Packaging Digest

NACD announces winner of 2011 Best of Show award

The annual NACD Packaging Awards program recognizes the most innovative packages released during the previous year. The judging for the 48th Annual competition was held on February 7 to 8, 2011 in Cincinnati, OH. The competition featured 117 innovative entries within seven categories. The categories were Cosmetic & Personal Care, Food & Beverage, Drug & Pharmaceutical, Novelty, Household Chemical & Automotive, Pet & Vet and General Industrial. Seventeen NACD member companies participated in this year's event.

The package receiving the most judging votes overall is awarded the Bernard M. Seid "Best of Show" award. This award is named as memorial to Bernard M. Seid, a valuable contributor to NACD and an innovator in the packaging industry as well as a leader in the development of the NACD Packaging Awards program. The rest of the 2011 awards will be announced during the NACD Annual Convention, taking place April 6-10 at the La Quinta Resort & Club in Palm Springs, CA.

Judges were chosen from varied backgrounds, including academia, consumer packaged goods and trade publishing. (Disclosure: The author of this article participated in judging.) The Kandoo Corner Buddy package was chosen on multiple criteria and was especially noted for its high shelf impact and practical design.

The packaging is a redesign of the Pampers Kandoo brand, with the aim to design and launch a range of body wash, shampoo, hand soap and hand sanitizer packages that reinforced the brand attributes of enabling play.

To execute this strategy, Nehemiah Manufacturing Co. went to Berlin Packaging, which then met with mothers and kids to understand how and where they use these product types. 

It was discovered that there was a need for a hand sanitizer package to travel in the car and to be placed in the often unreachable and unstable locations for hand soap and bath products on sink or tub ledges. The Corner Buddy package meets these consumer needs by fitting snugly in the tub or sink corner. The development process included hand and CAD sculpting for the lifelike Kandoo frog character features, and results in a unique package that makes staying clean fun and safe for young kids.