connected packaging - Margy Consultants blog

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Certain everyday consumer products can enable you to escape on holiday by just looking at the cardboard packaging. Today’s packaging doesn’t just display enticing graphics and a list of quickly forgotten ingredients, it has become a veritable marketing support. It all started with QR-codes, those cabalistic symbols which can connect you to the brand site or take a subscription to participate in a game. Industry professionals quickly understood that all boxes, even the smallest ones, could greatly “expand” their printing surface with these digital supports. The story, however, does not end there.

Packaging that also knows how to be smart

If the advent of the new technologies had only served to give us an additional advertising support, they would quickly have lost all interest for the consumers. You must look further, try to win over the consumers by offering them new experiences. In this way, following Coca Cola’s and McDonald’s initiatives, Tetrapak took the same route by enabling children to share the adventures of several characters, thanks to the principles of augmented reality. The playful aspect of this operation also included the presence of an informative little message regarding the value of recycling, which even pleased parents. That’s what you can really call packing a punch.

Other intelligent packagings connect, for example, a tube of sun lotion to a smartphone, to let the user know of the best moment to apply a new coat of lotion. Or even to help verify the freshness and quality of certain products. Here we’re talking about NFC technologies that are increasingly present in marketing top of the range alcoholic drinks in 2016. The idea behind this method is to make the packaging, and therefore also the product protected inside, useful for the consumer. This transforms the utilisation and creates an even stronger link between the brand and the customer.

Does the box grab your attention?

Certain packagings are informative, playful and practical. Others are just quite simply surprising. The latest generation of connected packaging doesn’t wait for the client to get his smartphone out to surprise him. It simply just jumps straight out to attract attention. That is anyway, the very realistic impression given by the latest packaging from the fish brand, Mila. When a customer approaches it, the photograph of the fish on the box starts wiggling and jumping to show the freshness of the product.

A little WiFi and some motion sensors were enough to create this packaging that has made the buzz, and not just in the marketing sector. It is an excellent way to be noticed and stand out. Obviously, when all packaging carries animated graphics, it will be time to invent a new way to surprise shoppers. But for now, this technique is sufficiently ground-breaking to be appreciated by consumers. So printed paper is still a long way from being outclassed, and it has proven once again that it has the capabilities to adapt to the new technologies.


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