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Interactive Package Design Goes Into Orbit

January 30, 2012 at 3:45 pm by Ted Mininni

It’s no secret that consumers love to be able to customize or personalize products. Brands that make this the hallmark of their marketing have often been quite successful. Think Dell. Jones Soda. Even M&M’s has gotten into the act.

Now Orbit Gum is reaching out to brand loyalists and asking for their assistance in designing the new packaging for the brand’s Remix fruit-flavored gums. The Orbit Spotlight Series Facebook application compiles the user’s own data and then renders a unique design based on that information turning it into art. Learn more at www.packagingdigest.com.

Consumers can then enter their designs in a contest for a chance to win $500 and to see them appear on retail shelves. Fans will vote on 20 designs per month and of course, the designers themselves can solicit fan votes until the end of February via social media. 

Crowd-sourcing is nothing new, of course. It has been used by consumer product companies for quite some time. But, unlike the seedier form of crowd-sourcing that taps the general public for package design solutions for the equivalent of pocket change in lieu of engaging a professional design resource, this is a new, innovative tool that creates package designs based on each user’s own unique data, resulting in a custom pattern that covers the entire package. And with social media maturing at a rapid rate, contests of this nature have obviously gone to a new level. Reason being: loyalists spread the word using social media across multiple platforms (via a downloadable Campaign Kit) to bring friends and family to the brand. This is a whole new concept of crowd-sourcing.

How long will Orbit keep the new consumer-created packaging in place? There’s no telling but this much we do know: the plan is to repackage the entire Remix line for 2012. If this crowd-sourcing idea for package redesign takes off in a big way, the company will doubtless think of expanding it to include its other brands. Will they do it all over again in 2013? Stay tuned.

• Should more brands consider this kind of crowd-sourcing to redesign packaging and create buzz?
• Or do you think crowd-sourcing in any form is a bad idea, and that package design should be left to professionals?
• Is customized package design of this nature best suited for snack and “fun” brands?
• Would this approach work for specific categories other than snacks? What about personal care products? Toys and games?

What do you think? We’d love to hear from you.

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