Cool Innovation in FMCG 8: Box of Awesome

One big innovation opportunity that is often missed in FMCG is marketing innovation. Too often, front-end innovation projects are reduced to mere flavour/packaging variations of what is already available. But innovation can include how you sell as well as what you sell.

Take, “Box of Awesome,” a new product sampling service for 8-14 year olds, launched this month in the UK.  If you know Birchbox, this is Birchbox for kids.  The idea is simple, kids sign up to receive a monthly box of just-launched or about-to-be launched branded goodies to test.  They then post comments and reviews online in traditional haul video style.  Because they get products first, they are more likely to a) like them – thereby driving adoption, and b) talk about them – thereby driving word of mouth.  It’s teen marketing for the digital age, and a simple, smart way to drive awareness and adoption for new products.

The innovation opportunity for brands, especially those that have a portfolio of product brands is to offer their own ‘product seeding’ box service.  For agencies, the opportunity is to run a syndicated service for a portfolio of brands. In Connected Marketing, we’ve developed some ideas on how to make services like Box of Awesome better – check them out (chapter download).