Now just a few days away, Valentine’s Day remains one of the most popular Spring holidays, inspiring consumers to purchase themed gifts for the occasion. In fact, according to Mintel’s Seasonal Shopping (Spring/Summer) UK 2015 report, half of UK consumers purchase goods and services for the day of love.
Chocolate and confectionery products and beauty products have long offered the most appeal to consumers for Valentine’s Day gifting, with some brands going all out to showcase the latest packaging innovation as they hope to differentiate themselves in a competitive retail landscape. Here, we spotlight innovative and intriguing packages across the beauty and packaged food categories, which stand out with their unusual designs and graphics in celebration of Valentine’s Day.
Country: Canada
Product name: SOMA Valentine’s Day Tiffin Box
For its Valentine’s Day collection, Canada-based SOMA took inspiration from India. Tiffin boxes are used in Mumbai for lunches that are delivered by bicycles and hand carts to loved ones every day at work. SOMA used the same concept and created a premium box with four layers of chocolate in four separate metal boxes.
Country: UK
Product name: Lush – #lushcrush collection
Lush packaging always stands out, featuring black pots and tubes along with black labels that display product information in large, white font. This year for Valentine’s Day, the company created a limited edition collection: #lushcrush. Each beauty product, along with new fresh ingredients and alluring aromas, received a love related name, such as “Kiss A Few Frogs,” “Roses All The Way,” “The Kiss” and “Prince Charming.” Lush has always put fun instructions on their labels, and the Valentine’s Day collection is no exception. Prince Charming shower cream recommends finding someone you really like and inviting them into the shower to demonstrate how to use the product.
Country: Germany
Product name: Essence Valentine – Who Cares?
Cosnova in Germany created a limited edition – or as they call it “trend edition” – for Essence cosmetics’ brand under the name “Valentine – Who Cares?” Packaging uses dark colors to create a contrast on shelf with many other brands traditionally using red for Valentine’s Day limited editions. The bright red lipstick is called “Crew love is true love” and the darker red is called “I’m not into roses.” This collection responds to the Mintel Trend The Power of One, highlighting brands that have started to create products and services that appeal to single people. Holidays like Christmas and Valentine’s Day are when singles feel most left out and brands are responding with products to support them, just like Essence’s cosmetics collection, which is wild, rebellious and casual.
Country: USA
Product name: Russell Stover UR GR8 Happy V-Day Assorted Chocolates
US-based Russel Stover uses the traditional heart shaped box for its Valentine’s Day chocolate collection. However, what makes some of these boxes different is the language the brand uses on-pack. Abbreviated call-outs such as “U Rock,” “UR GR8” and “QT Pie” are designed to appeal to younger generations. The names on the packs resemble the languages used mostly in text messages, the form of digital communication preferred by 75% of US consumers, according to Mintel’s Communicating Through Imagery US 2015 report.
Country: Taiwan
Product name: Teazen Maum Tea First Love Tea
Teazen Maum Tea First Love Tea is designed for holiday time. Each tea sachet has an unusual tea tag with a little person carved out of paper, which is said to fit tea cups of any size. This holiday pack is not only fun but also functional providing consumers a place to dispose of the tea bag.
Viktorija Gnatoka is a Global Packaging Analyst at Mintel, where she is responsible for delivering packaging insights and actionable recommendations across multiple categories.
