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Boombox-Inspired Shippers Reinforce β€˜Soda with Soul’ Proposition

With the COVID-19 lockdown, U.K. craft soda company Dalston’s unveils new shippers for its growing online sales that pay homage to its music roots, while introducing new consumers to the brands’ values and personality.

Dalston's three shippers
The three shippers include a 24-ct, a 12-ct, and a four-count case illustrated to resemble vintage turntables and a boombox. A booklet designed to look like a cassette tape provides an introduction to the brand and its varieties.

Dalston’s, a London-based company that first launched its craft soda products in a culturally-rich music venue called Passing Clouds near Kingsland Road, Dalston in East London, has positioned itself as β€œSoda with Soul.” While the tagline reinforces the brand’s musical roots, it also taps into Dalston’s community-focused ethos and its products’ real ingredients, which it says are at the heart of its soft drinks. 

Says Dalston’s, β€œβ€¦they’re refreshingly responsibleβ€”out to do the right thing for our planet and people. Because ours is soda with soul. And it does more than just sparkle.”

In March 2020, in response to the coronavirus lockdown, Dalston’s developed new e-commerce shippers that incorporate all the various interpretations of soul: community, health and sustainability, and music. The unique design facilitates the social distancing demanded by the virus through online shopping while at the same time bringing consumers together with Instagram-friendly graphics that celebrate its heritage. The sharable designs include two plastic-free, recyclable shippers illustrated to look like turntables and one that looks like a boombox, in Dalston’s bright brand colors.

Focus on community ethos

Dalston’s was founded in mid-2012, but the current graphic design for its canned craft sodas was done in 2017 by brand design firm B&B studio. Since then, B&B studio has extended the brand look beyond Dalston’s six soda varieties to three seltzers and two alcohol-free G&T products, as well as to the new e-commerce shippers.

As Shaun Bowen, Creative Partner for B&B studio relates, the agency approaches every project with a clear understanding of the consumer, category, competitors, and cultural context. β€œThrough our ongoing partnership with Dalston’s, we are aware that theirs is a switched-on consumer who demands authentic personality, provenance, and a clear point of difference from the brands they buy into,” he says. β€œCreating an emotional connection with this fickle consumer group has been key to the brand’s success.”


Read these related stories on e-commerce package design from Packaging World:

Mattel knows how to create a memorable unboxing experience

P&G’s Tide Eco-Box Does More Than Deliver a Leak-Free Package

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