PACK EXPO International 2012—Oct. 28-31 at McCormick Place in Chicago—will feature The Brand Zone, an area dedicated to the latest material and container innovations.

Located in the lower North Hall, The Brand Zone will house a variety of glass, metal, paper and plastic packaging solutions, as well as The Showcase of Packaging Innovations, sponsored by The Dow Chemical Co. The exhibit will offer attendees a look at award-winning packages from around the world.

The Brand Zone will also include several new features to help brand managers, marketers and package designers innovate:

Material ConneXion will showcase a sampling of more than 6,500 advanced and sustainable materials from the company’s global Materials Libraries. Experts will be on hand to educate attendees about the properties of the different materials, many of which will come from outside the packaging space, and their cross-over potential. In addition, Material ConneXion will present daily live demonstrations in its booth, which will be located inside The Showcase of Packaging Innovations.

Mintel will also offer on-floor education at PACK EXPO. The global research consultancy will present consumer and category insights from some of its most recent research studies in a special theater inside the booth (N-6214). Visitors will be able to access recent reports addressing trends across different markets, as well as browse and interact with a gallery of package designs from around the world, sourced from Mintel’s Global New Product Database. For more information or to register for PACK EXPO, visit www.packexpo.com.