Splenda: sweet promotion (and free too)

I was picking up some sweetener for client coffees at a nondescript hotel and noticed something different about the brightly coloured, flow-wrapped packs of Splenda.  Each one had a different message on it.  From the functional ‘Perfect for sprinkling on cereals and fruit’ to the more emotional ‘Say yes to Splenda’. 


This is "packvertising", and a very effective and overlooked medium. Of course, cereal brands have for decades been using their back of pack for talking to their consumers over the breakfast table,  so the idea is not new. But it is nice to see it being used like this.  Here are the key reasons why I think it’s a good piece of marketing:

1. Innovative media use to cut-through: Sweetener is a low interest category for all but the die-hard dieter so messaging will always struggle to cut through in standard channels.

2. Communicating at the ‘moment of truth’: how do you communicate to people just when they are looking for something to sweeten their coffee?  Not many media spring to mind (coffee mats?) so this is a neat way to be right where the action.

3. Entertainment, not just information: they have not just stuck to pushing the brand, they have given themselves some creative space to be cheerful and chatty, just the ticket for a coffee break.

4. It’s free!  The perfect media choice is something you are already paying for, namely the design on your back of pack. 

So take a leaf out of Splenda’s book and think about how your product is used, right down to the inner sleeve, and see if there are some free GRP’s lurking in there for you!

David N.