The seven plays
Seven CPG brands let the package talk this week. On September 22, Bel Brands USA put The Not Laughing Cow on select packages of The Laughing Cow Creamy Original cheese wedges, the first time in more than 100 years the Cow has stopped laughing, with a scrawled “NOT” in the wordmark, the line “We need to talk” and a QR code, in more than 4,700 stores. Hidden Valley Ranch launched Spooky Ranch, its first-ever seasonal product, a black dressing colored with fruit juice and cocoa in a glow-in-the-dark bottle, exclusively at Walmart for $3.97. Mane and Cinnabon released a $28 lip kit with Extra Frosting Lip Gloss, a Pink Jelly Pop Brush and Mirror and a Cinnabon Reward Card, in an outer carton that resembles a box of Cinnabon cinnamon rolls, laddered from a Sephora app preview to Sephora.com and stores. Mondēlez announced Toblerone Diamond Truffles with Biscoff in a 495g box exclusive to Costco across ten countries and a 180g sharing box, reloading the diamond truffle format it introduced in 2024. Glenmorangie revealed its 50 Years Old in 149 hand-painted porcelain display vessels by Peter Pincus that fit together into a tessellated wall of art. Kenneth Cole launched INSPIRE with Joe Jonas’ campaign imagery on an outer sleeve and embossed silver detailing on the carton beneath, from $15 to $75 across the Nordstrom portfolio. And Nespresso made curbside capsule recycling available to more than 900,000 residents of Westchester County, enabled by local small-format aluminum sorting.
The through-line across all seven: The Laughing Cow broke its own trade dress on purpose, Hidden Valley spent its seasonal budget on the container, Mane borrowed its partner’s box, Toblerone reloaded a proven format, Glenmorangie designed the collection as one object, Kenneth Cole put the dated asset on the reprintable layer, and Nespresso made a recyclability claim true at the sorting line. Seven categories, one instinct: the pack is the first thing that speaks, the layer you can reprint is worth more than the layer you can’t, and a claim on the label is only as true as the facility that has to read it. Your move this quarter is to pick one pack on your roadmap, find the element your customer already knows by heart, and prove the change in a production-matched comp before it prints. Pack Pulse is 3D Color’s weekly read on what shipped and the play to borrow from each launch.
Frequently asked questions
Pack Pulse is 3D Color’s weekly read on the packaging that just shipped, broken down into the specific plays CPG brand and design teams can borrow. Each issue identifies recent launches and the strategic move behind them.
Seven: The Laughing Cow put a serious-faced mascot, a scrawled NOT and a QR code on select Creamy Original wedge packs in more than 4,700 stores; Hidden Valley launched Spooky Ranch, its first-ever seasonal product, in a glow-in-the-dark bottle at Walmart for $3.97; Mane and Cinnabon sold a $28 lip kit whose outer carton resembles a Cinnabon cinnamon roll box; Toblerone reloaded its diamond truffle format with Biscoff in a 495g Costco box across ten countries and a 180g sharing box; Glenmorangie presented its 50 Years Old in 149 hand-painted porcelain vessels that tessellate into one wall of art; Kenneth Cole put Joe Jonas on an outer sleeve over an embossed carton for its INSPIRE fragrance; and Nespresso made curbside capsule recycling available to more than 900,000 Westchester County residents.
Bel Brands altered the mascot on select Creamy Original packs as a teaser, the first time in more than 100 years the Cow has stopped laughing, and pointed shoppers to a QR code and TheNotLaughingCow.com without explaining why. Bel told Fox Business the change is temporary, and that shoppers began asking about it before the brand announced anything.
A container effect produces something a flat label can’t: a photograph the consumer takes at home and shares at no media cost. Hidden Valley kept the Original Ranch name and a $3.97 price, spent its first seasonal effort on a black dressing in a glow-in-the-dark bottle, and ran it as a Walmart exclusive to get a clean read on sell-through.
It means building your secondary pack around the partner’s most recognizable physical object rather than just adding their logo. The Mane x Cinnabon kit’s outer carton resembles a box of Cinnabon cinnamon rolls, which turns a $28 lip kit into a gift, and a Cinnabon Reward Card inside keeps the collaboration earning after the gloss is gone.
An ambassador is a short-term asset, and packaging lasts longer than most campaigns. Kenneth Cole put Joe Jonas’ campaign imagery on an outer sleeve and kept its embossed silver detailing on the carton underneath, so the layer that dates can be reprinted without retooling the layer that carries the brand.
A package is only recyclable in practice if the local sorting facility captures it. Small formats like coffee capsules are often lost at the initial sort, so Nespresso’s Westchester program depends on the county’s Material Recovery Facility processing small-format aluminum, which lets more than 900,000 residents put capsules in the curbside bin.
A production-matched comp is the standard tool. It replicates how the finished pack will read at shelf, in hand and in launch photography before any tooling, printing or retailer commitment is made. The comp is the lowest-risk place in the system to find out whether a move lands.
Bob Jennings is CEO of 3D Color, which produces production-matched packaging comps, prototypes, and sales samples for more than 250 CPG brands. Pack Pulse is 3D Color’s weekly read on the packaging that just shipped. Reach Bob at bob.jennings@3dcolor.com to pressure-test a packaging move before it prints.