Selling pacifiers worldwide through word-of-mouth

Packaging a principle

A real-estate broker by trade, Stefan Dockberg had no experience in anything to do with pacifiers or packaging – and chances are he never would have, if not for that fateful visit to the toy shop. Try as he might, he was unable to find something to offer his friends to commemorate their parenthood. Everything was literally covered in plastic upon plastic.

“It really threw me that I couldn’t even find a sustainably produced pacifier online,” Stefan recalls. “In the end I just decided that I would have to do it myself.”

He managed to find a small, family business in Quebec who crafted hand-made pacifiers using wood and natural rubber. It turned out very few adjustments would need to be made to comply with European safety standards, and that the only big issue would be that of packaging.

“While I did talk to several suppliers, Billerud was top of my shortlist going in,” Stefan remembers. “They have a solid reputation for being extremely solution-oriented and committed to their projects. That’s a mind-set I can very much relate to.”

Unboxing a dream

Billerud’s packaging experts set about re-imagining how best to package a sustainably sourced pacifier in a way that was structurally sound without adding extra weight, while harmonizing with both the product and its principles. The underlying design strategy was the result of a deep collaboration between Skogen Baby and Billerud’s packaging experts, and the execution was customized to maximize shelf impact, promote sustainability and – of course – offer a distinctly premium unboxing experience.

Through the looking glass

“I was very pleased they went all the way in terms of material and using the brown, unbleached side for the exterior,” says Lisa Furingsten, Packaging Engineer at Billerud.

Among other details, creating just the right inlay was a true challenge. “We needed to find a way of allowing the customer to see both the natural rubber and the head of the pacifier from several different angles,” she explains.

Another key point for the inlay was constructing a fastening solution that allowed a quick and easy way of securing the pacifiers inside the box without awarding them too much leeway.

“Striking the right balance there between the required visibility and the stability needed for that solid, premium feel, was very rewarding,” Lisa concludes.

A star is born

The concept of minimizing the use of virgin plastic, prioritizing re-use over production while optimizing the quality of the product is a priority for Skogen Baby. From a marketing point of view, the product concept is quite unique in that it simultaneously creates and lays claim to the most eco-friendly premium-segment position.

And in order to fully deliver on the premium promise, finding the right suppliers was essential – and something Stefan believes is a big factor in the successful launch. Skogen Baby has not only been very well received on the Swedish market but has also grown organically abroad over the years – to a far greater extent than even Stefan had anticipated. While one reason may well be Sweden’s international reputation for being able to supply high-quality products in a general sense, Stefan credits part of Skogen Baby’s momentum to the market buzz that partnering with Billerud created. Not least of all when it comes to the word-of-mouth that has helped spread the idea of a better choice across the world among parents and retailers with an environmenal awareness and care for future generations in mind.

“We have over 40 regular retailers in thirteen countries and counting,” he explains. “It’s all these little shops as well as large chains who just get in touch with us, asking if they can please sell our pacifiers. I can’t describe how gratifying that feels. It means I was really right. It just took a decade longer than I thought.”