TricorBraun Design and Innovation continues its ongoing commitment to exploring consumer preferences with a series of consumer focus groups that inquired into how consumers responded to existing handleware packaging.

Participants shared insights into how they carry and dispense product from larger laundry, lawn and garden and household cleaning packaging, as well as voicing their preferences from among the different handle configurations currently available.

"The most effective path to reliable packaging insights is to ask the people who actually use packages what they prefer", says Becky Donner, TricorBraun Vice President of Design and Market Insight. "This is feedback right from the user's mouth, in a real-time exchange of opinions."

While brand owners often conduct focus group research about consumers' reactions to their packages, TricorBraun takes a more proactive approach to understand consumer preferences for new, innovative packaging elements and technologies.

By looking inside the mind of the consumer and understanding a picture of how and why they use the products they do, TricorBraun designers are able to elevate every aspect of how they engage with brand owners and deliver meaningful innovation. The customer benefit is a functionally superior package that outperforms consumer expectations.

"The insights these focus groups produce drive new package designs for our customers that will not only differentiate the brand on shelf but also provide a more delightful consumer experience", adds Donner.

The focus groups are conducted at the TricorBraun Design & Innovation Studio in Oak Brook, Illinois. Participants are selected that represent typical users of the packaging being researched. The handleware groups, for example, consisted of men and women of between 35 and 60 years of age.