1.

Introduction
Berlin Packaging is a supplier of packaging services based in Chicago, Illinois, United
States. Its customers include companies in the beverage, food, personal care, pharmaceutical,
household care, industrial, and coatings sectors. In 2017, Berlin Packaging reported a
valuation of $2.6 billion and revenue of $1.3 billion.
At the end of 2017, the firm had 30 sales offices as well as more than 75 dedicated or third-
party warehouse locations across the United States and Canada. Through its European
operations with Bruni Glass and Bruni Erben, Berlin Packaging also has sales and warehouse
locations in Italy, France, Spain, England, and South Africa.

2. History
Berlin Packaging was formed in 1988] when lawyer Andrew T. Berlin joined his father in
purchasing Alco Packaging, a longtime Chicago-based container company, which was
renamed Berlin Packaging. Alco Packaging earned $69 million in annual sales at the time,
and its roots trace back to 1898, when Riekes Container was founded, a firm purchased by
Alco Packaging in 1975.

3. Mission

2)
1)
3)

Increase Sales Reduce Costs Improve Productivity

Differentiate from competition Cut unit cost Streamline supply chain
Reduce material use Attract consumers Increase line speeds
Optimize pack-out Build loyalty Handle inventory
Reduce freight spend Promote trial Provide on-time delivery
Minimize returns Encourage rebuy Simply Order Management
Lower warehousing spend Support pricing
 4. Model
1. We Have the Best Elements of a Manufacturer
Large scale and broad scope deliver low-cost and flexibility. We contract out
manufacturing to 900+ suppliers worldwide. With 20+ years of global sourcing
experience and 200+ experts dedicated to procurement and operations, we effectively
have unlimited capacity, and aren’t handcuffed to specific technology or equipment or
tools.

2. We Perform Distribution and Logistics Services

With 100+ worldwide sales and warehouse locations, we manage inventory, handle
inbound and outbound logistics, and deliver when you need it. We seek to lower total
system costs by consolidating inventory across the entire supply chain, including taking
inventory off of customers’ floors.

3. We Provide Extra Services and Value-Added Offerings

Our proven approach helps customers improve their net income by increasing sales,
decreasing costs, and improving productivity. We use our packaging products and
services to help drive your bottom line. Hybrid suppliers go far beyond what a classic
manufacturer or distributor does. Hybrid suppliers embrace innovation, efficiency, and a
maniacal focus on customer thrill.

5. Division/Service
Learn About Our Divisions

Package Design from Concept to Commercialization

Studio One Eleven delivers world-class package and brand design services at no charge in
exchange for supply agreements. Our full-service design studio works in tandem with our
vast supply network to commercialize innovative packages that drive results
 Source Products from Around the World with Ease
Our Berlin Global Packaging Group is committed to delivering in-spec and on-time
shipments of global packaging solutions across all industries and markets. We source from all
around the globe, including China, India, Europe, Australia, and Vietnam. We have over 20
years of global sourcing experience and 100+ professional staff located worldwide.

Grow Your Business at 0% Interest

We loan money to customers at 0% interest to make capital expenditures, and we do this in
exchange for new packaging business. Customers pay us back either in the piece price or
through a payment plan.
 E3 Consulting
Create Superior Returns on Your Investments
E3’s services target five major areas. Each is a key step any company goes through to create
profit.

Strategic Planning: Deciding what business to compete in and how to do so.

1. Business definition
2. Situation assessment
3. Vision and targets
4. Strategies and actions
5. Implementation planning and support

Passion for Quality

The team has a passion for making
sure that Berlin Packaging delivers
consistent, high quality product.
This includes helping ensure
customer needs are clearly understood and matched with the right manufacturer.
Our Berlin Quality team is your advocate in the world of packaging quality.
Berlin Packaging’s Quality Service Division is equipped with the tools, knowledge and
experience to help with packaging and production troubleshooting.

Where Performance is Part of the Package.

