Active & Intelligent Packaging Summit Americas Keynote June 2018

Below is a article from BeverageDaily that summarizes my keynote from the AIPIA Summit in Jersey City, NJ on June 4, 2018. The question I wanted to explore for this audience was 'can packaging equal an entertainment opportunity for brands to help them reach their audience'? Given the near ubiquity of smartphones, increasing connectivity, unlimited choice and unbreakable routines, how can brands cut through and connect with their consumers?

AIPIA Summit: ‘Brands need to think like entertainment companies’

05-Jun-2018 By Jenny Eagle

People are getting used to having their phone and using it to interpret information around them, according to Leo Burnett.

Speaking at the opening day of the AIPIA (Active & Intelligent Packaging Industry Association) in New Jersey (June 4), Tod Szewczyk, VP, Director, Emerging Technology and Innovation, Leo Burnett, US, said the mobile phone is an interpreter, giving consumers an appetite for 'going deeper' on topics that matter to them.

Hold people's attention

He said brands need to think and act like entertainment companies, this means understanding what consumers want and being able to provide it to them whenever they want it.

"Brands need to become their own entertainment company or partner with one in this space," he said.

In his opening presentation 'How the (new) attention economy creates demand for connected packaging', Szewczyk said packaging will ultimately be looked at as a bridge to entertainment and a bridge to get you offline to online.

"Most of us have cell phones, transforming to a digital connection point, which puts the user at the center of the brand. The challenge is figuring out ways to capture and hold people's attention because they see over 5,000 ads a day.

There are more ads exposed to us than ever before and we cannot possibly process all of that information but it is ever present in our lives. More people are glued to their devices than ever before."

According to Pew Research Center, 77% of US adults now own a smartphone.

"If you're thinking about targeting millennials you are going to have to reach them via a smartphone nowadays otherwise you won't reach them at all," he added.

There are 450 million WiFi networks in the world, up from 100 million five years' ago. 5G will increase download speed to 10GB (gigabytes) per second. Right now, 4G LTE download speed is 1GB per second.

Netflix & YouTube

"We are going to compete with the likes of Netflix and YouTube, social media; Facebook, Twitter, Instagram. As things get faster we ultimately will live in a constantly connected world.

Szewczyk said Leo Burnett works with Google, to build briefs to develop projects that 'speak to people'.

"People's viewing habits have changed. You can't expect people to watch an advert on YouTube because people tune out and if they are not interested they won't watch it," he said.

"People choose what they want to watch and when they like it the 'go deep', ie when you like a TV series you watch the entire series all weekend, or you watch a YouTube video and if you like it you follow the channel online.

"This applies to packaging as well because if we don't create easy ways for people to connect they won't follow you. Our job is to provide the right channels to develop the brand."

Szewczyk added give people a reason to engage with a pack and tell them how to do it. Ask yourself: 'How do I get someone to take their phone out and interact with my brand?'

19 Crimes wine

A good example he said was 19 Crimes wine where each bottle tells a story from a prisoner via a smartphone.

"It's a simple idea from Treasury Wine Estates focusing on the 18-34 year old male category. They took their cues from the craft beer industry experimenting with Augmented Reality packaging," he said.

"In launching this brand it targeted a consumer who has an interest in adventure, when in the 1800s England shipped prisoners to Australia. They story-telling part happens when the label comes to life telling the story about how the prisoner got arrested and their sentence.

"Other examples include Hyper-Reality, a film about what the future will look like in terms of consumerism, which got over 1 million views, Amazon smile codes, Apple is currently making some upgrades to use NFC (Near Field Communication), and Snapchat Lens that responds to sound.

"Influencing new trends will only work if you start by putting the consumer first."