The bag is the product

For Foxborough and Fifth Avenue, this marketing tool carries weight

FOXBOROUGH - The New England Patriots covet being number one, so it's natural for the team to brag about its latest feat: the first personalized shopping bags at the new Patriots ProShop.

For months, executives worked on the bag's details - selecting the perfect shade of blue so it would resemble an authentic Patriots jersey, picking the proper red cord handles, and figuring out a way to print customers' last names on cards that could be attached to the bags.

"We spent more time designing this bag than we spent designing the items we will sell to put in it," said Brian Bilello, strategic initiatives and retail operations director for Kraft Sports Group, which owns the Patriots.

"It's a lot more expensive than just your average bag, but we think this will generate a lot of buzz and will be worth it, from a marketing perspective. People will want to show their friends, and it will get a lot of attention when people are shopping around Patriot Place" in Foxborough.

Over the past two years, a growing number of merchants have increased their investment in shopping bags, selecting heavier, more durable materials, handles made of silk, cord, and plastic, and designs featuring embossed or stamped foil accents.

Something originally intended to hold products has become a product itself.

"It's almost competitive now, who can have the latest and greatest bag," said Paul LaCerda, vice president of sales and marketing of PAK 2000, a New Hampshire company which designs and manufactures shopping bags for brands like Cartier, Bulgari, and Ralph Lauren, along with the Patriots. "People tend to save these nicer bags, and consumers become walking billboards for these companies."

When Saks Fifth Avenue unveiled its black and white shopping bag last year, the company selected a heavier paper than its previous pewter-colored bags, making them stronger and sleeker. The graphic design features the retailer's log broken up and pieced together in various formations.

"I wanted consumers to recognize the bag and Saks on the street, whether they were walking with their latest purchase from our store or to the dry cleaners with their Saks clothes," said Terron Schaefer, Saks' senior vice president for marketing.

"Customers shop at Saks because of our merchandise assortments, service, and the experience they feel when they step into any of our locations. The bag is a reflection of all of those things and allows consumers to take a little piece of Saks Fifth Avenue with them."

Unlike plastic or paper bags, which cost just pennies each to produce, higher-end bags often cost $1 or more to manufacture. Retailers are willing to absorb the higher prices because they view the bags as a marketing investment.

The Patriots are considering selling the bags by themselves for between $5 and $10, and plans are underway to design bags with different colored jerseys.

"It's an attempt to engage consumers, and it makes sense for the Patriots to leverage that kind of personalization," said Robert Passikoff, president of Brand Keys Inc., a New York City marketing firm. "We're living in a place where people are constantly exposed to marketing message. If you can't beam messages into their head at night, this is one way to differentiate and get consumers' attention."

This month, Saks is unveiling a limited-edition "Want it" shopping bag featuring the artwork of French illustrator Alexandra Compain-Tissier, which depicts customers admiring must-have items for fall in the New York store windows of the iconic Saks Fifth Avenue.

According to retail analysts, increased attention to shopping bags has also accelerated because of environmental concerns.

This year, Whole Foods Market, the supermarket chain that focuses on organic foods, banned plastic bags, starting on Earth Day, as part of an effort to get consumers to reuse bags, including the canvas ones sold by the grocer for between $2.99 and $9.99 and its new 99 cent "A Better Bag," 80 percent of which is made from recycled plastic bottles.

Next month, Whole Foods will release its first bag created by a guest designer, Sheryl Crow. The limited-edition bag, which benefits the Natural Resources Defense Council, features earth tones and a charcoal sketch of a tree with words written by Crow, along with the Whole Foods logo.

High-end yoga retailer Lululemon Athletica decided to replace its paper bags roughly two years ago with reusable ones made of the plastic used for yogurt containers. The current red, white, and black design comes in two sizes and features Lululemon's logo on one side and the store's manifesto on the other, with phrases like "Do one thing a day that scares you" and "Dance, sing, floss and travel." This holiday season, Lululemon is considering adding snaps to the bags and changing the artwork.

"For us, it is a marketing tool," said Amy Curry-Staschke, Lululemon's senior manager of global sourcing and community legacies. "We like that our guests are proud of the bag and it's a great conversation starter on the bus."

But the bags have become so popular that some people come into the stores asking for them without buying anything, or demanding a large bag when all they purchase is a headband. EBay even has several listed for $15.

So over the past two months, Lululemon has attempted to retrain consumers about the purpose of the bag - reusing it for future purchases - by launching a "Save-a-Bag" challenge. Stores came up with their own ideas on how to convince customers not to take a bag. At one shop, Lululemon donated 50 cents to a local charity for every customer who did not take a bag. In seven weeks, Lululemon has collected more than 73,000 bags.

"We don't want to refuse customers. And we love that the bags are desired. But we need to reeducate them on the original intention," Curry-Staschke said. "It's a good challenge to have."

Jenn Abelson can be reached at abelson@globe.com.