Leveraging Smart Packaging: A Lesson in Consumer Engagement Using Smart Packaging

The packaging industry has far surpassed its original purpose from protecting products to being an unique identifier and has now entered the age of smart packaging. According to Smithers, smart packaging sales grew from ~$4 billion to ~$6 billion during 2015-2019. It is estimated that smart packaging solutions will grow to $9 billion between by 2025. It is evident that innovative packaging strategies are gaining traction and we can definitely expect to see more Smart Packaging use cases hit the shelves as time passes.

Each brand is exploring opportunities to gain a competitive edge using this technological advancement in packaging. Smart Packaging solutions can allow brands to gain 100% visibility into their supply chain. Further, it allows brands to better manage product quality and increase shelf life by including sensors or even smart QR codes to optimize their operations. A few brands have also thought out of the box to boost sales by using innovations in smart packaging for consumer engagement. Let’s go through a few such examples

Rewards and Loyalty

Loyalty and rewards have been used to drive repurchase since many years, however smart packaging has given brands more control over the campaigns they can run.

Scanning a Smart QR code on packaging enables:  

• Easy sign up for a loyalty program
• Simple to download a brand’s custom app
• Faster to access coupons or personalized deals

By encouraging customers to scan a QR code on packaging to access your loyalty program, your team gets more information about that user’s behavior and preferences so that you can deliver a more tailored experience. 77% of millennials participate in loyalty reward programs as per a research conducted by Thrive Analytics.

Brands can reward their consumers based on the collected data by offering them cashbacks, points, NFT’s, crypto currencies and can also cross sell and upsell products by running various marketing ads through a marketing QR code.

Augmented Reality

According to the thrive analytics statistics, 85% of millennials own smartphones and about the same share do not trust regular ads.

AR packaging, with the unusual approach to advertising, can be a perfect technique to attract and retain customers belonging to this generation.

Nike’s recent campaign used Nike’s AR app for selling limited-edition sneakers and partnered with Snapchat for in-store and special event marketing. The company even experimented with projection-based AR for in-store sneaker customization.

Companies are implementing AR features into packaging to create exciting opportunities for re-shaping the interaction between consumers and products. The result is a thrilling experience that can be leveraged to build brand loyalty.

Gamification

The Cadbury ‘Quaksmack’ game, which uses image-recognition technology, is launched via the candy bar’s packaging in a similar way to a marketing QR code. Essentially, Cadbury’s candy bar is turned into a game, which the user can play via his smartphone.

McDonald’s during the FIFA World Cup used their french fries pack, which turned into a mini football field where customers could practice scoring goals while enjoying their happy meal.

Heightening consumer experiences, brands are turning to games and activities to make packaging more experiential. Using puzzles and word games to encourage user participation, brands are not only adding a layer of interactivity, but also a means to create a more engaging consumer-brand relationship.

Gifting

As you see in the video, using the Lacta mobile app, consumers are able to turn a plain Lacta chocolate packaging wrapper into a personal, secret message. Rather than writing a message on the candy bar wrapper with an actual marker, downloading this app lets consumers include a secret message that can be only viewed through a mobile device. Using augmented reality, the app brings messages to life, making it look as though a chocolate bar is bursting with hearts. In place of the Lacta logo on the wrapper, the user’s message also shows up on the screen of the phone, which is a pretty sweet way to secretly show someone that you care on a birthday, holiday or no particular occasion at all.

Another such example is ‘Message in a bottle’ campaign of Andes beer, where users scan the QR code on packaging i.e each bottle in order to record a short message, which is then assigned to that specific bottle. The intended recipient of the bottle then scans the same code, and the video recorded earlier will begin to play on their smartphone.

Similar personalized gifting opportunities are being explored by multiple confectionary, liquor and industries promoting gifting.

Smart packaging is an important tool that brands can use to provide accountability, traceability, and transparency so that the consumer can have all the decisive information at their fingertips. Having this information on a Smart QR code on packaging delights consumers leading to greater brand engagement, loyalty and ultimately a happier customer.

To know more about ways to leverage smart packaging solutions for consumer engagement, connect with Sepio Solutions by emailing on [email protected]