For more than 30 years, Berlin Dangerous Goods has been designing and manufacturing UN-
rated packaging in a wide variety of styles. Our proven approach finds creative ways to
minimize your risk and ensure the safe transportation of your product. We offer almost 2,000
components and supply millions of packages and packaging systems a year. By evaluating
performance, compatibility, and market trends, our team is able to work directly with you to
offer the best solution for your exact needs.
 Packaging down to a Science
For over 30 years, Qorpak has provided packaging solutions and laboratory essentials to a
variety of industries including pharmaceutical, educational, chemical, environmental, oil and
gas, automotive, medical, and many more markets.
Qorpak is dedicated to being dependable, innovative, responsive, and customer centric to fill
our customer's needs. Providing first class service to customers is our specialty - how can we
thrill you today?

6. Market Served/Types of Packaging

 Automotive Packaging

Automotive plastic bottles can be used to contain and conveniently store liquids like
chemicals, oils, or fertilizers. Automotive steel containers are a popular packaging option for
products such as paint and brake fluids. Choose from a myriad of automotive product
containers like tins, buckets, and jugs that come in different sizes and materials.
Choose from round, rectangular, and F-style packaging that stacks, packs, and ships cost-
effectively. Automotive chemical bottles can come with needle tip droppers for precise
dispensing, or bags and ties to prevent leakage.
Berlin Packaging offers many extra services such as supply chain management and
warehousing options. Their design team can work with you to create labels and decorate
packaging. They'll assist you in selecting embossments, choosing brand color schemes, and
designing eye-catching decals.

 Beverages Packaging
Beverage bottles are most commonly made from glass or plastic, and come in a variety of
shapes, sizes, and colors. You can pair them with many different types of closures, including
tamper-evident caps that allow you to easily notice when products have been compromised.
Consider threaded or snap-on caps that provide quick and easy opening. Beverage bottles can
also be fitted with sports caps that have spouts with small openings to avoid spilling, and
which can be easily pushed down to close the bottle. These usually come with overcaps to
keep the spout clean.
A strong and durable option, glass beverage bottles are nonporous, protecting products from
contaminants, and ensuring that contents maintain their original odor and flavor. Plastic is a
lightweight material that can reduce shipping-related expenses. Plastic bottles are also
shatter-resistant, reducing breakage and product waste.
Berlin Packaging provides additional services such as label design and management
consulting. They will ensure quality services when it comes to choosing suppliers and
reducing waste. They even have an on-site laboratory for testing products for quality and
consistency.

 Food Packaging

From food jars to beverage bottles to plastic containers, Berlin offers FDA-approved or food-
grade packaging manufactured to keep food fresh, secure, and easy to use, both at home and
on the go.
Popular materials for packaging include plastics like HDPE, acrylic, and PP. Because of their
durability and lightweight when shipping, wholesale food containers in plastic are cost-
effective. A wide variety of glass food containers offers aesthetic choices like decanters,
mugs, jam and Mason jars, and bale wire jars with vacuum seals. Glass is inert,
environmentally friendly, and easily and widely recycled, making glass containers a popular
choice. 
Berlin Packaging can assist with warehousing and inventory needs. With substantial
international warehouse space, Berlin helps keep your products safe and on hand when
needed.
  Home Care Packaging

Home and industrial cleaners need packaging that matches the product's function. Plastic
spray bottles for soap and other light cleaners, and jugs or buckets for bulk or professional-
strength cleaning materials make it easy to use products directly from the package. Available
in a variety of styles, capacities and colors, these home care bottles and other packaging
options will ensure that your product stays sealed and safe on the shelf, and ready to use.
Berlin wants to help your business grow in all aspects, so in addition to packaging solutions,
we also offer professional management consulting and strategic planning services, helping to
define your business and vision. By helping you to improve everything from customer service
and marketing to IT and human resources, we can help you ensure that your product gets to
market effectively, and remains a strong brand from production to sales.

