CLOSE-UP: LIVE ISSUE - TETRA PAK. Can advertising ever turn a carton into a consumer brand? Glen Mutel reports.(Tetra Pak International AB advertising)

It's only two months in, but 2003 is already turning into a vintage year for big-brand creative reviews. Over the coming weeks, results are eagerly awaited on the British Gas, BT, Woolworths, Royal Mail and Tetra Pak pitches. Hang on. Can you spot the odd one out?

As the producer of almost half of the world's milk cartons, Tetra Pak is an unlikely advertiser. Its need for business-to-business promotion is obvious, but, surely, brand awareness advertising would just be an unnecessary expense?

Apparently not. For not only is the Swedish company looking for a creative agency, but it also has pounds 5 million to spend on advertising. Its objective is not only to make UK consumers aware of the Tetra Pak brand, but to make them actively seek out food products that use Tetra Pak packaging.

It sounds like a tall order. It's hard to imagine consumers giving a second thought as to who made the packaging that contains the milk and the soup they buy. Nevertheless, there is some precedent here.

In 2002, the Portuguese Cork Association launched a multimillion-pound advertising campaign in the UK and Australia in a bid to counter a shift towards screw-top caps or plastic stoppers for wine.

The association was also aiming to counter bad publicity concerning corked wine. As well as marketing, it announced new research projects and changes to its code of practice.

Tetra Pak has similarly combined a new-found marketing ambition with product innovation, and, during the past four years, has increased the number of pack designs it produces from 28 to 40 per year. However, unlike the Portuguese Cork Association, Tetra Pak has neither tradition nor romance on its side.