Burgopak and Placard have joined forces to design a new envelope for Emerge’s bank card, aspiring to overcome ‘unboxing apathy’ by creating an engaging opening experience.
Now available in New Zealand, the Emerge bank card is newly packaged in 300 GSM artboard printed with holographic foil and spot UV.
Burgopak’s design team was briefed to develop packaging that would make a statement and stand out in the market. It sought to achieve a premium, tactile experience that felt like unwrapping a gift.
“Emerge wanted a pack that not only protected the card during transit, but also converted what would be a mundane experience into something more interesting,” explained Tess Barone, GM Sales & Marketing at Placard. “The dual-slide mechanism makes the reveal interactive and fun.
“The manufacturing of a pack like this, with a belt-driven opening mechanism, requires tolerances of less than half a millimetre to ensure that the opening and closing action is smooth. This is what Burgopak specializes in and why we partner with them – they precision manufacture their packs so that the opening mechanism works perfectly, every time.”
Trevor Buchanan, co-founder of Burgopak Asia Pacific, continued: “It’s always great to work with a bold, young brand who want to do things differently. Emerge’s packaging was designed to solve the issue of ‘unboxing apathy’ – traditional credit card mailers can be boring – often a card glued to a Z-folded letter, in a plain envelope.
“This packaging is the opposite – it helps Emerge make a great impression in that first moment when the customer meets the brand physically.”
“From the get-go, we wanted the bank card’s packaging to be an extension of Emerge’s brand,” added Sasha Fowler, creative director at Emerge. “The goal was to elevate what’s typically a routine experience into something worth remembering, a design that would surprise, delight, and embody the brand’s forward-thinking personality.
“Visually, it needed to communicate innovation – sleek with striking colours accented by holographic foil. The ‘feel’ was equally important - we wanted the pack to be high quality, with a satisfyingly solid way of opening.
“We design everything, from our app to our physical touchpoints to feel considered, premium, and unmistakably Emerge.
“We’re delighted with the final packaging and are looking forward to the reaction from our customers.”
Burgopak previously collaborated with dtcpay to present its global payment card in a sliding packaging system. Unboxing the card reveals messaging and activation information, which is hoped to capture the consumer’s attention and streamline the setup process.
Since then, its developments include a small retrofit lighting unit for luxury product packaging, including bank cards. Powered by two LEDs and a small battery, the light switches on when the box is opened and the product is revealed; it can then be removed and reused while the rest of the pack is recycled.
In other news, McKinsey has highlighted the ‘untapped potential’ of designing packaging with filmed reviews and ‘unboxing’ videos in mind – ensuring that the opening process is frustration-free and consulting consumer feedback to improve designs.
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