 Industrial Chemical Packaging

Chemical bottles come in a variety of materials like impact-resistant plastic and strong steel.
They are a good fit for storing products such as chemicals, lubricants, paints, pesticides, and
cleaners. These bottles come in many different sizes, and can be paired with practical
closures that ensure product integrity, and prevent contents from leaking.
Durable and lightweight plastic bottles provide good packaging for chemicals because they
are shatter-resistant, which helps to prevent potentially hazardous materials from spilling
when the product is dropped. Choose from industrial bottles with twin necks and a built-in
dispensing chamber so you can measure and pour without any additional equipment
Berlin Packaging provides many additional services, including label design and warehousing
options. Their team of professionals will also provide supply chain management by
maintaining your stock levels, tracking deliveries, and ensuring product quality.

 Wine Packaging
Wine bottles come in a variety of sizes and colors such as classic green and amber, which
help keep out ultraviolet radiation and preserve the flavor and aroma of wine. To store larger
amounts of wine, choose from containers such as stainless steel barrels. Bottles can be fitted
with cork or threaded cap closures, and handheld and semi-automatic machines make corking
and capping faster..
Wine bottles with corks are used to prevent oxidation from occurring too quickly. A
lightweight and natural choice, wine corks come in the traditional cylindrical shape or are
tapered for a unique look. Try bar top stoppers that combine plastic caps with synthetic cork
as they're easy to remove and reuse. Clear wine bottles with caps such as threaded, tamper-
evident tops allow for easy opening and ensure product integrity. Use handheld wine corkers
to prevent cork damage during insertion or electric cappers to increase productivity.

 Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Packaging

Pharmaceutical bottles are made from materials such as plastic and glass, and are available in
a variety of sizes. They are a good choice for packaging both liquid and solid products.
Choose colors such as clear, which improves content visibility, or green and amber, which
help protect light-sensitive products from ultraviolet radiation.
As they're both lightweight and durable, plastic bottles are a good packaging option that can
reduce shipping expenses. Plastic is also impact-resistant, so the bottles do not break easily
when dropped, thereby protecting contents and reducing product waste
Berlin Packaging offers a variety of extra services such as supply chain management and
label design. They also provide warehousing options to reduce the cost of inventory-related
expenses. They will even maintain your stock levels, and oversee your deliveries.

 Cosmetics Packaging
Enhancing or launching products in packaging that inspires wellness is key to boosting
customer confidence before they buy. Combine elegance with convenience and design with
durability with cosmetic packaging supplies. Select glass, plastic, and metal packaging, with
lids and accessories to match, for all of your health and beauty products.
Products that use organic ingredients packaged in clear cosmetic packaging appeal to
consumers because containers showcase nature's colors, and makes them recognizable as a
pure product. Colorful liquid soaps and lotions displayed in traditional round, ball, or bell-
shaped glass, or PET plastic bottles look attractive on a shelf in a shop and in the home. Heavy
walled plastic cosmetics jars, which give the attractive appearance of glass but without the
weight, and glass cosmetic jars sit comfortably in the hand and feel like a premium product.
At Berlin Packaging, decorating and labeling a brand and seeing it come alive on the shelf is
easy. From spray coating to UV screen printing and embossing, on-site machines make
prototypes ready for viewing in hours to save you time, and deliver results.

7. Ownership
In October 2014, investment manager Investcorp completed the sale of Berlin Packaging
to Oak Hill Capital Partners for $1.43 billion. Oak Hill is the majority owner with a
significant minority stake held by Andrew T. Berlin. The executive management team also
has ownership in the company.
In 2017, the firm had a valuation of $2.6 billion

8. Acquisition
In 2000, Berlin Packaging acquired Knap-Pac Containers, a wholesale provider of industrial
and personal care packaging.
In 2003, it purchased Freund Container, a packaging, closure and industrial-supplies
distributor, maintaining it as an operating division.
In 2010, the firm acquired two companies: All-Pak Inc. of Bridgeville, Pennsylvania, a
supplier of rigid packaging products and services, and Continental Packaging Solutions, a
multinational supplier of glass and plastic containers and closures headquartered in Chicago.
Both companies were merged into Berlin Packaging's larger packaging business.
In 2012, Berlin Packaging acquired two more companies: Lerman Container, a Connecticut-
based packaging supplier, and United States Container Corporation, a California-based
packaging distributor focused on industrial applications. Again, both companies were merged
into Berlin Packaging's overall enterprise.
In 2015, the company made another two acquisitions: Vivid Packaging, a Cleveland-based
packaging supplier, and Diablo Valley Packaging, a $125 million supplier with an emphasis
on glass packaging.
In 2016, Berlin Packaging acquired Bruni Glass, a leading manufacturer of premium and
specialty glass packaging for the spirits, wine, food, and gourmet markets. At the time, Bruni
had sales of $150 million across 7,000 customers and 100 countries. This acquisition
significantly expanded Berlin Packaging's presence in Europe as well as added locations in
Canada, the United States and China.
In 2017, Berlin Packaging extended its European presence with the acquisition of England-
based H. Erben Ltd., a supplier of closures, packaging, and packaging equipment to the food
and drink sectors. H. Erben Ltd. also brought locations in South Africa and California. The
company was re-branded as Bruni Erben, a Berlin Packaging Company.

