Heineken finds package designs through crowdsourcing

Van Iterson: To mark the 140th anniversary of Heineken, in 2012 we issued an open call for bottle designs on Facebook. Designers wishing to submit entries could go to yourfuturebottle.com to enter. The design brief focused on the idea of the Heineken brand being the world’s oldest social network, since we’ve been connecting people over a beer for 140 years. So we asked people for a design envisioning that kind of connection over the next 140 years. In the spring we had judges from Heineken as well as outside people from New York and Tokyo pick a winning design, which was submitted collaboratively by a design student from Mexico and a designer from Australia (see Photo A). The design takes all the continents of the world and arranges them into the Heineken star. This bottle was available commercially late last year as a limited-edition item tied into the holidays. We liked the concept so much that we’ll use it in a number of ways going forward.

What about the Heineken Ignite bottle?

Van Iterson: That came out of our participation in Milan Design Week in Italy, where we presented our vision of a club of the future. One component of that club is a glass bottle with LEDs, micro-sensors, and wireless networking (see pwgo.to/069). It flashes lights in time with music or in response to the motions of the person holding it. You might compare it to a concept car at an auto show. But it worked so well at the concept level that we’re bringing it out for commercial use in clubs.

Was the futurebottle.com a one-time thing or did you bring it back for 2013?

Van Iterson: We brought it back and just recently announced the winner of the 2013 version (see photo B). This time the winner came from Sao Paolo, Brazil, and it involves a technical innovation in the inks that are used. They have a temperature-sensing capability that will alert the consumer when the beer needs to be chilled. It’s a good example of how crowdsourcing helps us learn about new materials that can be used in packaging. We plan to launch it in 2014.

Getting back to IdeasBrewery.com, I see that the challenge preceding the 60+ Insights Challenge was the Sustainable Packaging Challenge.

Bark-Lindhout: Yes, we wanted to look at sustainable packaging from three different angles: materials, transportation, and behavioral change that might stimulate more consumers to return bottles for recycling. We got about 150 entries, and the interesting part about it is that it’s very transparent. Everybody can see each other’s ideas. This surprises some people, who think we would want to keep such things confidential. But we think that if it is open and transparent, we can inspire other potential idea submitters. There’s even a place on the site for commenting on the submissions of others.

What was the winning entry in the Sustainable Packaging Challenge?

Bark-Lindhout: It’s a concept where you scan your bottle when you return it for prizes that are randomly assigned to the bar code on certain bottles. There’s a smart technology involved. We haven’t commercialized it but we’re looking into it, not so much for use in the Netherlands where recycle rates are quite good already. But in other parts of the world it could be very suitable.

What happens to those who win one of the challenges?

Bark-Lindhout: That’s the part that gets very interesting, because we bring the winner and some of the runners-up to Amsterdam and work collaboratively with them to develop their ideas further.

Some who have tried crowdsourcing find it too chaotic. Do you find that to be the case?

Van Iterson: While crowdsourcing is a terrific source of ideas—from agencies, consumers, ink manufacturers—it’s still our responsibility here at Heineken to analyze and synthesize the ideas that come in so that we can effectively take them to the marketplace. One of the biggest challenges is sorting through the many ideas that come in.

How would you describe Heineken’s approach to package design before IdeasBrewery.com and afterIdeasBrewery.com?

Van Iterson: Before, it was all about consistency and heritage. Now it’s more about standing out and creating excitement and engagement. We shouldn’t forget the foundation of consistency that is the Heineken heritage, and yes, we should strive to be iconic. But packaging is such a rich tool to communicate with, so we look for ways to do more than be consistent. Crowdsourcing helps us do this. It results in innovations and limited editions and whatever else we can think of. Our corporate tag line is “open your world.” If that’s true, then we must take crowdsourcing and innovation very seriously and put our money where our mouth is.