Marketing on the Edge

Source from:  Tobacco Reporter 10/19/2011

Iggesund Paperboard will be unveiling in Hamburg on November 15 the work of the latest designer to take up the challenge of its Black Box Project. Under this Project, which has been running for almost a year, Iggesund has challenged a number of leading international designers and design agencies to fill a black box of specific dimensions with contents that in some way test the performance of the company's flagship paperboard, Invercote. It has already staged exhibitions in Paris, London, Amsterdam and New York. In the most recent exhibition, which attracted more than 400 visitors, Marc Benhamou, a Frenchman based in New York, presented his concept of beauty in a new interpretation of the 22 Major Arcana cards from the tarot deck (pictured). "We're looking for creative minds who really push the limits of what can be done with Invercote," explains Carlo Einarsson, director market communications at Iggesund. "But the project is also a tribute to all the designers who have chosen Invercote over the years to be the starting point for their fantastic packaging designs." Einarsson made the point that the Black Box Project was not like a traditional advertising campaign in which the client expressed detailed wishes and closely supervised the outcome. The designers who had chosen to take part in Iggesund's project had great freedom, he said. The only stipulation was that they had to work with Invercote and create something that reflected their own distinctiveness and Invercote's possibilities. "The degree of freedom and the opportunity to create something extraordinary have made it easy to find designers eager to take part," Einarsson says. "A number of designers have contacted us to say they would like to participate. We are very satisfied with the response so far, both to the exhibitions we have held and to our web pages about the project. "In a world where the materials for a design project are unfortunately often chosen as a matter of habit, it is important for us to highlight the additional opportunities that Invercote gives designers to fully realise their creative ambitions." On November 15 the Black Box Project will present the work of the fifth person or company to take up the challenge, designer and illustrator, Sebastian Onufszak, who is based in Augsburg, Germany, but who is active throughout Europe. His contribution will be unveiled at an event at the Prototyp Museum in Hamburg. "This project is an adventure and we don't really know where it will end," Einarsson says. "But Invercote is the strongest brand on the European paperboard market, and that strength makes it possible for us to try new ways of communicating." Enditem