As the packaging industry—particularly the plastic and flexible packaging industry—continues to face unprecedented levels of legislation around end-of-life management and full circularity, promotion of the many benefits of flexible packaging is more important than ever. FPA believes that promotion of flexible packaging’s sustainability—not just to customers, but to consumers and policymakers—is critical to the continued growth and success of the industry in the United States. Thus, FPA, which started an influencer campaign in early 2020, is amplifying its efforts in 2021.
FPA maintains two social media channels under our “Perfect Packaging” brand, which caters to a consumer audience on Instagram and Facebook. Our Instagram channel had 1,103 followers, 28,000 post impressions, and 6,000 engagements in 2020. Our Facebook page had 27,796 followers, 3.1 million page impressions, and 13,000 engagements in 2020. Our influencer program—which engaged 18 influencers, primarily environmentally focused moms and outdoor enthusiasts—garnered 242,000 impressions, 23,000 engagements, and 252 new followers. In 2021, FPA has supplemented our existing efforts and increased our reach with lifestyle, outdoor/travel, and sustainability-focused influencers. These influencers alone have a total reach of 876,000, a more than three-fold increase from last year. We also took a deeper dive into brand partnerships to further promote the benefits of flexible packaging through their social channels. Brand partnerships with brands that use flexible packaging and have a strong sustainable and consumer-facing message, along with large Instagram followings, have been leveraged to increase our “Perfect Packaging” brand.
In addition, FPA promotes the industry through our association brand on Twitter and LinkedIn, whose channels reach media outlets and the industry supply chain. In 2020, our Twitter handle had 1,530 followers, 29,000 impressions, and 872 engagements. And our LinkedIn channel had 6,600 followers, 60,000 post impressions, and 2,000 engagements. The Sterilization Packaging Manufacturers Council (SPMC) also engages on LinkedIn. In 2020, it had 264 followers, 511 impressions, and 129 engagements. FPA has increased our promotion on these channels in 2021 as well by continuing to share content that falls into established packaging categories: engaging with real-time/trending topics, increasing the use of hashtags and tagging companies/pages when applicable, and sharing industry/member-related content. FPA’s promotion of SPMC’s new Sterile Packaging Day in March is featured in this issue and was a big part of the promotion of this important segment of the industry.
Most consumers and policymakers do not necessarily realize the importance of packaging in their everyday lives. More needs to be done to ensure that the right packaging for our products continues to be available, including flexible packaging. This means further promotion of its benefits throughout the supply chain, as well as to end users. And we need the entire packaging industry to join in the conversation.
Alison Keane, Esq., IOM, CAE
President and CEO
Flexible Packaging Association