“Don’t forget, if there’s printing involved, you might as well make the ink say something interesting.” – Charles Hopper
As a marketer, I’m always inspecting how companies use their brands and why they chose the colors, fonts, tones, etc. in the ways in which they do. There are lots of ways to get your brand message across to consumers, and using tangible marketing is an important one.
Below are 4 examples of brands who monopolize on the opportunity to increase engagement through printed creative.
1. Extra Gum– I used Extra Gum as an example of fantastic content marketing when I was teaching a Digital Marketing class. Extra Gum tells a heart-warming love story through the use of pictures on gum wrappers.
Capitalizing on their broadcast campaign, their gum packets feature drawings from 7 artists. They encourage gum chewers to “tag their moment” by using #GiveExtraGetExtra. It’s not directly related to gum at all, but it leaves their consumers with a warm & fuzzy feeling about capturing a special moment.
2. TD Bank– Quite some time ago, I went to the bank and walked away with an example of great brand extending through print creative, it’s even moved to my new house with me.
It is a small tree kit than contains soil to plant a Thornless Honeylocust Tree. Now this is brilliant for a few reasons. One, it plays off the sentiment of building a money tree that people associate with their bank therefore it’s a logical fit. Plus, planting trees and caring about the environment is an important topic right now. Two, TD Bank incorporated their logo and branding onto the tree kit so everyone who received this kit was a walking advertisement for their bank. Three, TD Bank took it a step further by creating a landing page on their website where people could learn more about this initiative and even sign up to participate in a larger tree planting event with TD Bank. All around, a job well done!
3. Cyxus Eyewear – As marketers, we spend a TON of time looking at our computers and we all know, this is terrible for your eyes, causes headaches, and the whole nine yards. So, I went on Amazon, purchased a top recommended pair, and they arrived at my doorstep less than 24 hours later. I was excited to experience less headaches but what I was not expecting was to fall absolutely in love with their packaging. Included in the box of eyeglasses was a trifold where the cover was a cutout of eyeglasses that displayed the support contact information. Even better, on the inside of the trifold, they printed a Sudoku puzzle! This gives consumers a reason to hold onto this piece and remember this company the next time they have eyewear needs.
4. Vineyard Vines – My husband and son both love Vineyard Vines (really my son does because of my husband) – recently I opened a package that arrived in the mail. Boy oh boy do they utilize their packaging to tell their story.
On the inside top of the box, they utilize the space (that most brands leave blank) to tell their brand story and why Shep & Ian started Vineyard Vines. They also include a sticker of their whale logo in every shipment. People LOVE thewhale logo so much that they stick it on literally everything. This leads to people subconsciously thinking of Vineyard Vines and therefore driving greater sales!
