Don't imagine that smart packaging has to be complex to offer something different to the consumer in today's crowded marketplace. Sometimes simple things are valued. Reaching out to fulfil unmet consumer needs often involves understanding how consumers use existing products and looking for a better way.

Take exhibit 1. An aerosol sink clearer from ReckittBenckiser that uses compressed gas pressure and hydraulic forces to unblock a sink in seconds flat. And at £3.99, a lot cheaper than calling out a plumber on a Sunday night in winter (if you can find one!).

Or exhibit 2. One of most successful smart packaging concepts of the last 20 years - the widget. Developed by Guinness in the early 80's and now found in many smooth-flow and draught beers in both metal cans and bottles. A UK phenomenon, contributing to keeping quality beer in metal containers.

Example 3 is another smart packaging beverage example - Biogaia's LifeTop™ smart drinking straw. Attached to an aseptic carton of drinking yogurt and containing probiotic bacteria, it allows exactly the right dose to be delivered with each sip.

Small portable wine bottles are increasingly found in plastic for lightness and safety reasons. They're ideal for outdoor events or picnics but who was it that was supposed to remember to bring the glasses? Not a problem with Hardy's 250ml Shuttle concept for Shiraz and Semillon Chardonnay - the integral closure twists off to become the glass (Exhibit 4). Now that's smart!

All these examples are commercially available in the UK.