Packaging

The power of packaging, Cadbury’s Age UK campaign goes down a treat

Cadbury AgeUK packaging
How Cadbury removed the words from their packaging to help a national charity.

Cadbury have launched new packaging for their beloved diary milk, but there’s a twist: the packaging has no words on it! It is quite a dramatic change from their standard packaging which has ‘diary milk’ and ‘Cadbury’ written largely across the front. The release of this new packaging has received a lot of attention from the press and has been shared multiple times across social media. The beauty of the campaign: it has real meaning. The campaign has been designed to support Age UK. Cadbury have said that they have ‘donated the words’ on its packaging because of the research that revealed 225,000 older people sometimes go a whole week without speaking to anybody at all. This heart wrenching statistic has clearly made an impact on Cadbury and provoked this impactful campaign.

cadbury

Source: Huff Post

It’s not just the meaning behind the campaign that has attracted media attention to the campaign but the packaging design itself really makes an impact. Stripping is back to this minimalist design makes the well-loved chocolate very eye catching and attractive to the buyer. Minimising the information on packaging is actually a very popular and effective design choice, and as seen by this campaign can be very successful. The chocolate bars launched in shops this week (5th September) so we’ll see what the result of all the sales is in no time.

This particular campaign has caused a storm and it definitely caught our attention too. As packaging designers, we see a lot of great ideas. This one in particular is so simple yet so effective. It promotes an important message, attracts attention to the packaging of the chocolate bar and ultimately drives more sales of diary milk for Cadbury. Cadbury, however, aren’t the first company to launch a marketing campaign motivated by a good cause like this one.

One of our favourite examples is when, back in 2015, Doritos changed their packaging (and crisps!) to support Pride. This campaign made a huge impact, a little like the Cadbury campaign is expected to. The multi-coloured design also attracted a lot of media attention and increased Doritos sales, so it was a worthwhile investment for them.

Another food brand example is Innocent Drinks. Rather than one off campaigns, they are always hot on using their packaging for good. Innocent’s packaging is always fun and interactive and often has information for the consumer on why and how they can recycle and help the environment. This element to their packaging is an integral part of their brand and all their designs. Not only does this create a positive brand image but also promotes social media shares and increases their brand visibility. It is a perfect example of how packaging is linked to marketing.

It’s not just the food and drink industry that are using their packaging to promote a good cause or make a difference, though. Many companies across all kinds of industries are also focusing on the sustainability of their packaging. It is more important than ever to think about the environmental impact of your packaging. Take Lush for example, they aim to use as little packaging as possible for their products and the packaging they do use is mostly recyclable. They have done this in a stylish way, though, and push the fact that they are sustainable.

The common trend amongst all of these examples is that packaging is inextricably linked to the marketing efforts of these companies. The cadbury packaging is fantastic and is great for Cadbury as a brand and the marketing of their diary milk chocolate bars. But also contributes to a good cause at the same time. Everyone’s a winner right?

Sometimes, people don’t realise the importance of packaging in a marketing strategy and plan. Sure, Cadbury could have donated money to Age UK anyway but with the new packaging design they make an impact and spread their campaign even further.

When considering what you want from your packaging design, it is always important to tie it in with the rest of your marketing campaigns and efforts. Often, packaging is make or break for a brand and making simple decision changes can drive sales enormously. Or, like Cadbury, can help with a huge marketing campaign.

If you’re looking for some inspiration or help with your packaging or want to understand how your packaging design can impact your marketing efforts, talk to Complete Packaging today.

April 16, 2020
by 
Mark Jones
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