9. Milestones
In 1989, the firm established its Global Packaging Group, followed a year later by the
formation of E3, a consulting subsidiary. The company announced its Berlin Financial
Services subsidiary in 1991 and opened its Studio One Eleven package design and innovation
studio in 1999. In 2014, the firm's Quality Division began offering consulting services.
In 2007, Investcorp, a global asset management firm, acquired a majority ownership interest
in Berlin Packaging. In 2014, Investcorp sold the corporation to Oak Hill Capital Partners,
which acquired a majority stake. The transaction valued Berlin Packaging at $1.43 billion.

10. Operations
The company's operations are based on a PeopleSoft suite by Oracle. The system was
installed in 2001, and Berlin received awards in 2006 and 2007 from CIO Magazine for their
creative use of the tools. The company has upgraded the software numerous times, with the
most recent major upgrade in 2012.
In 2004, it became the first company in its sector to be ISO 9001 certified. It was re-certified
to the ISO 9001:2008 standard in 2010. It also maintains Customs-Trade Partnership Against
Terrorism (C-TPAT) certification.
The company regularly reports its on-time delivery performance of its packaging shipments.
For every month since June 2004, Berlin has provided 99% or better on-time delivery from
its warehouses.
Berlin Packaging was profiled in The Human Equation, by Jeffrey Pfeffer, a Professor of
Organizational Behavior at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Pfeffer described its
corporate culture as being particularly effective at recognizing the value of people and
aligning management processes with business strategy.

11. Competitors

No of
Company Name Revenue Headquarter
Employee
California,
1. Silgan United States
4221 $2 Billions
Container
Indianapolis,
2. Closure System United States
5000 $1 Billions
International
Krakow,
3. Can Pack 5500 $1 Billions Poland

Deutschland,
4. BERICAP 3650 $906 Millions Zurich

Pennsylvania,
5. Crown United States
33429 $11 Billions
Holdings
Melbourne,
6. Amcor 50000 $13 Billions Australia

United States
7. Vinventions 500 $118 Millions
 12. Marketing Startegy

Why Berlin Packaging

Berlin Packaging’s WHY is to help you be Greater, Faster. Berlin Packaging is dedicated to
those who:

 Aim to dominate and blow through obstacles; are unstoppable.

 Want to achieve more.
 Want to succeed, ascend, elevate, and get more out of their business and their lives.
 Are uncomfortable with the status quo.
 Are proactive about change.
 See the world through optimistic lenses.
 Feel that anything is possible with the right approach and effort.
 Want to control their destiny.
 Expect more from those around them.
 Are often pleased but never satisfied.

What of Berlin Packaging

Ultimately, we deliver all of this through our WHAT.

