Operations: Partners in Packaging

Operators ask consumers to help them design—or be featured on—bags, bowls and boxes.

By Derek Gale, Associate Editor -- Restaurants & Institutions, 5/1/2007

McDonald’s latest I’m Lovin’ It” campaign features real customers on bags and cups. Cereality’s packaging, as distinct and innovative as the brand, connects with customers in ways both emotional and creative.

The findings of consumer research are a good reason to come up with a better bag. Or cup, container, box or bowl. In study after study, food is perceived as more appealing and even better tasting when it comes in pleasing packaging. And what could be more beautiful in the eyes of consumers than their own designs or ones featuring their faces?

Small and large chains alike believe they’re on to something big, involving consumers in food products’ packaging.

McDonald's is rolling out a new phase of its "I’m Lovin’ It" marketing campaign, a global brand platform it began using in 2003. In the latest effort, images of 24 consumers selected through a global casting call, emblazon cups and bags.

Staging a casting call took the idea to a new level, the company says. "It helps us be more authentic and real to our customers," says Amy Murray, director of global marketing at Oak Brook, Ill.-based McDonald’s. "We felt having people on our packaging would help us connect better with our customers."

In the age of instant celebrity, the burger chain sees other advantages. "It’s fun for customers to be able to see themselves on our packaging," Murray adds. "We knew it would get people excited and give them a way to interact with the brand in a different way than hearing a radio ad."

Celebrities often are the "faces" of brands—and McDonald’s has used its share, including tennis stars Venus and Serena Williams—but saluting real people is less mainstream, and something Murray expects other brands will do as well.

"It’s definitely a trend. With YouTube, people know their consumers are extremely creative and want to talk about the brand in their own way," she says.

For those people who not only want to appear on packaging but also want a hand in creating the look, feel and message, Chicago-based chain Cereality Cereal Bar & Cafe offers customizable containers. The cafes supply the basic box, which features Cereality graphics on the front and sides and a blank white space on the back, along with various materials to aid in personalization.

"There are instructions at the top that read, ‘It’s Your Cereal, Your Way. This is Your Box. So Get Creative,’" says Rick Bacher, Cereality co-founder and chief creative officer. He reasoned that if Cereality lets patrons create cereal blends, the same customization should extend to packaging.

Indeed, who hasn’t wanted to see their own picture on a package of cereal? "It is the whole idea of growing up seeing celebrities and sports figures on cereal boxes," Bacher says.

In effect, both the Cereality brand and its packaging reflect the growing trend of mass customization and personalization, Bacher says. "Companies are paying attention to how customers use their product."

For Cereality, observing and listening to consumers led to the creation of another packaging element that has become an icon of the brand. Bacher and co-founder David Roth recognized that, for many people, cereal is the ultimate comfort food. Spinning off that idea, they use Chinese takeout-style buckets as a cereal serving bowl. "It’s the idea of eating Chinese food curled up on your sofa," Bacher says.

The packaging has many appealing features—the simplicity of its one-piece construction, custom-portion size, portability and a specially engineered no-leak bottom design.

Reaching out to customers and involving them in packaging design, as McDonald’s and Cereality have, is definitely catching on, says Laura Bix, assistant professor at the Michigan State University School of Packaging.

"It intimately involves the company with the consumer," she says. "Packaging has the potential to serve as a value-added feature to promote your brand and product."