Aerosol Packaging

The Aerosol Can: Bolstering Brands' Competitive Edge

For consumer retail brands seeking to break the landscape on store shelves, packaging offers a unique way to differentiate products and draw consumer attention at point-of-sale. When it comes to aerosol containers, packaging also encourages consumers to reach out and pick up brands. By nature, aerosol containers are dispensing systems, making them one of the few packages that consumers really interact with, making outward appearance and feel, as well as performance, extremely important.

In the following article, Nicolas Anthon, Vice President at CROWN Aerosols Europe, a subsidiary of Crown Holdings, Inc. (Crown) talks more about how recent advancements in aerosol packaging can help European consumer products brands.

Q: Can you provide an update on the European aerosol market?

A: Increased household and disposable incomes in Eastern and Central Europe are leading to some exciting growth in the region’s aerosol market. Consumers are beginning to show interest in air fresheners, shaving gels, antiperspirants and body sprays. 

We are also seeing the expansion of market potential. Recent trials and tests have proven that aerosol technology is suitable for a wide range of liquid and viscous products that have not traditionally been packed in aerosols before.

Q: What are some benefits of aerosol packaging?

A: Along with the ability to adopt a wide range of appearances, from sleek to industrial, aerosols perform very well. Aerosol containers are clean and hygienic, and will not leak in bags during transport or in the bathroom. The containers are airtight, resulting in long product shelf life and 100% resistance to bacteria or dust contamination. The contents do not evaporate and the product’s characteristics will not change over its lifetime. In terms of application, aerosols allow for controlled product dispensing, facilitating consumer use and the ability to reach some otherwise inaccessible spots.

Empty aerosol containers are recyclable, as they are made from tinplate steel or aluminum.  They are also environmentally friendly, due to regulations that prohibit the use of chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) propellants in almost all aerosol products manufactured and sold around the world.

Q: How can CROWN Aerosols Europe help brands add distinction on store shelves?

A: Shaping is one major Brand-Building Packaging™ solution that Crown offers marketers seeking to develop an imaginatively designed package. Steel, the metal of choice for aerosol packaging, can be expanded by up to 25%, allowing a wide scope of possibilities when developing desired shapes. Depending on the specific goals of marketers, final packages can feature soft, subtle shaping or highly innovative and striking asymmetrical designs. Marketers can also enhance the ergonomics of packages through shaping, as containers can be contoured in comfortable, easy-to-grip shapes, allowing for convenient product dispensing.

In addition to distinguishing packages at point-of-sale, shaping can help combat counterfeiting issues.  Using this tactic, marketers can protect the image of brands in the marketplace and prevent any potential product damage that may stem from counterfeit formulations. Asymmetrically shaped containers are extremely difficult to duplicate, so consumers can easily differentiate between genuine and counterfeit packages.

A package featuring Crown’s shaping technique was recently honored with multiple Best in Metal Awards from the Metal Packaging Manufacturers Association (MPMA), including the Supreme Gold Award, the competition’s highest honor. Developed to launch a reformulated version of SICO’s KING tire repair and inflator, the high-impact container is contoured in an easy-to-grip shape that facilitates product dispensing and enhances consumer convenience. 

Q: Are there any other ways that aerosol packaging can enhance shelf impact?

A: Aerosol marketers can also captivate consumers with several new print finishes that add unique graphics, luster and dimension to packaging.  Some of these technologies are tactile in nature, helping to enhance the consumer experience, while others are more decorative and meant to attract attention on the retail shelf.

A good example of a tactile finish is Soft Touch, an over-varnish that creates a highly aesthetic effect that encourages consumers to reach out, touch and examine products. This varnish produces a matte, paper-like finish and is applied over the entire package for maximum effect. ITW Chemical Products France opted to use Soft Touch on an aerosol container designed for Jelt JKX, a multifunctional lubricant. The Soft Touch finish distinguishes Jelt JKX from a multitude of competitor industrial lubricants. Adding the tactile element to its aerosol packaging enabled ITW marketers to enhance the user experience and help build brand loyalty.

