The Power of Packaging (Even when it's Fake)
1/4/2010 |
Author: George Argyros
The power of packaging as a billboard for your product was, quite nicely I might add, reinforced over the holiday season.
Like many, I enjoy spying on my neighbors via the boxes they have on the curb the day after Christmas. Yikes, the Smiths got a 72 inch flat panel! The Jones got another treadmill (good luck with that).
What struck me this year was that a company that doesn't even have a package for its product, or ever will, understood this premise so much that it went to all the trouble of creating a nice "little" box to be left on corners throughout the land in a smart guerilla marketing effort.
Mini, one of our favorite examples of a brand that embraced its authenticity, understood this natural human behavior. (I assure you, it's natural!)
Just after Christmas, Mini strategically distributed massive cardboard cartons with torn gift wrapping in trash heaps all over Amsterdam. Each box had a large diagram of the car with the words MINI COOPER across the top as if the car had been packaged inside. Kudos to Ubachswisbrun/JWT.
To us, it further emphasizes the power of good packaging and the tractor beam-like effect that it has. Mini's recognition of this fact makes me feel all warm inside on a freezing winter day. Now if I can only get the Ferrari people to return my call about that custom clam shell.
Like many, I enjoy spying on my neighbors via the boxes they have on the curb the day after Christmas. Yikes, the Smiths got a 72 inch flat panel! The Jones got another treadmill (good luck with that).
What struck me this year was that a company that doesn't even have a package for its product, or ever will, understood this premise so much that it went to all the trouble of creating a nice "little" box to be left on corners throughout the land in a smart guerilla marketing effort.
Mini, one of our favorite examples of a brand that embraced its authenticity, understood this natural human behavior. (I assure you, it's natural!)
Just after Christmas, Mini strategically distributed massive cardboard cartons with torn gift wrapping in trash heaps all over Amsterdam. Each box had a large diagram of the car with the words MINI COOPER across the top as if the car had been packaged inside. Kudos to Ubachswisbrun/JWT.
To us, it further emphasizes the power of good packaging and the tractor beam-like effect that it has. Mini's recognition of this fact makes me feel all warm inside on a freezing winter day. Now if I can only get the Ferrari people to return my call about that custom clam shell.