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<strong>Cigarette Packaging in China Undergoes Profound Transformation</strong> Source from: Tobacco Asia 11/14/2013  Cigarette packaging in China is undergoing a round of profound transformation that is clearly leading to a phase-out of overpackaging and adoption of new forms of packaging with designs depicting traditional Chinese cultures.
Pressured by increasingly loud voices for tobacco control both in China and abroad, the scope of advertising by the tobacco industry has been become narrower and narrower. Cigarette packaging itself – in the capacity of an existing resource for advertising – has inevitably aroused increasing attention from the tobacco industry. Any cigarette packaging design will therefore naturally become one of the means of promotion. The popularity of a cigarette product is in direct proportion to the favorable impression created by its packaging upon consumers, and to a great extent affects consumer choice and judgment. Therefore, a good cigarette pack design will naturally contribute to improving the image of the manufacturer while playing a role in sales promotion. In this current round of profound transformation, cigarette packaging in China still has some problems to be solved. However, it is vigorously exploring new ways of development. Phase-out overpacking Along with continued tobacco industry development, cigarette packaging is also progressing. A good form of cigarette packaging will not only interpret the intrinsic meaning of the cigarette brand but will also provide support for expansion and spread its profound cultural significance. However, behind the seeming prosperity lies a problem that cannot be ignored – some brands, in hot pursuit of greater market shares, excessively emphasize packaging and make the external characteristics of products all the more eye-catching. Some go so far as to use special packaging materials and apply such sophisticated technology as dull polishing and gold stamping to excessively treat packaging, a growing trend. Over recent years, Chinese cigarette packaging design works have time and again won WorldStar packaging awards in major design competitions. While winning high praise from foreign designers, the Chinese cigarette packaging design works have also puzzled them: is it necessary to make cigarette packaging like this? What's the attitude of the Chinese government toward such massive use of non-environmentally-friendly materials? No wonder sources with the printing industry joke: "whoever is good at printing cigarette packaging represents the highest level of the printing industry. It was reported that the technologies and techniques required for printing cigarette packs are slightly less sophisticated than those required for printing banknotes and negotiable securities. Presently, much high-grade hard-pack cigarette packaging in China adopts laser printing technology, which incurs significantly higher costs than the adoption of white cardboard printing in the production of cigarette packaging in other countries. Therefore, reduction of costs has become a norm for raising efficiency by enterprises. Only by successfully preventing unnecessary waste and lowering the cost of production to a scientific and rational limit can Chinese tobacco manufacturers realize their long-term targets of turning themselves into large enterprises, developing big competitive brands and developing large markets and allow them to successfully respond to increasingly intense international competition. Therefore, the industry has swiftly realized the risks and hazards of excessive packaging. Tobacco industry regulators have time and again adopted mandatory measures for controlling overpackaging of tobacco products by imposing ceilings on the maximum costs of packaging materials or by forcibly prohibiting the use of non-environmentally-friendly packaging materials. According to the relevant provisions of the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration (STMA) – the national regulator of the tobacco industry, tobacco companies in China will have to stop purchasing and selling all brands and specifications of cigarettes with overpackaging (with the inter-space ratio being in excess of 15%, label paper on both the carton and the packet of cigarettes accounting for 8% or more of the sales income, adoption of abnormal packaging forms each containing two or four packets, or the use of non-paper base packaging materials). New trend of traditional Chinese cultures At a time when the tobacco industry is undergoing rapid development in China there has emerged the concept of "Chinese-style cigarettes" – a type of cigarettes emphasizing Chinese characteristics and with independently owned core technologies in support. It is inevitable for the packaging of such Chinese-style cigarettes to gradually assume elements of traditional Chinese cultures. Along with gradual revival of the Chinese civilization over recent years, the packaging of Chinese-style cigarettes has begun to adapt itself to this megatrend with a shift in design concepts to a depiction of traditional Chinese cultures. In the over 5,000-year process of