We provide packaging products and services for customers of all types across all industries.
Our WHAT includes:

 Living our customer-focused mission.

o We aim to increase the bottom lines of our customers.
o Packaging is just the currency we use to do this.
 Being a Hybrid Packaging Supplier®
o We combine the best elements of manufacturers, distributors, and income-
adding service providers into a differentiated business model. See more at
HybridPackagingSupplier.com.
o We quantify our value and walk our talk.
 Engaging a superior team with Anything is Possible® and Customer Thrill
mindsets.
o We invest heavily in recruiting the right traits and training the right skills.
o We abide by a HR strategy that motivates and rewards our employees for
excellence.
o We instill a customer-experience focus in everything we do.
 Leveraging our supply chain experience and deep network.
o We have tremendous purchasing clout to drive down costs.
o We specialize in inventory management so our customers don’t have to.
o We appreciate the importance of speed and reliability in winning in the
market.
  Operating robust systems that underscore a passion for precision.
o We have invested in a world-class Oracle software system that’s so valuable
we call it Fortitude.
o We became ISO 9001 Certified in 2004.
o We support our WHY with a well-tuned HOW.
o We’ve cultivated our Greater, Faster mindset for over 30 years. We’ve built
our HOW to support and fuel our WHY.

We allow our customers to control their destinies and become Greater, Faster by:

 Broad product offering.

o More than 35,000 SKUs.
o Custom packaging, graphic design, and brand strategy from our Studio One
Eleven design division.
o Specialty product solutions, including Dangerous Goods UN-packaging, and
Qorpak lab supplies.
o BerlinPackaging.com convenience.
 Relevant to your needs.
o Wide array of industry experience and packaging knowledge.
o 100+ locations so we’re close to you.
o Lower total system costs.
 Superior service execution.
o 99%+ on-time delivery every month for 14+ years, with more information at
99PercentOnTime.com.
o Dedicated Quality team that advocates for you.
o Customer touch points infused with our focus on POKER service (Proactive,
On-time, Knowledgeable, Easy to do business with, and Responsive).
o Leading Net Promoter score.
 Business partnership.
o Consulting and financing to help you unlock growth and profits.
o Quantified value through semi-annual Business Reviews.

13. Value and Culture

We Cracked the Code On Culture

We demonstrate more passion and effort, creatively so and consistently so, compared to our
competitors. We go above and beyond in the pursuit of thrill for our customers and success
for Berlin. We are the best at what we do.

We believe the employment relationship is based on the concept of the employer and each
individual employee having mutual and reciprocal commitments. Our commitment to this
concept is the basis of our values at Berlin Packaging.

We Engage Our Team with a Set of Mutual Obligations

For more than 25 years, Berlin Packaging has used human resources strategy to develop into
an industry leader by using our ‘T-Chart’ to drive mutual accountability and engagement
between the company and employees.
As a result – our team is thrilled. 71% of our employees are “highly engaged” with Berlin
Packaging; pretty good when Gallup’s study puts the average American company at only
32%.
As a result – our team stays. We have a 94% employee retention rate and we’ve reinvested
back into our workplace through training and development opportunities.
As a result – our team grows together. In the last year, 40 Berliners were promoted into new
opportunities and we’ve added 125+ more Berliners in Sales, Customer Service, Supply
Chain, and Operations because of our explosive growth!

Our Philanthropy
Berlin Packaging integrates philanthropy into our key priorities. Standing out as a strong
member of our community on both local and national levels.

We are proud to support:

 American Cancer Society – Dedicated to eliminating cancer as a major health

problem through research, education, advocacy and service.
 American Red Cross – Prevents and alleviates human suffering in the face of
emergencies by mobilizing the power of volunteers and the generosity of donors.
 Lurie Children’s Hospital – The best in child health care, healing, and research.
 Institute for National Security and Counterterrorism (INSCT), part of the
Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University –
Supporting research on national and international security and terrorism.
14. Executives and Board Members
 Executives Board Members

Michael J Grebe (Chairman) Michael J Grebe

John W Zimmerman (Interim CEO) J Taylor Crandall

William J Haynes (President/CEO) Tung Wai-Hok “Savio”

Amath Fall (CFO) Jeffery Pfeffer

Larry Rydzewski (COO) Michael V Schrock

Emily Campbell (CMO) Steven G Puccinelli

Ricky Brandt (Exec. VP Sales) John W Zimmerman

Richard Chapman (VP Supply Chain) William J Haynes

15. Promotional Strategy

Studio One Eleven is the design and marketing services division of Berlin Packaging, a
leading supplier of rigid packaging.
What sets Studio One Eleven apart from other design firms is the lack of large design fees.
Customers get the benefit of a world-class team of designers, strategists, and engineers in
exchange for purchasing the resulting packaging solution through Berlin Packaging. Because
Studio One Eleven is rewarded when Berlin Packaging sells packages, the team is solely
fixated on the success of their designs in the market rather than packaging awards or billable
hours.

