Choose Tomorrow, Today: A New Glass Hallmark to Communicate Commitment to Sustainability

There is a broad palette of tools that marketers can play with to activate their brands and connect with consumers to drive trial and purchase. Packaging is one of these tools, maybe one of the most powerful ones, but a too-often under-utilized one I feel. One-hundred percent of consumers will interact with packaging - in particular at the most critical moments for brands: moment of purchase and moment of consumption. Therefore, the power of packaging to influence and impact a brand's success is huge.

Consumers are more and more looking for, and even demanding, sustainable, responsible products and packaging is part of how they judge a brand. According to Shopify's Future of E-Commerce 2021 report, 72% of global consumers want brands to use sustainable packaging.

Glass packaging has such a powerful story to tell - a story that is even more relevant now than it ever was before. Glass is 100% recyclable, infinitely. It is natural, made of simple ingredients and of recycled glass (in Europe, glass packaging contains on average 52% post-consumer recycled content). Glass is also virtually inert - the only packaging material Generally Recognized as Safe by the U.S. FDA - protecting the taste of the product inside and the health of consumers. And last but not least, it transforms the consumption experience, uniquely activating all senses to transcend the ordinary and create emotional connections between brand and consumer.

The glass hallmark tells the powerful story behind glass's benefits for the earth and human health.

To help raise awareness for this story, the glass industry has launched a new glass hallmark. The hallmark is a universal symbol that serves as a visual tool for brands to better communicate health and sustainable credentials of their glass packaging to consumers. When you see the glass hallmark, you are reminded that glass symbolizes a commitment to use resources wisely, to recycle whenever possible, to care for the integrity of the content as well as for the health of the people who use it. With the glass hallmark, we want to raise awareness that choosing glass is one of the things we can do today to ensure a better tomorrow.

This is the first time we do this as a glass industry, but in reality, this is meant to become a shared platform for glass manufacturers, brands, retailers, suppliers - everyone along the supply chain - to raise awareness for the health and sustainable credentials of glass. We hope that brands will embrace the opportunity to reach 100% of their consumers.

The good news is, consumers already tend to have a good understanding of these benefits. An independent consumer research survey published in 2020 shows that 91% of Europeans would recommend glass as the best packaging material to friends and family - that's 11% more than 3 years ago.

When probed, consumers will eagerly say they prefer glass. Now we need to help them remember why they love it during critical moments: when they shop, when they use the product, when they dispose of the packaging.

This is where the glass hallmark will shine. We needed to create a sign that they will see, remember and that tells the good story of glass in a memorable way on the packaging itself.

We encourage our customers to find out more about the glass hallmark. If you are interested in adopting it, we're here to help you figure out how it complements your brand story and how you can implement it.

Arnaud Aujouannet leads sales and marketing for O-I. Arnaud has been focused on creating packaging that tells the brand's story and stands out on the shelf. He has worked with some of the most common household name brands and has successfully crafted unique stories for each one, and translated that story into the packaging to truly connect with target audiences.Arnaud Aujouannet