Headquartered in Guangzhou, China, Liby Enterprise Group Co., Ltd. manufactures more than 100 types of products in eight household categories. While its dishwashing liquid products hold a 42% value share—and belong to one of the top three household care product producers in China—the packaging looks no different from other brands on the shelf.

RETHINKING DESIGN
Liby, which has 12 manufacturing plants with nearly 10,000 employees, 30 branch offices and 20 OEM factories around the country, also holds 12% of the dishwashing market. Facing increased labor costs and fierce competition at retail shelves, Liby took a look at its traditional dishwashing detergent package—a colored high-density polyethylene (HDPE) bottle with a wrap-around film label—and decided it had to create a high-end and higher-profit-margin package as a way to hold its competitive advantage.

The yellow and green HDPE package with a wrap-around film label looked very similar to competitor packaging, which left Liby without much differentiation on the shelf. The package made it hard for consumers to have a unique feeling about the brand.

“After a review of the packaging and labeling production, our Avery Dennison technical team suggested that Liby consider testing a more conformable film instead of the more rigid BOPP film,” said Luo Min, Asia-Pacific home and personal care segment manager for Avery Dennison Label and Packaging Materials. “We also suggested adding one air charge station. Those solutions reduced the labeling scrap rate from 30% to just 2%.

“Avery Dennison is not just the raw material supplier, but also a packaging consultant,” Min added. “From concept creation to its successful launch, we spent 10 months working together with Liby’s purchasing and packaging team to support this new package development.”

MAKING CHANGES
Shelf differentiation and improved low-labeling efficiency were two areas Liby could tackle immediately in an effort to increase its profit margins. To help set apart the Liby brand of dishwashing detergents from its competition and increase shelf appeal, the company eliminated its HDPE bottle and BOPP film label and switched to a clear 1.1 kg PET bottle with a Fasson® clear polyethylene pressure-sensitive 85-mil film label. This combination of PET container and pressure-sensitive labels improved Liby’s labeling performance and scrap rates, while reducing labor costs through machine labeling and dropping its 30% BOPP labeling scrap rate to just 2%.

“By switching to pressure-sensitive technology, we had more label material choices—paper or film, white or clear—and increased converting technology options, from gravure to letterpress to silkscreen,” explained Tang Huihua, deputy director of purchasing for Liby. “These technical components turned into advantages for our designers, who had more options on how to portray our brand in the eyes of the consumers.”

SEEING A DIFFERENCE
Similar to household care product packaging in the western hemisphere, the former Liby package carried an industrial look with parallel edges and a uniform green color for the package and label. The package was larger in size and offered more space for label design, but the colored HDPE bottle did not allow the product to be seen by consumers.

The new package for the dishwashing detergent features a clear container and clear label combination that conveys a sense of modern, contemporary freshness. The curves and texture of the PET package resemble water washing dishes with rounded edges and swirling angles. Its label design uses eight-color silkscreen and letterpress printing to portray safety and a healthy lifestyle. The clear PET bottle and clear label create visual depth and allow the purity of the product to stand out.

“By updating our label and package, we’ve created stronger shelf appeal, better production efficiencies, a higher end product positioning and fast sales volume growth of dishwashing products,” said Tang. “With the adaptation of the pressure-sensitive label and auto-labeling solution, we now have a high-end package that appeals to a variety of consumers. The increased efficiency and brand differentiation of pressure-sensitive technology turned into a sales increase of 45% in 2011.”

To date, three dishwashing SKUs are in the marketplace: Natural Orange, Deep Sea Mineral Salt and Natural Water Lily. Additional options recently launched in July 2012.

“To improve the look of our dishwashing detergent, we needed a packaging partner that could provide a quick response on technical troubles related to converting and labeling, provide professional recommendations to make sure we had the right material and adhesive for our application, and offer a wide product portfolio with localized services,” said Tang. “Avery Dennison delivered on all three areas and helped us transform our outdated HDPE bottle into a modern, high-end product.”
 

For additional information, contact Avery Dennison at Lammenschansweg 140, 2300 AA Leiden, Netherlands; phone (31) 71579-3308; fax (31) 71579-4179; or visit www.averydennison.com. Liby’s website is located at www.china-liby.com/english.