[IT/Marketing & Selling]
Smart Business: Novel Batteries
Hed: Battery Powered
Deck: An Emerging Battery Technology Could Liven Up Your Product's Packaging.
Pull Quote: "We're appealing to the marketing managers, who have money to spend and
understand the value this technology can bring to a marketing campaign." -- Eitan Avni,
director of development and e-packaging, International Paper
Does your product sing and dance its way off the shelves and into the customer's shopping
cart? It could if its packaging included a disposable battery, says Eitan Avni, director of
development and e-packaging for International Paper (IP) in Loveland, Ohio.
"Today's packaging is still static," he says. "But we're involved with some intriguing
technology that has our clients very excited."
That technology is what Avni calls "smart" packaging. His company has partnered with
Power Paper, a small Israeli company that holds several patents on an emerging
microelectronic technology that allows battery power to be literally printed on paper. The
result is a disposable battery that isn't bound by size or shape constraints, and can be used
just about anywhere.
Using the new technology, marketers can add lights to a fast-food restaurant bag so it can
double as a child's toy, or place audio clips on the box of a movie video. One day soon,
consumers with hands over their ears may be the only ones to miss a marketing message as
they walk through a store.
Smaller Than a Speeding Atom
Microelectronics, the science behind highly miniaturized electronic circuits, has been
around for a long time, says Fil Bartoli, program manager with the National Science
Foundation in Arlington, Va. "Microelectronics were used in the earliest computers," he
says, "to miniaturize components on a single chip."
Power Paper is the first company to harness microelectronics into a patented, ink-based
format, although Bartoli says he has heard rumblings of similar research on the concept
being done around the world.
Power Paper's technology – the company calls it a "printed cell" – uses ink-like materials
to print, paste, or laminate the disposable battery onto virtually any flat surface, including
paper. The process produces a flexible dry battery no thicker than a Band-Aid.
Because the process uses off-the-shelf production equipment, the battery doesn't require
clean- or dry-room conditions or a hermetically sealed case, and can be produced for about
one cent per square inch.
That square inch can provide 1.5V of electricity, and cells can be printed in multiple
combinations for higher voltages.
Customers license the technology, purchase the patented ink-like materials from Power
Paper and create the printed batteries on their own premises with an off-the-shelf
silkscreen printing press. Cost for licensing varies upon the amount of materials involved
and can range from a tenth of a cent to a dollar or more per battery.
Baruch Levanon, president and CEO of Power Paper, says his company has been studying
the technology for more than seven years. Although other companies are experimenting
with thinner batteries, they aren't flexible and they require bulky, rigid cases to keep toxic
battery materials sealed inside. Levanon says his company's product is different because
the research began from microelectronics instead of batteries. Microelectronics not only
allow the company to avoid using toxic materials common in batteries, he says, it gives
Power Paper other benefits.
"From the first day, we decided our product needed to be available to the masses and it
needed to be disposable," says Levanon. "Microelectronics was the only process that could
make something disposable, flexible and paper-thin."
A Grab for Attention
That decision is attracting would-be business partners on a world-wide basis. After
exhibiting the technology jointly with International Paper in New York in mid-February,
Levanon got so many e-mails from other businesses requesting information that it took him
more than a month to answer them.
He is still a bit overwhelmed at his product's success, and says that working with a
company the size of International Paper is a big job. "Frankly, it's almost better for us to
work with smaller companies," says Levanon. "They only need a few hundred thousand
products, which is a lot easier to produce than a few million."
Why is everyone so interested in thin, flexible, printable battery power? "Because adding
value to the package makes it appeal to consumers," says IP's Avni. And if it appeals to
consumers, sales will increase.
Imagine a package that could flash a product's logo in multiple colors. Or a CD case that
scrolls the titles of its songs while a mini-speaker plays music samples. Avni says IP is
targeting makers of high-end products such as compact discs, video cassettes, dolls and
cosmetics. IP plans to introduce its first "e-package" by summer, but Avni declined to
name the product.
Avni won't be targeting purchasing managers at the companies he works with, he says.
He'll be going after marketing dollars. "Purchasing managers are trained to cut costs," he
says. "And this technology will add a bit to the price. So we're appealing to the marketing
managers, who have money to spend and understand the value this technology can bring to
a marketing campaign."
Gimmicky packaging isn't the only reason Power Paper's technology is attracting attention.
The pharmaceutical industry has expressed interest in adding the technology to medication
packages. Says Levanon: "What if your medication could start beeping when you are
supposed to take your pills? Or tell you how many to take?"
Smaller companies are also working with Power Paper, which is in the final stages of a
deal with an 80-person Chicago-based printing company that prints healthcare and medical
products as well as "smart cards" for financial and other industries.
Talkback Live
The prospect of stores filled with talking packages worries AnneMarie Marek, principal
with Marek & Co., a Dallas marketing firm. "How much noise are we willing to take as
consumers?" she says. "There may be some groups that respond well to loud, flashy, clever
packaging but businesses need to clearly understand their consumers before they try
something like this."
Marek says too many bells and whistles on packaging could cause confusion for the
consumer. Still, she sees marketing opportunities for flexible, disposable batteries. "I could
see this battery being used on, for example, pop-up ads that come with the Sunday
newspaper," she says. "You know, make Rudolph's nose turn bright red as he pops up from
a holiday ad. Interactive play has definite benefits in marketing and can attract consumers
on many levels, although it takes a lot to get us wowed these days."
Back at the National Science Foundation, Fil Bartoli is pondering the possibilities of this
newest microelectronic technology. "It's a relatively new idea," he says. "How small a limit
can you have? It strains the imagination. You could put this on clothing, electronic books,
paper products, plastic sheets, anything."
Related Links
<a href="http://www.powerpaper.com">Power Paper</a>
<a href="http://www.nsf.gov">National Science Foundation</a>
<a href="http://www.ipaper.com">International Paper</a>
<a href="http://www.fastpitchpr.com">Marek & Company</a>
SOURCES:
Fil Bartoli, program manager, National Science Foundation
Electronics and Communications Division
4201 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, Virginia 22230, USA
703-292-8339
Baruch Levanon, pres/CEO, Power Paper
P.O.B. 12 , Kibutz Einat, Israel 49910
C/o Michele Lorbieski, S&S PR, 888-275-5878 x22
Eitan Avni, director of development and e-packaging, International Paper
6123 Tri-Ridge Blvd., Loveland, OH 45140
513-248-6123
eitan.avni@ipaper.com
Anne-Marie Marek, principal, Marek & Co.
6928 Cornelia Lane, Dallas
214-828-0634
marek@fastpitchpr.com