Success Story: Great choice every time: Targeted marketing with beverage cans

Karlsberg and Edeka Hessenring go for beverage cans with augmented reality, from Ball Packaging Europe / new technology with added value for consumers, producers and retailers

Whether the target consists of party revelers, athletes or football fans, beverage cans are a great way of reaching specific consumer groups. A new technology, augmented reality—combining real packaging with virtual product presentation—further enhances this marketing vehicle and opens up new possibilities for the packaging industry. Early adopters include brewers Karlsberg Brauerei GmbH and the Edeka Hessenring grocery chain, who use the technology for their MiXery and Perlquell brands sold in cans from Ball Packaging, adding value for consumers and retailers alike.

As market trends show, consumers favor products that combine attractive content or pricing with added fun or utility value. Both beverage and packaging producers face a constant challenge of designing their products with this in mind. One of the latest developments is augmented reality (AR)—a technology that allows everyday objects to be linked up with multimedia information. Consumers gain access to the augmented reality using an Internet-capable smart phone with a readily available, free app. Scan the object with the phone’s camera and the app shows additional information on the display in real time. One key advantage of AR is that it is invisible: “Any logo and any object can be made the trigger without needing to change the original design”, explains Frank Sasse, Frank Sasse, European Retail Director at Ball Packaging Europe. “That saves time and money.”

Toon in a can creates buzz
Edeka Hessenring made use of these benefits in the market launch of its new Cool Cola-Orange Perlquell cans: Point a smart phone camera at the eyecatching design—a zipper, the hallmark of the Perquell soft drink range—and the Sprudeltier, a cartoon animal, pops up on the screen for people to pose with in photos that they can then share with their friends on social networks. “The dancing toon catches people’s imagination and helps create buzz”, says Sasse. This makes the promotion a real incentive to buy.”

Edeka Hessenring presented the new 33 cl sleek can from Ball Packaging at a store owners day in late August. The new flavor is already available on a trial basis at many Edeka stores in an innovative triangular six-pack from Smurfit Kappa Baden Packaging and in individual cans.

Shared experience with MiXery in cans
Karlsberg defends its MiXery brand’s leading position in the beer-based mixed drinks market with out-of-the-ordinary marketing ideas. The latest coup is X-Locator. This location-related service supplies registered users with information about popular scene places close by. It also lets people mark their location and tell friends where they are. All of this information can be shared on social networks. Initially, X-Locator was only provided as a normal download, but it is now additionally available as an AR app. “We are an innovative brewery and MiXery is an innovative and leading brand among beer-based mixed drinks”, explains Jens Winnemann, head of marketing for national brands at Karlsberg. “We plan to maintain this position, which keeps us on the look-out for new ideas.” The strategy pays off: According to AC Nielsen, a market research institute, MiXery had a clear lead among beer-based mixed drinks in the period January/February 2011 with 18.5 percent market share.

Beverage cans with augmented reality: An ideal mix for young consumers
For beverage producers, metal cans present a highly versatile range of marketing options compared with other types of container—a special advantage when marketing to young consumers. “Cans are thought of as a trendy packaging choice and can sales are back on the increase”, says Sasse. Recent statistics underpin the positive trend: Sales of deposit drink beverage cans in Germany grew by 46 percent to 930 million units in 2010. According to a recent survey by the Nielsen market research institute, nearly half of all consumers especially value the convenience of metal cans. For one thing cans can be chilled quickly—a key criterion for a refreshing drink. Cans are also the ideal leisure-time carrying receptacle, being unbreakable and easy to transport.

Over and above these advantages, cans can be printed all round, which makes them especially well suited for AR applications. They therefore offer a larger surface for brand information and designs than labeled PET or glass bottles. Such a large surface is needed to carry a logo in the size required for a smart phone to scan without any difficulty and trigger the desired app. “We continuously push ahead with can development across the board to stay in front with market needs”, says Sasse, explaining the secret to success with cans. “With new technologies like augmented reality, we can further add to the potential of beverage cans—and help turn a product into an experience.”

Augmented reality Augmented reality (AR) is a way of enriching everyday objects like books and packaging with multimedia information. The real world is overlaid in real time with three-dimensional photos, video clips and games accessed with a device such as an Internet-capable smart phone.