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Packaging becomes tool for engagement, digital touchpoint

At Packaged. The 6th Global Summit, presenters share how packaging has moved from a passive to an active role, creating an emotional and functional connection between the brand and consumer.

KFC Suppertime Stories uses a bucket laser-cut with story characters and a smartphone app to bring the bucket to life.
KFC Suppertime Stories uses a bucket laser-cut with story characters and a smartphone app to bring the bucket to life.

Much has been talked about regarding how the Internet is changing the way brands are interacting with their consumers and the key role packaging plays in enabling this new communication. At Packaged. The 6th Global Summit, held in Amsterdam in June, speaker Shira Rosen, Packaging Development Manager for Strauss Group Global Brands, affirmed that GAFA, “The 4 Super Heroes”—Google, Apple, Facebook, and Amazon—have “put new rules into the world.”

“GAFA understands that every Generation Z is a digital native,” Rosen said. “While the physical is here to stay, if we look at packaging, which is a physical, tangible thing, it can also expand to be an interface to the digital world.”

Rosen’s presentation, “Combining Physical and Digital Communication Through Packaging,” was just one of 36 at the event. The presentations were broken up into three categories, providing something for everyone: Creative Branding and Packaging Design, New Technology and Materials, and Packaging Innovation and Development.

Other timely topics discussed at Packaged. included the state of sustainability in packaging, including the Circular Economy, advances in anti-counterfeiting technology and nanotechnology, and robotics, among others.

The greatest takeaway from the event however was the message that we are facing an unprecedented time in packaging history. Bags, boxes, and containers that once served primarily as protection for products as well a canvas for marketing are now evolving to become an advanced platform for personal communication and interactive experiences. The next step? The Internet of Things, where packaging will become an enabler of a smarter life. In fact, it’s already happening.

Emotional connection is key

GAFA, Rosen told attendees, has created a new economy of networks, and innovative brands are plugging into these networks to provide the ultimate experience for their customers. One notable example she shared in her presentation was KFC Suppertime Stories designed by Ogilvy & Mather Johannesburg for KFC South Africa. Noting that mealtimes are often disrupted by technology, KFC South Africa developed a campaign to use technology to bring families closer together.


The project involved taking the iconic KFC family chicken bucket and creating limited-edition sleeves intricately laser-cut with story characters. The sleeves directed consumers to a mobile app, where they could unlock one of three original suppertime stories. When placed face-down on the table, the phone’s proximity sensor automated the selected audio story, bringing the bucket to life with sound, light, and vibration, using the phone’s speaker, flashlight, and vibration functions. As the audio played, the stories were animated by light projections that filtered through the illustrated and laser-cut bucket sleeves, creating an interactive storytelling experience.

The new network economy is not only driving the development of packaging that demands action from consumers, but also encourages them to share their experiences on social media. One example Rosen talked about was Strauss’s Origamoo campaign for its Parra (“Cow”) Chocolate, one of Israel’s most beloved chocolate brands. To breathe new life into the brand and increase consumer engagement, in 2015 Strauss took its traditional red candy bar wrapper with cow illustration and replaced it with 1 million different graphic designs, created using HP’s SmartStream Mosaic software and printed on an HP Indigo 10000 digital press.

The unique wrappers were also designed to be folded into one-of-a-kind paper sculptures of cows using origami. Each wrapper was marked with a single identification number, similar to the numbering of artwork. Consumers were invited to photograph their cow sculptures creatively and share them with the brand’s fans on social media for a chance to win an iPhone.

Rosen’s themes were echoed by speaker Gönül Bölükbasi, Packaging & Graphics Manager at Coca-Cola Turkey, Caucasus & Central Asia, in her presentation, “Packaging Stories: Because Each Has its Own.” Bölükbasi shared insights on some of the company’s projects in Turkey designed to create an emotional connection with its consumers and generate excitement around the brand.

One example was the highly publicized, first-of-its-kind Share a Coke campaign, which was rolled out in many countries. In Turkey, 500 names and 12 generic phrases were used. “Share a Coke was a connect project,” Bölükbasi said. “It connected people from all walks of life on a more personal level and created a personal relationship with Coke.” From there, the Share a Coke campaign inspired a more literal concept of sharing, with a limited-edition release of a two-can package wrapped with a shrink film and perforated at the center that let consumers split the pack apart to share.

Turkey also picked up the ribbon bow package, first launched in Columbia, to celebrate Coca-Cola’s 50th anniversary in Turkey. As Bölükbasi explained, the “label” consisted of a double-sided plastic material with a string that consumers pulled to create a bow. By carefully selecting the glue for the material, the bow could be made over and over again.

One highly anticipated campaign each year in Turkey is the Tribute to Fashion campaign, done in partnership with Vogue magazine, whereby fashion brands design the graphics for the shrink labels used on Coke cans and bottles. The real innovation, says Bölükbasi, was the inclusion of a wristband revealed when a portion of the label covering the top of the can was removed. The wristband mirrored the graphic design on the can.

Last year, a special launch party for the Tribute to Fashion campaign was held at one of the largest department stores in Turkey, attended by fashion influencers and stakeholders, and several venues hosted an exhibition of the packaging. The result: The campaign was shared by thousands on social media, and Coca-Cola reached its two-month sales forecast in less than one month.

Another campaign that had a huge social media impact and increased can sales was its Summer Sizzle program, where Coca-Cola Turkey replaced the iconic red color of the can with a number of bright summer colors, which led consumers to collect the cans.

Wrapping up her presentation, Bölükbasi shared these lessons learned through Coca-Cola’s packaging campaigns:

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