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There are myriad dispensing solutions available on the market today. So many, in fact, that a company can select from dozens that not only fit a product's existing or tentatively selected container, but also maximize the efficacy of that product's evacuation. Over time, we've discovered that product A works when combined with dispenser A, B with B, etc. Costly perfume, for example, is normally dispensed by an atomizer. A treatment for irritated eyes typically uses a dropper. Window cleaner is most often paired with a trigger sprayer. The application defines the dispensing requirement.
Hence, companies these days aren't trying to reinvent the wheel, they're trying to provide consumers with dispensing solutions that follow traditional paradigms while maximizing how that dispensing takes place. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it". If consumers understand the atomizer, they like the atomizer, and they can actuate the atomizer, then there isn't much need to replace the atomizer. What can and should be done is to make the atomizer work better.
This is the direction that many firms are taking with their dispensing technology - efficiency, reliability, and improvement, not re-invention. This is the essence of innovation: taking an existing format and making it superlative.
MWV, for example, has recently enhanced its line of Orchestra pumps for fragrances. It's apparently the same simple sort of pump that one would find topping just about any bottle of perfume, but the actuation has been completely redesigned with a number of performance improvements. The spray pattern of the atomized droplets is much finer and the actuation of the push pump is much smoother, requiring less pressure. The new Orchestra concept can also be paired with the company's NoC invisible dip tube, which does a lot to eliminate the unsightliness caused by having the contents of the bottle marred by an out of place element. Better dispensing leads to more satisfied consumers and that leads to prospective repeat business.
Tube specialist firm Neopac has released its new AirShield line, which features a valve in the tube with two components that are closely coordinated and together result in a special protective shield that prevents all exposure to oxygen. The valve opens when pressure is exerted on the tube and closes again when the pressure abates, preventing air from flowing back, thus safeguarding sensitive contents. It's a new sort of airless solution that the consumer never actually sees, but goes a long way to eliminating dried residue on the dispensing tip, the discolouration of the product due to oxidation, and premature product spoilage. The same formula applies: better dispensing results in repeat business.
Roll-ons have been around for some time, and though originally confined to deodorants and antiperspirants, over the last couple of decades the format has become widespread with skin treatments, anti-wrinkle creams, and other cosmeceuticals. Albéa offers an entire line of metal ball roll-ons that is closer to a work in progress than a defined paradigm. The company continually challenges itself to improve upon the core concept and find ways to make their dispensing better. With several varieties of roll-on available, the wide range offers precise application to small, localized areas of the body, or expansive application for larger areas where fast and efficient application is needed. Albéa's roll-ons are so fluid, easy to use, and durable that they were awarded the "Plastic Tube of the Year" award for 2013 by the ETMA (European Tube Manufacturers Association), which recognized the applicators' innovative character, decoration potential, and remarkable user benefits.
These companies, as well as many others currently operating on the market, bear in mind some very simple tenets when designing a dispensing solution:
If consumers don't understand how it works, if the concept is too alien for them when they're accustomed to a specific format, they probably won't repurchase unless the new dispensing solution is far better than what they're accustomed to. Getting people to change from something that already works well enough takes a LOT of convincing.
Dispensing has to be consistent. Everyone has purchased an item that has somehow ceased to function with half the product left in the container. For a brand, that particular occurrence is a death sentence: A consumer will rarely purchase a product that can't dispense properly from first use through last. Whatever sort of dispensing a product offers, it must absolutely work properly.
Daily life gets faster and faster, with most of us going from home to work and back again at a pace that's best described as "frenetic". Patience is a virtue many people simply don't have anymore. We'd rather squeeze a bottle to extract its contents than resign ourselves to waiting for it to make its way out slowly onto our fingertip. No matter whether discussing fragrances, shampoos, or mascaras, dispensing has to be quick and effective.
If the dispensing solution being offered is easy to understand and use, reliable, and fast, it's a winner!
There's no reason to close the patent office, though. It's a given that new and useful inventions can and will supplant many dispensing formats available today, based on consumer interest. We've seen airless packaging, for example, rise steadily over the last few years. This has mainly been due to benefits and properties recognized by consumers to be better than previous dispensing offerings. Certainly, invention has its place, and it's necessary for firms to develop completely new concepts when confronted with dispensing challenges that can't be solved with available solutions. Firms should simply be wary of invention for its own sake. What may be considered a "differentiating characteristic" may not be warmly welcomed by consumers already accustomed to a paradigm, unless it's light years beyond what they're accustomed to.
