Connected packaging to become main way brands communicate with customers

Packaging Solutions

54% have already incorporated connected experiences into their marketing plans

85% increasingly important to the packaging industry in the next 12 months

and beyond

41% of respondents are planning a new connected packaging campaign this year

80% consider it to improve the sustainability credentials of company

59% plan to increase overall investment in digital marketing spend in 2022

58% certain it will become the main route to communicating directly with customers

Digital experiences studio Appetite Creative has released results from its first ever connected packaging survey. With over half (54%) of respondents claiming to have already incorporated connected experiences into their marketing plans and 85% confident that they would become increasingly important to the packaging industry in the next 12 months and beyond.

Two-thirds (59%) of respondents are looking to increase overall investment in digital marketing spend in 2022, with 40% planning to increase this spend up to £15,000. A quarter (26%) are looking to increase annual spend by as much as £30,000. Over half (53%) have spent less than £15,000 on connected packaging experiences to date.

With 41% of respondents planning a new connected packaging campaign this year, over half (56%) would consider a Christmas themed connected packaging experience as part of their Christmas marketing campaign. Some 80% stated that connected packaging is an attractive way to help improve the sustainability credentials of their company.

The value of connected packaging included the opportunity for GDPR compliant data collection (30%), help inform product and/or marketing decisions (41%), give brands an opportunity to have direct interaction with customers (47%), help educate customers, share updates, and information (44%), and it offers a sustainable way to connect with and educate customers (49%).

Reasons respondents were confident in the increasing importance of connected packaging to the industry included the valuable data and insights available (42%), a quarter (25%) took the view it encourages customer loyalty, and 56% viewed it as a sustainable way to connect with and educate customers. With 58% respondents certain it will become the main route to communicating directly with customers.

‘It is clear that connected packaging experiences have reached a tipping point and are becoming an increasingly important part of the marketing mix for brands and packaging producers,’ said Jenny Stanley, managing director at Appetite Creative. ‘As an efficient and cost effective way to collect data, develop products and communicate directly with customers in real time, as well as a simple way to improve sustainability credentials, connected packaging has never been so valuable and in demand.’