Package Design - December 2013 - 16

DESIGN TECH PERSONALIZED Packaging

Say You,
Say Me

Letting shoppers make your product
their own can help your brand shine.
By Linda Casey

G

eoff Bloom, art director at New England Confectionery Company (NECCO), just might be
the most popular dad on his block. "I'm the good
neighbor, who gives out the full-sized candy bars at
Halloween," he quips.
Halloween gives Bloom an opportunity to use
candy to connect with others on a personal level. A
practice that his employer NECCO has been using for
more than 100 years, with its Sweethearts Conversation Hearts.
For Valentine's Day 2014, NECCO ramps up the
customization factor with the launch of the Sweethearts Color Your Own box campaign, which pairs personalized packaging with a website art contest.

Starts with a child
The idea to create a package that can be personalized
was inspired by a letter from a middle school student.
Bloom recalls: "The note said, 'We'd love a way to personalize it the way Valentines candy can be with stickers and that kind of stuff.'"
Bloom took that kernel of an idea and channeled his
inner 10-year-old kid to develop a package that encourages children to express themselves artistically.
Bloom designed a box with front panel graphics
that kids could color in. He also ensured that all outside surfaces of the box could be colored and with any
medium. "At first, I had our print vendors try all kinds
of coatings for the package," he says. "But the finished
boxes take just markers or just crayons. Being the artsy
type, I wanted to let kids color with anything they
wanted. If we just turned the box inside out, the kids
16

NOVEMBER 2013

could express themselves with any medium they have.
"The box colors wouldn't be as saturated as our regular boxes," he adds. The resulting texture and look is
so similar to paper from a coloring book that it serves
as a cue to color for early readers or kids who have not
yet learned to read. The muted look paired with the
simple two-color palette also doesn't compete with the
children's artwork.

Tech engages, simplifies
As a father to a three-year-old, he also wanted to make
sure the design resonated with today's kids, who are
growing up with mobile technology and see older
teens use messaging apps.
"Text messaging is taking over everywhere else, so
we didn't want to make the messages prewritten Valentines," Bloom explains. "Instead, we let the kids put
their own message on the box."
The campaign also has a Web component. Children color the Sweethearts box, and with the help of
their parents, upload a picture of their personalized
Color Your Own! carton to www.necco.com, where the
confectioner will host a submission page from January
to March 2014.
The web also plays a large role in Jones Soda's personalized packaging offering. Jones, an early adopter
of the personalized packaging, also uses the web to
engage its brand fans.
"I remember this outside sales meeting, where the
general manager tells me, 'Hang on, I've got something
to show you,'" Andrew Baumann, who manages both
marketing for the brand and the MyJones' program,
Package Design - December 2013

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Package Design - December 2013
