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A crop of startups are trying out-of-the-box packaging to stand out in a sea of products on store shelves.
Why It Hits: Becoming a conversation starter is the goal of marketing. But when you don’t have the marketing budget, making the product itself the marketing may be a key to reaching consumers.
Between The Shelves: Brands are embracing what marketing and venture capital consultant Michael Miraflor dubs “chaos packaging.”
- Engine Gin put its spirits inside motor oil containers, Graza put olive oil in condiment squeeze-bottles, Flo put its tampons in ice-cream tubs, Vacation put its sunscreen in whipped-cream bottles, and Liquid Death put its water in beer-can tallboys.
- The packaging is a fun play on the product names (Engine Gin), allows people to try products in new ways (Vacation), and connects to what people associate the product with (Flo).
The Future: The packaging leads to great earned media — Vacation co-founder Lach Hall says its Classic Whip sunscreen generates five million views on TikTok weekly during the summer. But it can also confuse consumers and store employees — Flo co-founder Susan Allen Augustin says that people have accidentally put its tampons in the freezer. But, hey, that’s the risk of breaking the mold. Expect product designers to become one of the hottest jobs in marketing over the next year.
Go Deeper: “Chaos packaging’s” cousin is absurd humor in marketing campaigns.
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