Unilever taps Ball printing tech for Rexona deodorant aluminum cans
Key takeaways
- Ball has used its Dynamark Pro printing technology to produce six football-themed aerosol can designs for Unilever’s Rexona Maximum Protection range in Germany.
- Created with the German Football Association, the designs feature stylized portraits of the men’s national team while maintaining Rexona’s brand identity.
- The technology enables multiple graphic variants in one production run, including halftone illustrations, color mixing, and complex design details.
(Image credit: Ball).Ball Corporation has supported Unilever’s launch of a football-themed Rexona Maximum Protection aerosol range in Germany with its Ball Dynamark Pro print technology. The joint project has created six deodorant can designs with “consistent print quality” that maintain Rexona’s recognizable brand identity, Ball highlights.
The six can designs were created by Unilever and the German Football Association (DFB) illustrate stylized portraits of the German men’s national team, aiming to showcase cohesive visuals rather than individual realistic portraits of the players.
“This project shows how close collaboration can turn a strong creative idea into packaging that is visually distinctive and practical to produce at scale,” says Victoria Marletta, VP for Personal and Home Care Commercial at Ball.
“We are proud to support Unilever on a campaign that combines creative ambition with the production expertise needed to deliver a high-quality result across the Rexona range in Germany.”
Hannan Mölder, category lead for Deodorant at Rexona and AXE Germany, adds: “This collaboration with Ball and the DFB allows us to connect with our consumers’ passion for football in a fresh, visually impactful way.”
“Dynamark PRO gave us the creative flexibility to represent the collective strength of the national team while maintaining the premium quality and identity our customers expect from Rexona.”
Unilever’s Rexona packaging is not tied to a single event. Instead, it is designed as a longer-term, football-focused offering, the companies outline. “The use of DFB imagery helps extend brand visibility beyond a one campaign moment, keeping the national team theme present on shelf over a longer period,” Ball and Unilever explain.
Aluminum printing technology
Unilever set out to release a “distinctive” range with multiple design variants in a single production run, and Ball says its Dynamark Pro technology enabled this flexibility.
It also adds that the packaging artwork was improved during the trial period in order to facilitate consistent print quality across the range as well as on-shelf presence.
Ball’s Dynamark Pro technology is said to achieve varying design elements, color mixing, half-tone illustrations, and complex graphic details. “This allows brands to execute multiple designs within a single series while ensuring a consistent brand identity,” Ball continues.
Earlier, Marletta told Packaging Insights that aluminum packaging for personal care is well-suited to meet upcoming regulatory requirements due to its high recyclability and established processing infrastructure.
Predrag Ozmo, sustainability director at Ball, emphasized substantiated sustainability in aluminum packaging, focusing on measurable, verifiable claims, and transparency to combat greenwashing.
Recently, Ball also partnered with Meadow, a Swedish packaging technology company, to release the Meadow Kapsul SleeveLock wall-mounted dispenser system for personal care products, and supplied Münsterland J. Lülf with aluminum 250 mL cans for its flavored milks featuring characters from the SpongeBob SquarePants film.
