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Above Pepsi’s blue makes it stand out from other “red” cola brands while 7UP’s green invokes citrus tastes (right) Perrier centred its “bulles neuves” campaign around fizzing sounds ‘THE CAN HAS A STRONG IDENTITY WITH RESPECT TO SOUND... IT COMMUNICATES THE REFRESHING ASPECT OF THE CARBONATED BEVERAGE’ OLAF JOERESSEN, INNOVATION DIRECTOR, ARDAGH GROUPand images can produce is not to be underestimated. There’s a similar principle at play when it comes to weight: heaviness is associated with high quality, whether the product is wine or lipstick. When the makers of the Japanese beer brand Sapporo switched from a standard aluminium can to “a big, steel, muscly can with broader shoulders,” Spence says, “there was a huge increase in sales.” The marketing push that went along with the rebrand probably had something to do with this boost, Spence thinks, but the new, heavier can is likely to have figured into this success as well.Then there’s texture, which can play a role in the way that we experience food and drink. Spence has shown that biscuits that are eaten from flatware with a rough surface are perceived to be more crunchy, so there is a possibility that the textured coatings that can now be added to beverage cans will play a role in the experience of drinking, and also ensure they stand out on shelves. “Tactile finish on beverage cans creates an impression of condensation on the can,” says Crown Marketing Manager Noé Gailly, “and also generates an improved grip and physical interaction between the consumer and the branded pack.” Joeressen says that in recent years, “tactile poured, and the noise of its fizzing, are also important aspects of the consumer experience. Spence has shown that people are able to discriminate – purely based on the sound of bubbles popping – between champagne and carbonated water, and that it is possible to tell the temperature of water from the sound of it being decanted from one container to the other. This is useful information for packaging designers to know, and it can also help inform branding strategy. Perrier, which launched a new slim can in 2013, is one company that has created promotional campaigns around the sounds of its drink fizzing, being poured, and being openedWhen Perrier renewed its partnership with the French tennis tournament Roland-Garros for another four years in 2015, promotions for Perrier Green Apple in a slim can, showed a spray of bubbles being released from a can, around the words “bulles neuves” (new bubbles). The Pavlovian response these sounds ➤EUROPEAN CAN MARKET REPORT 2016 07SENSORY PACKAGING