the Chinese civilization many rich and colorful art treasures have developed, such as calligraphy, ink-and-wash painting, woodcut and paper-cutting, each of which have brought endless creative inspiration to cigarette packaging designers in the new era. The adoption of elements of traditional Chinese art in cigarette pack desig has gradually emerged. The manufacturers of many famous brands have frequently conducted effective trials winning high comments from both the tobacco industry and other sectors. China Tobacco Hubei Industrial Co., Ltd. in central China's Hubei province adopts a simple brown orange color on the design of the packet of its Yellow Crane Tower 1916 cigarette product, which reminds people of yellowing old photos and distant memories. A perfect pairing of the 1,000-year old Yellow Crane Tower with the century-old Yellow Crane Tower cigarette brand effectively embodies the profound significance of history, and enables the smoker to comprehend the centuries-old tobacco culture while enjoying the pure tobacco aroma. Likewise, China Tobacco Anhui Industrial Co., Ltd. in east China's Anhui province adopts a design of poetry and painting on a background scene of traditional Chinese art paper on the packet of its Mount Huangshan (Heavenly Capital) cigarette product, to demonstrate the style of traditional Chinese cultures. With the integration of such artistic elements as traditional Chinese calligraphy and landscape painting, it carries forward and spreads a profound and unique tinge of classical Chinese arts. Similarly, Hongta Group in southwest China's tobacco-producing Yunnan province adopts a design of the folk woodcut art of China on the packet of its Yuxi (Farmstead) cigarette product. With a handmade woodcut of a real scene of Yuxi Farmstead, it vividly depicts its simplicity, plainness, elegance and poetic illusion… Perhaps we are still some way away from meeting the standard of cigarette packaging in other countries. Yet, with such unique cultural support and discovery, the packaging of Chinese-style cigarettes with elements of traditional Chinese cultures will definitely keep developing and innovating. Creative will win As professional cigarette packaging designer Pan Hu said: "you do not have a second chance to create a first impression on people." Consumers will probably decide to buy something instantly, while packaging serves as a medium established between brands and customers, and directly impacts the value of brands. As competition between cigarette brands turns increasingly intense, the pack design appears to have come to a point where a breakthrough can be made in the development of competitive brands. Creativeness is undoubtedly a key to winning an upper hand in cigarette pack design. Therefore, it is no exaggeration that "Whoever is creative will win." Under the impacts of continued rejuvenation and the fashion consciousness of both consumers and consumer markets, the tobacco industry has presented cigarette brands with constant creative renewal of its packaging. For example, China Tobacco Chuanyu Industrial Co., Ltd. adopts an "abnormal form of packaging" for its Pride Major X series, which makes a deep impression on consumers. The pairing of the cool dark color of Pride (X Rose) with the golden color of Pride Major X is both bold and pioneering. The pairing of the strong orange color of Pride (X Jinhui) with the golden color of Pride Major X is enthusiastic, bright and beautiful. Sources with the tobacco industry believe that the development of the packaging of both Rose and Jinhui of the Pride Major X series signifies a leap forward in the development of cigarette pack desig in China, that the unique "abnormal forms of packaging" are exquisite, fashionable and highly creative and that they have contributed to introducing elements of fashionable renewal into the development of the Pride brand family packaging. Then, let's take a look at the packaging design of the Red Double Happiness of Shanghai Tobacco Group, which creatively shows a tinge of youthfulness and vitality. Designer Pan Hu managed to integrate the most traditional story of quadruple happiness in one's life into this historic cigarette brand and makes use of elements of a fashionable illustration and painting skill to create an unimaginable visual effect effectively turning Red Double Happiness into a youthful and impressive brand. At the prize ceremony for the 2012 Pentawards Worldwide Packaging Design Competition held in Paris on October 4, 2012, Red Double Happiness (the Star Faction and the Fashion Faction) won a silver prize for the pack design of tobacco products for its fashionable, novel and unique design. As the Pentawards is the most influential packaging design competition in the world, the prize is the highest award achieved by the tobacco industry of China for successful cigarette packaging design. Big international cigarette brands are highly reputed all over the world, and are capable of having consumers from different countries personally feel their attractiveness because the packaging plays a great role in defining their status, specifying their appeal and demonstrating their notions. Related Updates |
