For more information, contact:

W. Brian Fiebig

Vice President, Marketing

(920) 739-3671, (800) 236-3671

bfiebig@greatnortherncorp.com

-FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE-

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Dr. Miracle's Uses Breakthrough Packaging Technology for Impactful Positioning

New StrataGraph® Process Facilitates High-Quality, Four-Color Printing On Paperboard

APPLETON, Wis., June 19, 2006 — In the highly competitive cosmetics industry where image is king, packaging can make or break a product.

For the developers of Dr. Miracle's No-Lye Relaxer, the challenge was to come up with packaging that positioned the hair product as glamorous while retaining its natural, homegrown appeal.

Great Northern Corporation provided the solution with a breakthrough technology that allows cost-efficient high-quality process printing on paperboard: StrataGraph®. This web offset process combines the best in packaging performance with the best in high-quality printing capabilities.

 “We wanted to keep the natural, ecologically friendly look of the paperboard cartons and displays, but we also wanted the packaging to display high-quality images of beautiful women using our hair relaxer product,” explained Ollie Johnson, executive vice president of Dr. Miracle's.

“None of our competitors' products comes in a display carton like ours and our packaging is totally different than anything in the category,” Johnson added. “We needed to differentiate ourselves on the shelf. The kraft paperboard gives our product a natural look and feel while the graphics give it a very upscale look.”

Frank Altomare, a packaging consultant to Dr. Miracle's, said that when the no-lye hair relaxer product was introduced three years ago, the company wanted packaging that was consistent with their existing product lines but also capable of reproducing the high quality images that are needed to convey style and results in the beauty products industry.

“Competitors were using virgin SBS and high-end four-color graphics,” Altomare said. “We needed a carton that had the natural look as do the rest of their products, but it was also absolutely necessary to have high-quality process color. However, you can't achieve quality process printing on the chipboard that Dr. Miracle's had been using for packaging. That was the Catch 22.”

After working at first with other packaging vendors and materials, Dr. Miracle's found itself still not totally satisfied in terms of price, turnaround time and image quality.

Altomare turned to Great Northern Corporation, which uses a UV-based dry-trapping ink process. As each color of ink is applied, the paperboard moves through a fast-acting dryer.  The dried ink forms a polymer that sits on top of the paperboard rather than being absorbed into it and acts as a base for the application of the next layer of ink.

“A normal sheet substrate process -- wet ink on top of wet ink -- makes printing lifelike graphics on an uncoated substrate nearly impossible,” explained Don Schroeder, president of Great Northern Corporation's StrataGraph operation.  “Our in-line process lets us print the silhouette of the image in one color -- in this case, white -- to seal the uncoated board and then continue printing the remaining colors. This allows us to produce graphics with brilliant whites and skin tones. The StrataGraph process enables Great Northern Corporation to truly differentiate itself from other printers.”

In addition to allowing the marriage of quality process printing with the structural integrity of folding carton paperboard, Great Northern Corporation's web-based StrataGraph process allows for a smooth transition between printing processes, creating a highly efficient production table, Schroeder said.

“As we unwind the paperboard, we print two layers of white and then the CMYK, rotary cut the carton and send it off to the gluer,” Schroeder said. “ It all comes out in one smooth process.”

The streamlined system also offers significant efficiencies and lower cost-to-market opportunities, Schroeder said. Key processes are accomplished in line and in one location, eliminating many of the steps in the traditional sheet-fed process and the need for multiple vendors. The result is consistent quality and reduced turnaround time.

“Great Northern Corporation's StrataGraph technology is the perfect marriage of middle-class packaging with super high-end graphics,” Altomare said. “It results in a subtly elegant look that is perfect for Dr. Miracle's positioning.”

Dr. Miracle's No-Lye Hair Relaxer is sold throughout the United States as well as in Canada, London, the Caribbean and parts of Africa. Outlets include Wal-Mart, Walgreen, Sally, CVS and other chain stores in addition to more than 5,000 beauty and barber supply stores.

Great Northern Corporation designs, manufactures and distributes packaging solutions and point-of-sale display programs for industrial, commercial and retail products. Its operations include Commercial Packaging, corrugated and custom packaging; Consumer Packaging & Display, temporary and permanent displays, point-of-sale packaging and fulfillment services; Laminations, VBoard® edge protection; and Rollguard Products, protective packaging systems for rolled and cylindrical products.  Headquartered in Appleton, Wis., Great Northern has operations in five states and more than 800 employees.

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