When it comes to the topic of what brands look to achieve with marketing campaigns, people might wonder, is it to educate their customers about the products and the company value? Is it to understand customers better with data collection? Or to get them engaged and trigger a sentimental relationship between the brands and themselves?
While you are still pondering which one is the right answer, there’s one solution that could meet all the needs that brands could possibly have - Connected Packaging.
In fact, according to a recent report by Data Bridge, the global connected packaging market is expected to grow at a growth rate of 7.4% in the forecast period of 2020 to 2027, to USD 31.94 billion by 2027.
In this modern world, we use technology to tackle all the problems including the sustainability challenge. Simply by scanning the QR codes or barcodes on the product packaging with their mobiles, customers are led to the digital campaigns customized to the brand needs, whether it be quizzes that find out customer preferences, or games that engage customers in a fun, dynamic, branded experience. Either way, data collection is carried out tactfully, yet align with GDPR restrictions. No paper involved, no app needed, it could be as simple as a browser-based game, which customers could play right away as they step out of the supermarket with mobile data and without installing another app.
Brands that are worried about getting real customer insights can chill in relief. With connected packaging they’re able to be truly consumer-centric, understand their customers from product preferences to demographics information, geographic locations and much more, and make swift shift accordingly, regardless of how many distributors sitting in between the brands and their customers. And with this technology, we are not only aiming to raise sales, drive awareness and collect first-party data, but also to affect the whole supply chain right up to the logistics based on the information that comes with the unique QR codes, such as the time it takes from start of production to the product reaching customers.
Appetite Creative has been working with Tetra Pak recently, a major player in the packaging game. Tetra Pak has started to pay more attention to its actions concerning sustainability and environmental issues and has taken the initiative to make effort around this topic.
Our first cooperation began with an eco-themed quiz that tests the user's knowledge about recycling and Tetra Pak's environmental impact. Each time the players answered a question correctly, they would see a tree growing, and if the answers of all the questions were correct, a forest would rise. The aim of the game was to grow as many trees as possible, corresponding to Tetra Pak’s value as a brand.
Find more about our TetraPak Campaign here
We recently hosted a webinar involving Tetra Pak's digital solutions manager for Europe and Central Asia, Alessio Schiavone, along with other industry experts. You can watch it here or read about it here. You'll see Alessio speak about how his company increased sales during the COVID-19 pandemic, and whether it’s best to stick to the basics or take the chance of pivoting and learning more.
We also spoke about how much more data can be collected and the impact of this throughout business; and that all-important physical contact point between what the brand does and what the end consumer gets.
The future of packaging could not do without Augmented Reality (AR). It is a word that already sounds too familiar to us yet still a fuzzy concept. But AR is a portal builder that can transform a piece of packaging into a doorway to your brand ecosystem, via high quality, branded content, be it a selfie app with cool filters, a quiz, a competition, or even a story of sustainability. The package, thanks to AR, can now show everything about the people who make and believe in what's inside. Open the can and enjoy a backstage tour of the studio; take a selfie there and share it with your friends; and don't forget to enjoy the products, obviously.
Another product we helped with was Coca-Cola's Rani Float, one of Coca-Cola's most fun and innovative products, including real fruit pieces. Coca-Cola asked Appetite Creative to create a competition to engage its young audience across all four flavours of the drink. The two new flavours had been struggling to get attention and the brand wanted cutting edge technology, fantastic design, and unique experience. We developed an AR experience in which users could scan their soft drink cans, ensuring they had all four flavours, and enter competitions to win prizes. Once done, all could be shared effortlessly on social media. The results smashed through all targets and expectations.
Find more about our Rani Juice Campaign here
Our Rum-making friends Bacardi also took note of what an immersive experience can bring to a product. Using Bacardi’s branding, we created a gorgeous-looking, perfectly functional experience that included a host of thumb-engaging activities such as personality tests to find your perfect serve and a fact of the day. The star of the show was Rum Roulette, a chance to win a bottle of Bacardi rum or a voucher to redeem a mojito in participating bars. Repeat visits to the site and a fun incentive for the product, data collection and customer engagement, all in one experience.
Find more about our Bacardi Campaign here
On a more kid-friendly note, Swiss dairy company Emmi wanted to be one of the first on the market to engage with consumers digitally, while also educating their key audience about the benefits of their range and their new added vitamin D Emmi “Good Day” milk drink. To achieve this, we created a web redesign and online competition which focused on using on-pack unique QR codes on Tetra Prisma® Aseptic 1000ml packaging. To launch the product, we created an interactive online quiz that customers could enter by using their mobile phones to scan a unique, one-time-use QR code located on the side panel of the Tetra Prisma® Aseptic 1000 Square packages of the Emmi “Good Day” milk products. We are right now working on the next project. Keep your eyes peeled.
Find more about our Emmi Campaign here
With our connected experiences, you can transform your packaging into a media channel through the use of technology. Imagine using that space like you would a TV channel or online publisher. Communicate your messages and understand the rich data behind it. Use QR codes on your packaging to connect your audiences to digital experiences, and to draw correlations between age, location, day, length of engagement, and brand, all whilst engaging, educating and interacting with your audience and, of course, driving sales.
At Appetite, we can help you understand the benefits and the possibilities of things you didn't even know could be connected. Get in touch here.
By Jenny Stanley, founder and MD, Appetite Creative Solutions