The digital world and packaging

The digital world is incredibly fast paced, and brands and businesses are always looking at new ways in which they can incorporate the latest innovations into their business.

Incorporating digital elements and engagement into packaging is not a new phenomenon, however there are some amazing, innovative ways in which brands are utilising digital to their advantage to create a real talking point.

Here’s a quick run down on the types of digital engagement that can be incorporated into packaging.

Bar Codes

The original digitalisation, the bar code was patented in 1952 and has since gone on to be a stalwart in stock and inventory management and the purchase of goods at checkouts.
An innovation that changed the world, it was inspired by the dots and dashes of morse code.

Details in the bar code support the tracking of sales and product information and is a hugely useful tool for businesses managing stock levels in warehouses.

It’s common place now for boxes and packaging solutions to have bar codes printed onto them and they prove especially useful for inventory management and stock control.

QR codes

QR stands for Quick Response and can store lots of data that is read by a digital device such as a mobile phone.

Invented in 1994 by Japanese company Denso Wave for labelling automotive parts, the QR code has evolved to become a great tool in stock control, but also to communicate vital consumer information in a digital way. It’s not uncommon for product info and instructions to be communicated to consumers via QR codes.

We see many customers having QR codes printed onto the exterior and interior of boxes, or on separate top sheets that are inserted into the box at time of packaging and despatch.

Augmented Reality (AR)

These codes can be scanned and take consumers into a virtual world that can involve anything from seeing the colour of nail varnish on nails, to recipes for the ingredient you are about to purchase.

The use in corrugated is not as popular yet, although there has been some award winning and eye-catching campaigns. Not least the way that Pizza Hut used AR back in 2021 to enable its diners to play PacMan on its corrugated pizza boxes! Simply scanning the QR code brought the maze printed on the box to 3D life providing hours of endless entertainment!

“The way that technology evolves, and the ideas that creative teams dream up, are enlightening and inspirational and shows what a key part packaging plays in communications with end users and those throughout the supply chain,” said Gavin Richardson, CEO, Boxes and Packaging. “We look forward to the future and working with our customers to support the integration of digital technologies into all their packaging requirements.”