The result is a powerful, self-reinforcing design system – with aligned incentives, an end-to-
end process, and demonstrated results.

Incredible European Designs

Our Bruni Glass team has thousands of unique and compelling shapes and a supply chain that
provides high-quality glass offerings. No matter your category – spirits, gourmet, wine, beer,
home fragrance – Bruni has something special or can design new-to-world items as well.
 Build a Design “Delight Loop”
Package design can be a powerful differentiator and growth catalyst. But there are potential
pitfalls between starting a design project and introducing a successful new package to the
marketplace. We’ve written a white paper that describes how to build a self-reinforcing
Design Delight Loop that supports driving greater profits through smart innovation.

Structural Product Design

We create, revitalize, and enhance packaging in a thoughtful and intelligent manner. 

Armed with a clear understanding of brand attributes and project goals, our team works to
develop a series of manufacturable, brand-appropriate packaging concepts. 

We focus on improving the user experience, enhancing functionality, and maximizing

manufacturing efficiencies. Studio One Eleven is in a unique position to evaluate packaging
solutions not only in terms of their aesthetic appeal, but also in terms of their functionality,
manufacturability, and impact on our clients’ supply chains. 

With low-cost, in-house prototyping options, we are equipped to check form, function, and fit
early in the design process to optimize our solutions to the fullest. 

Our cross-functional team of industrial designers and engineers are ready to assist with: 

 Bottle and closure design 

 Dispensing and dosing systems 
 Ergonomics and form factors 
 3-D Modeling 
 Rapid prototyping

Brand Strategy
Building brands is what we do every day. 

Clients seek our help in defining a strategy that underpins their brands.

Branding is the center of our universe at Studio One Eleven. Exciting as technical knowledge
may be, consumers don’t make purchasing decisions based upon nominal wall thicknesses or
stretch ratios. Consumers buy experiences.

Knowing this, we’ve made a conscious choice to seek out and embrace talent from the design
and branding agency worlds. We fill our bench with enthusiastic folks who are fluent in the
language of marketing – creatives who see packaging as a strategic branding tool rather than
just a way to get product from factory to consumer. Then we teach them about stretch ratios!

Whether you are extending, updating or repositioning an existing brand, or building a new
brand scratch, our team has the experience and the sensitivity to make your brand resonate.
 Brand positioning
 Segmentation strategy
 Brand identity design
 Brand standards and guidelines

Visual Branding and Packaging Design

Everything from shrink sleeves to silkscreens.

Every package needs a label. Great products have well designed labels with compelling logos
and clever brand messaging. A label needs to communicate key information to a consumer
quickly; consumers make decisions in a matter of seconds. Our team designs an identifiable
visual presence within sensible label architectures and brand standards.

Our production artists can assist with: 

 Label architecture and design

 Brand asset management
 Production and implementation
 Art direction, press checks, color matching, and proofing

Product Design
Our expertise around branding, structure, material properties, and
manufacturing process goes beyond packaging. 
We create products of all types. These aren't simple widgets and gadgets – we design, engineer, and create
complex systems including: 

 Compliance packages
 Durable and semi-durable goods
 Medical consumables
 Applicators
 Dispensing systems
 Cartridges

Just like bottles and caps, we offer our design and engineering services for product design in exchange for
your business. 

16. Competitors Strategy

Color is a differentiator on the retail shelf, but the absence of it can sometimes be a better
choice. A white bottle can serve as a neutral backdrop for color-coded labels and closures. It
can send a subliminal message of purity, wholesomeness and cleanliness. It can stand out
amid a sea of brightly colored competitors and convey a premium image that instantly
separates a brand from everything else in the category.

One company that has discovered the might of white is household cleaning products
manufacturer Weiman Products. In the first 12 months after switching its floor cleaning
SKUs from lime-green PET tapered bottles to a curvy custom 27oz white HDPE package —
and simultaneously expanding the number of SKUs from two to five — Weiman tripled sales
of the line and secured new placements in major chains like Walmart.

