Connected packaging has become a popular trend that combines innovation and interaction, and takes it to a next level. You may be wondering how to step up your game in 2021, and this is exactly what we will talk about in this article. Let’s take a look at connected packaging innovations for 2021 and some examples.

Smart and Connected Packaging Innovations for 2021

Sustainable Packaging

Sustainability efforts have been growing and becoming essential to brands, especially during the Coronavirus outbreak, where we have seen a decline in pollution. We have seen this trend affecting different sectors, from fashion to food, and it will most likely keep expanding.
In addition to making the product packaging environmentally friendly, the use of connected packaging by, for example, adding a QR, is a great way to communicate your brand’s sustainability messages.

More AR-enabled packaging

In 2021 we expect greater use of Augmented Reality (AR) in packaging. This is an exciting and immersive experience, giving your customer a unique interaction with your brand. An AR-enabled packaging can consist of, for example, making a package come to life through the camera of your smartphone, presenting selfie filters for your customers, bringing elements to your surroundings, and much more.

Customer Centricity

Connected packaging helps brands to understand and know their customers. With this technology it is possible to collect data from the consumers and use it to improve your relationship with your customers. For example, you can learn more about  where they shop

Brand’s Story Sharing Through Packaging Will Be More Interesting

Storytelling is one of the most important marketing tactics and you can make it even more interesting and engaging through your packaging. If you want to provide background about a product, a company, or raise awareness about a relevant effort your brand has been working on, do it through connected packaging. For example, if you are a wine company, you can share the winery’s history and make it even more exciting by being interactive.

Supply Chain Transparency

There has been an increase in demand from the consumer side to know where the products they are buying come from. Customers might want to know where their coffee comes from, if they’re ethically sourced, or if that orange they are buying isn’t causing too much pollution. We are curious and increasingly want to have immediate answers to our questions – it’s only human. So what better way of giving your customers easy access to information than through connected packaging? They can just scan a QR code with their phones and see all this information.

Anti-counterfeiting

We all know that the counterfeit business is huge, especially with the development of e-commerce. Frequently,  replicas are so well made (and expensive!) that it is hard to know if a product is real or not, unless you purchase in the brand’s actual store. To help keep track of their products and provide an authenticity check, some brands started incorporating QR codes into their products. This allows for customers to be sure it is a real product and also allows the brand to connect with them.

Some Innovative Connected Packaging Examples:

Example 1:

Appetite Creative partnered with Tetra Pak, a major player in the packaging game, to help bring more attention to their sustainability and environmental efforts.
We created an eco-themed quiz that consumers would get by scanning the package, testing the user’s knowledge about recycling and Tetra Pak’s environmental impact. Each time the players answered a question correctly, they would see a tree growing, and if the answers of all the questions were correct, a forest would rise. The aim of the game was to grow as many trees as possible, corresponding to Tetra Pak’s value as a brand.

Example 2:

Another connected packaging experience Appetite Creative helped with was Coca-Cola’s Rani Float. Coca-Cola asked Appetite Creative to create a competition to engage its young audience with cutting edge technology, fantastic design, and unique experience. We developed an AR experience where users could scan their soft drink cans and enter competitions to win prizes.

Example 3:

We teamed up with Bacardi to provide immersive experiences through their product. Using Bacardi’s branding, we created activities such as personality tests to find your perfect serve and a fact of the day. The popular Rum Roulette, entered the users for a chance to win a bottle of Bacardi rum or a voucher to redeem a mojito in participating bars. This experience allows for repeated visits to the site, a fun incentive for the product, data collection and customer engagement.

Example 4:

Our client Emmi, a Swiss dairy company, wanted to engage with consumers digitally, while also educating about the health benefits of their “Good Day” milk. We then created an online competition using unique QR codes on the packaging to access it. For the product launch, we created an interactive online quiz that customers could enter by using their mobile phones to scan the one-time-use QR code.

Example 5:

PepsiCo was looking for new ways to innovate their recruitment process and connect with top talent while delivering an educational and engaging candidate experience. Appetite Creative designed the PepsiCo Games web-based app experience for the Dare to Do More Challenge, where potential candidates could select an avatar or take a brand based selfie. The profile reflected scores for each game played. Options were presented to the user which included scanning a PepsiCo product, creating a themed selfie, or one of the 3 games developed for this challenge.

Example 6:

CurryKing, a well known brand in Germany, wanted to present themselves as current to their audience. They wanted to create a competition amongst the consumers and collect customer data. For that, Appetite Creative designed and animated the CurryKing character and made him the star of three bespoke mini-games. Users would scan the pack to have an augmented reality experience with the character jumping out encouraging them to choose to play a game or to take a selfie with the King. Our client had an instant download button allowing access and analysis of the data collected.

Example 7:

Ben and Jerry’s wanted to drive a campaign for their new ice cream flavor which included £2 redeemable vouchers. There was a need to identify who downloaded the coupons, who redeems them, and when and where this happens. In order to provide information and the coupon to the client in a non-obtrusive way, we designed and animated a fun and cheeky web app. To claim the coupon users had to sign up with their Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or email so we could record who downloaded and who redeemed.

Wrap Up

As we have seen, connected packaging isn’t going anywhere. This technology will keep growing and evolving, bringing new trends every year that you can consider including in your connected packaging efforts.

Contact us to find out how you can take your connected packaging game to the next level!