The Catalyst™ for success: four key lessons from a year of collaborative innovation in packaging

In 2022, Amcor’s newly-formed Catalyst™ EMEA team set out with a single ambition: to become known across the industry as the home for packaging innovation – at pace. Across a three-stage approach, customers could benefit from consumer research, prototyping, graphic design, industrial design, technical trials, and much, much more.

By gathering insights from consumers, retailers, marketing, R&D, sales, and procurement, the Catalyst™ innovation approach combines different expertise to create a final solution. “People seem to be amazed and surprised that Amcor offers this service,” says Bob Derommelaere. “It’s definitely changed some of our customers’ perception of Amcor as a creative company.”

Toon Coppejans has had a similar experience. “When we come with the design ideas and the prototypes, we often hear ‘oh wow, you do that too’.”

To mark the first anniversary of Catalyst™ and celebrate its success in delivering invaluable innovation to some of the world’s biggest brands, Bob and Toon agreed to share their key lessons from the year just gone.

Lesson 1: Realizable creativity unlocks and underpins everything

Given the brief of redesigning packaging for some of the world’s biggest consumer brands, many design agencies can’t believe their luck. But enthusiasm and creativity are simply not enough. Any agency can produce an idea. What Catalyst™ does is generate ideas that are interconnected with all kinds of packaging applications, machines, suppliers, and flexible film know-how.

This central theme of realizable creativity underpins all Catalyst™ projects, bringing together design expertise, unrivaled industry knowledge, and a willingness to think holistically through the eyes of both our customer and the end consumer.

“It’s better to engage early on with someone like us, because we have that network,” says Bob. “Within Amcor, we’ve got the material expertise, the packaging design expertise, and we can liaise with equipment manufacturers. That means we can check on the feasibility of everything we create. It’s a step beyond the creativity of a design agency, because we can indicate what is actually possible. We can also cross-pollinate, bringing ideas from one segment to another, simply because of the breadth of our experience.”

During its first year, Catalyst™ has earned a reputation for thinking about full solutions and being a go-to ‘fixer’ within the industry. “The reaction has been very, very positive,” says Bob.

Lesson 2: An accelerated journey to sustainable packaging is possible

Sustainability has never been a more important issue. Today, 60% of European shoppers say recyclability information influences their purchase decisions. More than a third (34%) say incorporating recycled materials into packaging positively influences their purchase decision.

But rather than view these as reasons to be fearful, brands increasingly see them as an opportunity. “Most of the goals we hear are about recyclability and hitting carbon reduction targets,” says Toon. “Plastic reduction targets and plastic taxes are also big topics.”

Many Catalyst™ customers start with requests like replacing rigid plastic with a lower carbon, flexible alternative. The Catalyst™ team then begins its three-step process of understanding the challenge, creating meaningful ideas, and delivering better packaging strategies.

Market research, consumer studies, and sustainability expertise play an important role in the early stages. But it is the mock-ups and testing of packaging from Amcor’s market-leading sustainability innovation platforms that often takes a breakthrough idea from concept to reality.

• AmPrima® Recycle-Ready Solutions in mono-PP and mono-PE are ideal for many applications, from home and personal care to snacks, coffee, meat, and dairy.

• AmLite HeatFlex® Recycle-Ready was developed when the industry thought it was impossible to create a recyclable retort solution. It can be used in several categories, including baby nutrition, wet pet food, and ready meals.

• AmFiber™ Performance Paper is a recycle-ready, high-barrier paper solution for confectionery products, spices, culinary, and dry beverages.

• AmSky™ Blister System is a breakthrough PVC- and aluminum-free thermoform blister system that is a more sustainable alternative for healthcare packaging.

Catalyst™ supports customers across the entire development journey, with ideation, packaging, and product innovation all running in parallel. “Different companies have different approaches, so it’s up to us to find a solution for every type of request or challenge they have,” says Bob.

“It’s not always easy, but our advantage is that the Catalyst™ team can work hand-in-hand with Amcor’s R&D and sustainability teams. We don’t do these sessions alone. There is always expert guidance, whatever the customer needs.”

Lesson 3: Very few things rival the power of prototypes

Expressing an idea visually is one thing. Holding it in your hand is an entirely different and more powerful experience. Catalyst™ uses prototypes early in the process, helping both parties to explore new ideas as packaging moves from concept to reality. And the results have been extraordinary, facilitating both internal stakeholder discussions (between marketing and management) and external stakeholder research among consumers and retailers.

The ability to express the thinking behind design suggestions through prototypes makes things much more concrete and easier to understand. It also helps to fuel faster decision-making.

“Having something tangible to convince stakeholders helps to accelerate everything,” says Toon. He says a prototype can help to answer several important strategic marketing questions, including:

• What will the new pack look like on the shelf?
• How will the marketing or sustainability claims be made visible?
• What will the user experience be like for the end consumer?
• Will the packaging withstand an ecommerce channel drop test?

“A prototype for people to see and touch just makes such a big difference,” says Bob. “Sometimes, people can’t even imagine how their brand would look on a new format. So the prototypes we make aren’t just random ideas. It’s about applying brands to new types of packaging that they don’t already have.”

Lesson 4: Sustainability isn’t the only consideration

More than four out of every five consumers check packaging for recycling instructions. But sustainability isn’t the only element in any successful Catalyst™ project.

Extending product shelf-life (and thereby reducing food waste), protecting products during transit, delighting consumers with a superior user experience, and delivering on key brand promotion objectives are all part of the Catalyst™ service.

“We look at the whole shopper journey,” says Toon, “starting from pre-store through to being visible in store, being easily found on the shelf, easily stored at home, the first moment of opening, re-closing, and the final disposal of the packaging. At each touchpoint, there are always pain points and things for brands to improve.”

Other priorities, such as marketing considerations or investment budgets, particularly when new machinery may not be possible and retrofittable solutions become paramount, are also worked through in extensive detail.