Reynolds Launches Evo Bottle Packaging Bottle Packaging

"The launch of the Evo bottle packaging marks the first major cigarette box redesign conducted by a major US cigarette manufacturer for more than 30 years," said Edmund C. "Ned" Leary, senior vice president of market development at Reynolds Tobacco. . “Bottle packaging provides a meaningful benefit for adult smokers. Just as many adult smokers told us in focus group tests, the launch of Winston Evo bottle packaging means that the cigarettes are crushed. problem."

Extraordinary response. The company's survey showed that Winston Evo bottle packaging has been widely favored among adult smokers. Experts say that in focus group testing, market development teams should require at least 60% of focus group members to provide positive feedback before they can launch a product. Reynolds Tobacco Company received a lot of positive feedback from its focus group on the packaging of Winston Evo bottles, with an average of more than 60%.

"In our research, we received positive feedback from Winston's adult smokers and adult smokers of Winston's competitive products about the innovative, innovative products and packaging of the Winston Evo bottle," said Reynolds Tobacco Company. According to Joe Michalek, vice president of marketing at Winston Brands. “More than 90% of adult smokers who compete in the brand agree that the Winston Evo bottle is the most modern packaging style they have seen, and that it is a major improvement in packaging. 84% of adult smokers from the competition brand from the overall It is believed that compared to the standard clamshell boxes, they prefer to use the Winston Evo bottle. About 80% of adult smokers who compete in the brand believe that the formula of the Evo bottle tobacco tastes 'just right' and is very mellow.”

This change in the size and shape of the new package presents a challenge for shelf display at the point of sale. Michalek said Reynolds has developed various solutions for improving existing retail display shelves. “We produced two replacement adapters for the spring-loaded display case. Three existing display cases for standard packaging will be removed to make room for two Evo bottle display cases. A new The slide adapter allows the spring-loaded display case to extend in the width direction to carry the package; an oversized cigarette pusher adapter better supports the back of the package and pushes it forward - when a bag When the smoke is removed from the display shelf, the rest of the pack will move forward."

As for the price, Michalek said, “Different from some other full-price brands, the price of Evo bottle tobacco will not be discounted. This means that, for example, when other models of Yunston tobacco provide preferential prices, the cloud The Evo Bottle Smoke will likely be sold at a higher price; when the price of other models of Winston Tobacco does not offer a discount, the Winston Evo Bottle Tobacco will likely be at the same price level.However, the retail price The tax rates will vary depending on the retail location and the city and state where the product is purchased."

Reynolds Tobacco Company expects that the new packaging and new formula will further promote the marketing of the Winston brand series. The brand has been reborn since the company reorganized and marketed it in 1997, and Winston is the first major brand to offer an additive-free formula. The company launched its own slogan for this purpose: “All of them are real materials.” In 2000, Reynolds Tobacco Company made improvements to the brand's collection, removed thin-smoke cigarettes, and began to advertise their cigarettes using “100 % of first-rate tobacco." The newly launched Winston Evo Bottle Formula is available in light and full flavor (or "dense"). In combination with its metallic silver look, light cigarettes have a light silver tipping paper and thick formulas with deep silver tipping paper.

Reynolds Tobacco Company did not say whether it would consider launching other brands of bottle-shaped packaging; it now only focuses on Winston. If the information provided by the focus group is reliable, smokers may have a large demand for these novel pressure-proof packaging.

Making New Packaging - How Sasib Turns Reynolds Tobacco Company's Thoughts into Facts

Due to the difficulty of turning ideas into reality, the market has not had any major changes in cigarette pack packaging for more than 30 years. Anyone can dream of innovative, bold packaging designs, but the real challenge is to produce large quantities of machines at the high speeds required. Reynolds Tobacco Co., Ltd. has worked closely with Italian equipment manufacturer Sasibu to turn bottle packaging into reality.

"Winston Evo bottled cigarettes require a brand new packaging machine," said Michalek. “Reynolds Tobacco Co., Ltd. collaborated with Sasib USA Inc. and Sasibé Italian Tobacco Co., Ltd. to design this unique cigarette packaging machine. The packaging machine needs to load and seal the cigarettes into precision injection-molded packaging. We selected Sasibb to engage in This project is based on our confidence in its design capabilities and its ability to meet the deadlines for our production of Winston Evo bottles." The result is the packaging machine currently used at Reynolds Tobacco. It was described by Michalek as "unique and there are no other similar packaging machines in the world."

The new packaging machine is very different from the standard cigarette packaging. The standard packaging process requires that cigarettes are usually bundled together with rectangular parameters of 7-6-7 or 7-7-6, wrapped with aluminum foil, and then wrapped with paper or cardboard. Paper or paperboard used for overwrapping is usually fixed by a hot melt or cold glue system. The finished package was then wrapped with polypropylene film. Polypropylene film has a moisture-proof effect. The film facilitates the consumer to open the package by using a pull tab.

In contrast, the new bottle packaging requires that cigarettes be bundled together in a 2x10 flask-shaped size and then inserted into a shaped injection-molded package from the bottom. Afterwards, the bottom is sealed and the sealed package is conveyed to the labeling device where the label of the box body, box top and box bottom is added to the package.

The design, engineering drawing and production of the new equipment took only eight months. Reynolds placed an order in January 2001 and received the device in September. According to Michalek, after the preliminary packaging design was completed, in order to verify the design concept of bundles of cigarettes, cigarette insertion and cigarette pack sealing, they produced a laboratory prototype. When this concept was validated, the design of the machine was implemented on the first set of packages. After completing the design, they produced a physical size model of the wooden equipment in order to confirm the design and ensure that critical machine parts can be maintained. After the model was completed, the manufacture of the first packaging machine began.

Then, they began to troubleshoot new failures in the new packaging set to ensure that they would not be damaged when the product passed the equipment; the cigarettes could be properly fed into the equipment; the bottom plug could be properly sealed; and the expected efficiency and yield could be achieved maintain.

Although they were not able to provide photographs of the equipment at the time of publication of this publication, Michalek described the appearance of the equipment: "The bottle packaging feed section - the plastic box is fed into the equipment for loading - has a span of 15 feet , rise to the top of the head. Imagine a large stainless steel hockey stick facing upwards passing overhead, then fed into the device. The size of the packaging machine is 10 ft x 6 ft. It consists of a series of plates and gluing. Hopper covered hoppers, conveyor belts, pushers, turntables and heaters. Electronic control and fault detection cabinets are placed in the front and rear of the equipment."

Then he described the labeler. "Winston bottle tobacco came out of the packaging machine and was moved by a 15-foot conveyor belt. At the end of the conveyor belt, the box was rotated at an appropriate angle and then moved to a length before entering the tag machine. On a 42-foot-long conveyor belt, the label was 7 feet long and 6 feet wide, and it looked like a giant stainless steel table surrounded by pliable glass and a control cabinet.The control cabinet guided the application of all labels on the package. With a turntable that holds the box when the box label is applied, there is also a series of rollers that wipe the box label when the package is rotated.The cigarette box passes the other after the box label is applied. A long conveyor belt for the labeling of the top of the box and the bottom of the box. After the label has been applied, the product is loaded into the barrel and the cigarette box, ready for distribution."

Reynolds Tobacco Company has applied for a U.S. patent for this package style and is still awaiting approval. Moreover, they are already applying for international patents. The company said that it does not have a plan to license the technology.

Source: NetEase