The new bottle was designed, engineered and sourced by the Studio One Eleven design
division of Berlin Packaging. All design services were supplied at no charge in exchange for
Weiman’s purchase of all containers and closures from Berlin Packaging.

The Studio One Eleven team recommended the use of a white bottle for Weiman’s floor care
line after category analysis and requests by the client for a new pack with more room for
artwork and product positioning. Designers also proposed a benefit-driven communication
architecture that worked in conjunction with the white motif to transform the original
pedestrian-looking bottle into an elegant, upscale package that shines on the shelf while
communicating key product qualities.

Founded in 1941, Weiman Products sells products such as bathroom, furniture and stainless
steel cleaners to some of the top mass market retailers, supermarkets, hardware stores and
home improvement centers in North America. The company expanded into the floor cleaner
category in 2008 with vibrant green bottles selected to send a “green” message about the
products’ eco-friendly formula. 

By 2011, however, it became clear that the Weiman Floor Cleaner and Floor Polish products
were underperforming. The company decided to replace those two all-purpose products with
five SKUs segmented for use with hardwood, carpet and laminate/stone floors. They also
elected to simultaneously relaunch the line with a completely new packaging aesthetic.

“Our product formulation was better than that of our competitors, but our market share
wasn’t growing at the rate we wanted,” says Prachi Junnarkar, program director, Weiman.
“We did a lot of internal marketing analysis and consumer surveys, and we determined that
one of the stumbling blocks was our packaging and labeling. We weren’t communicating our
brand quality, telling our product story clearly or differentiating ourselves from the
competition. We needed a total package makeover to accomplish those goals.”

The Studio One Eleven team began by visiting stores to examine competitive products’
packaging, document merchandising standards and interview store employees about their
perceptions of the Weiman product. After analyzing its findings, the team concluded that the
bottle structure needed to be both modernized and feminized to pump up the shelf appeal. It
also needed a communication architecture that focused less on cleaning power and more on
the non-toxic formula that it is safe to use around children and pets.

The Studio then developed initial package concepts that used white bottles and aligned with
the white bottle/black closure brand structure used with most other Weiman products.
The final design features an offset shoulder, curves and a tapered base that contribute to the
softened profile. The narrow neck also enables ergonomic handling.

The shape of the shoulder was moderated during the prototype stage to allow the same bottle
to be manufactured with both 28/400 and 28mm ratchet neck finishes for use with different
SKUs requiring flip tops and trigger sprayers, respectively, saving Weiman the cost of
building two different bottle molds. The shoulder modifications also ensured that the trigger
would not cause trouble on the filling line by overhanging the base. Stock black trigger
sprayers are used on the trigger bottles, and off-the-shelf flip-top caps color-coded to match
product labels are used on the squeeze bottles.

The label panel covers most of the real estate on both the front and back of the package,
accommodating pressure-sensitive labels that are die-cut to mirror the panel shape. The visual
architecture, inspired by the Studio’s branding strategy and developed by Weiman Art
Director Rhonda Fonk, is dominated by images of kids and pets on the floor surface
corresponding to the relevant SKU.

Shortly before all design components were finalized, Weiman faced a critical deadline to
present the relaunched line to Walmart. Berlin Packaging consultant Ann Fisher arranged to
expedite production of starch models for the meeting, picked up the finished models and hand
delivered them to Weiman in time for the presentation. Weiman managers walked away from
the meeting with an order and barely two months to ship product — even though the
production molds had not yet been built. 

Still, six weeks later, Weiman had the finished bottles in hand and met Walmart’s timeline.

“Our bottle is our No. 1 salesman, and our old package wasn’t doing the job. The growth in
our floor cleaner line proves that the new bottle is sending the right message to shoppers,”
says Junnarkar. “People may think of white as being a conservative package choice, but in
our case, it really raised the bar. With a green package, consumers didn’t seem to take us
seriously or even notice us on the shelf. Now we turn heads, and that drives sales.”