When Bulletproof Nutrition approached us with their packaging needs, they were growing rapidly and were making impressive strides with their unconventional ideas about health and wellness. A company that uses Biohacking—the practice of managing one’s own biology—as their main source of R & D and claims that you can “lose 100 lbs without using exercise, upgrade your IQ by more than 12 points, and stay healthy by sleeping less than 5 hours,” needs packaging that is as bold as they are.
“They already had packaging, but mostly bags with labels. They didn’t have any boxes,” explains Keva Sonderen, from Sonderen Packaging’s inside sales and marketing. “We did our best to understand the product and listen to their needs. The first project we worked on was the GabaWave, fifteen count. This product is a supplement that the consumer takes once a day, so we set out to make a package that made sense for the consumer.”
“They were looking for something different. Something they hadn’t seen before,” remembers Forrest Rettkowski, Sonderen Packaging’s carton designer. “The main goals were to secure the vials so that they wouldn’t slide back and forth and to be able to present them when the box is opened. So with that in mind, there was only a couple different ways we could go. This design is called a twin hinged straight tuck box. We were able to interlock the vials so that when you unfold it, they present themselves and can be used by the consumer, but they’re locked in place when it’s closed.”
“This one was the first step to them falling in love with the creativity of our packaging design. And from then on, they’ve given us several other packaging projects. There was the thirty count, similar to the fifteen count, and Glutathione and Coffee packaging as well. They’re very specific in what they’re looking for, so it challenges us to really listen and design a concept that meets their needs and will also work in our production, and the production of the co-packer, which is a necessity,” says Keva.
“Those are the three elements that you’re always considering when you’re designing packaging,” says Keva. “What we try to do is make packaging that is really functional on all levels: for production, for any co-packer, and also for the end user. We’re not all about fancy packages that aren’t practical and aren’t functional. We’re really conscientious about that when we design the packages, while trying to also produce something unique that people will remember.
“So, that’s why I consider these packages a pretty big success. We went through several renditions in the process of fine-tuning this one. Making this flap a little bit longer, making this hook a little better…”
The most challenging package was for the Glutathione Force, which was originally going to be a simple two-piece design. The customer was determined that it should be a one-piece box design, and pushed us to make it so.
“It was likely less expensive, because we would have had to glue a two-piece design,” says Keva. “The one-piece design will be easier for them to manage and for their co-packer to assemble. They really wanted that one-piece… How many renditions did we do, Forrest? Five?”
Every job we do is custom, but this package was particularly so. There’s no gluing involved, and the one-piece design flips open so that the vials can be easily loaded into the box by the co-packer or removed by the consumer.
The reaction to the new Bulletproof Nutrition boxes has been extremely positive, both from the client and from end users who have commented about it onwww.bulletproofexec.com. We are excited to see what they send us next.
“Every week there’s a new project they’re working on. And we are happy to support their growth, because they are really trying to get out there, get the word out,” says Keva. “It’s exciting to be a part of that. That’s kind of what this business is all about, what the fun part is, I think: helping your customers to grow and providing them with the packaging to do that. It seems like a simple thing, that maybe isn’t a huge factor to success, but in the end I think it brands them and it helps get their product from A to B securely, so I think it’s more important than some people realize. It’s fun to be on the forefront of that and see new products get to market.”
Karissa Bodnar, Product Marketing Manager for Bulletproof Nutrition, had this to say about their new boxes:
“When it comes to the customer experience, the structural design of packaging is more important than the graphics and text you apply. The structural design dictates the first impression a customer will have with the product and we are very grateful to have partnered with Sonderen Packaging when we chose to upgrade our packaging. Sonderen is innovative, forward-thinking and very collaborative. We are fortunate to have them as a partner and look forward to launching many more products with Sonderen’s support.”