On the decorative side, Relief Varnish (patent pending) creates a reflective, 3-D effect, previously only achieved through the use of films and foils. Relief Varnish can be applied over the entire surface of an aerosol package, creating a high-impact shimmer, or in distinct localities, enabling companies, for example, to accentuate their name or brand logos.

Color Change is another next-generation print finish that allows a quick rotation of the package to instantly transform a brilliant green, for example, to a soft lilac. Spot Matte finish allows designers to incorporate both matte and gloss looks into a single package, resulting in a unique, premium billboard for brands.

Q: Aerosols are very well established in the personal care market. Are there any new applications this technology can be applied to?

A: The bi-compartmental aerosol (or bi-can) has been extensively used in the personal care industry to dispense shaving gels. Packagers are now utilizing this proven technology for a wide range of liquid and viscous applications. Products that have never before been packed as aerosols, such as sun cream, hair gel, facial wash gels, and many others can be easily and quickly dispensed from cans by simply pushing a button.

Bi-can technology makes product dispensing convenient and simple, resulting in an enhanced consumer experience with the brand. Products like sunscreen can be applied in the precise amount and location desired, without accidental spills and mess. Children can dispense chocolate syrup on ice cream in unique patterns or pictures, making the experience more fun.

For brand owners, packaging these types of products in bi-cans will help distinguish products at point-of-sale. For example, mustard packaged in this type of container will draw significant attention when sitting next to the squeezable bottles used by most brands.

Q: How does bi-can technology differ from other aerosol formats?

A: All aerosols are self-contained dispensing systems consisting of several essential components that work together based in simple scientific principles: the product, the propellant, the valve and the actuator. There are two ways of storing the propellant and product inside an aerosol container: together in a single compartment or in two separate compartments, called bi-compartmental (bi-can) technology.

Bi-can aerosol technology incorporates a plastic inner bag to keep product and propellant completely separate. This separation ensures propellant is not emitted during dispensing and prevents product from coming in contact with the package itself. The possibility of product drying or hardening is also eliminated, increasing its life span.

Bi-cans also offer consumers excellent practicality due to their ergonomic design and 360º operation and require little effort to use. Product is dispensed cleanly and accurately, with no shaking required.

Alternatively, in a single compartment can, the product is dissolved or suspended in a liquid solvent, with a liquid gas usually used as a propellant. In most aerosols, some of the propellant exists as a gas under pressure above the product. This gas pushes down on the liquid, forcing it up through a tube and out the open valve, resulting in a mixture of product and liquefied gas.

Q: What future trends do you anticipate for the aerosol market?

A: We predict several important changes will take place, including a greater focus on cost. For aerosol can manufacturers, while product innovation is essential, it is also important to look for solutions to cost challenges. The entire supply chain structure is being evaluated to increase its cost-efficiency.

Manufacturers are also working to incorporate solutions to logistical obstacles directly into the aerosol container. That means shortening lead times throughout the supply chain and making the manufacturing process more cost-friendly to smaller product runs. 

We also expect to see aerosol containers filled and manufactured outside of Western Europe. As mentioned earlier, there is a growing market for aerosols in Central and Eastern Europe. Currently, these products are not filled or manufactured locally, as the containers travel well. However, we anticipate that a meaningful proportion of the aerosol products for this region will be filled locally in about 3-5 years, and local can manufacturing will follow shortly thereafter.

About Crown Holdings, Inc.

Crown Holdings, Inc., through its subsidiaries, is a leading supplier of packaging products to consumer marketing companies around the world.  World headquarters are located in Philadelphia, PA.

For more information, contact:

Lee Bradley, European Business Development Manager, CROWN Aerosols Europe; Tel: +44 1623 528432;
Email: lee.bradley@eur.crowncork.com