: the significance of packaging as a marketing instrument is increasing continuously and sustainability is becoming part and parcel of brand identity. In addition, cartons are getting smarter and developing highly enhanced interiors: covering topics such as safety closures, product arrangement or presentation, offer more sustainable alternatives than other packaging materials – particularly with regard to plastic packaging which is unpopular with consumers, are becoming a deliberately used marketing tool and active selling instrument in the era of multi-channel communication, underline the sustainability aspects of brand management and are deliberately used for this purpose, are a “delight” at the Point of Sale: not only through “loud” colours, but increasingly through their structural design.
The finalists had already been announced in August. The awards were divided into seven categories as well as three major awards: “Carton of the Year” , “Most Innovative” and “Sustainability” . The certificates and trophies were presented by Roland Rex, Pro Carton President, and Dr. Andreas Blaschke, ECMA President.
“Carton of the Year” went to the e-cigarette packaging: “My. Von Erl”: extremely elegant, My.Von Erl creates an absolute wow effect when opened. Without using any other materials than cartonboard, the packaging embraces all the elements and accessories. The winner in the “Sustainability” category was the “Beam-Box” by Varta: highly attractive, sustainable, innovative and practical in use – this triangular shaped carton simply has everything good packaging needs. The “Most Innovative” Award went to the striking yet simple solution “Pago Fruit Juice: Honeydew-Mango Promotion” : the highly creative execution allows an additional bottle to be added to the packaging, either as a bonus or to introduce a new flavour.
The judges from all sections of the Supply Chain were impressed by the surprising and convincing ideas: Satkar Gidda (SiebertHead, chairman of the jury) was responsible for design and marketing – together with Susanne Lippitsch (SL Design), Wilfried Duivenvoorden (Unilever) for the brands. Lotte Krekels (Carrefour) contributed perspectives from the retail trade, Peter Strahlendorf (“New Business” publisher) represented the market and consumers. Peter Klein Sprokkelhorst acted as consultant to the jury in terms of the technical finesse of the entries.
