Innovative packaging providing competitive advantage

Gent, Belgium - Blue Underground, a Los Angeles-based company specializing in the DVD movie releases, has taken advantage of the ideal competitive advantage, combining brand building with unique packaging. Their secret to success is innovative clear tinted packaging that is proving to be a sales booster.

“The market for DVDs is growing so rapidly that you must distinguish your brand to be successful,” said Christopher Lee, art director with Blue Underground. “Unique packaging allows you to capture the attention of the consumer immediately and focus them on your label. In this case, Milliken was able to provide a blue-colored case which matched our brand identity perfectly.”

Blue Underground’s first release with this innovative packaging approach is “The Final Countdown,” a sci-fi action movie that hurtles a modern day aircraft carrier, the U.S.S. Nimitz, back in time to the beginning of World War II. Not only can scene selections be seen through the blue, transparent box, but the unique inside cover features a hologram of the ship. These features allure consumers to touch, feel and play with the unique packaging.

“We had hoped to sell 100,000 copies, and we have already surpassed that goal, with the Final Countdown becoming one of our top five most popular films,” Lee said. “There is no question that the packaging has been a key in this success.”

The DVD market has grown red hot since the new entertainment technology was first introduced nearly six years ago. The number of DVD players in American homes has burgeoned to more than 73 million, giving rise to phenomenal demand for new movie titles on DVD and driving a growing number of companies, such as Blue Underground, to find new ways to make their new releases stand out with consumers.

Blue Underground’s new DVD package takes advantage of two Milliken plastics additives – Millad® 3988 that gives polypropylene its highest clarity and Milliken’s ClearTint® colorants, the clearest and most transparent color for polypropylene. These plastics additives, combined with a unique DVD package design, are helping to make DVD packages jump off the shelves at retail. Additionally, the ClearTint colorants are designed to match any brand coloring perfectly.

“We can create DVD packaging that allows the studios to use double sided printing so that scene selections and other graphics can be seen through the unique cover,” said Jim Spry, director of global business development for Milliken & Company. “This gives the studios a more aesthetically pleasing package as well as gives them the option of eliminating leaflets and booklets which are added costs.”

Blue Underground is a new DVD company that specializes in the release of genre classics that have not been previously released in the U.S. For more information, visit www.blue-underground.com.

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