This announcement comes after a successful UK trial last year( see AIPIA newsletter 14-10-20) in partnership with Co-op, on Kellogg’s Coco Pops boxes. Evaluation of the pilot by the UK charity Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) showed that 97% of the participants would like to see more of these accessibility features available on grocery packaging.

Important information on food packaging, such as allergen details, can often be printed in typeface that’s difficult for blind or partially sighted people to read. The new boxes will allow a smartphone to easily detect a unique on-pack code and playback labelling information to these shoppers. All Kellogg's Europe boxes will contain the NaviLens tag in 2022.

“This announcement from Kellogg’s is a real game changer within the packaging world. It marks a significant step-change in how big brands can put accessibility at the forefront of design and packaging decisions and be a catalyst for change," said Marc Powell, strategic accessibility lead at RNIB. 

“Designing packaging so that it works for everyone makes complete sense and we hope that other brands will follow Kellogg’s lead in making packaging information more accessible,” said a company spokesperson. Unlike other types of printed codes, the new technology includes high contrasting colored squares on a black background. Users do not need to know exactly where the code is located to scan it. 

The first accessible boxes of Special K will appear on shelf next January. The idea came to life when Kellogg’s met with children from St Vincent’s in 2019, a specialist school in Liverpool for children with sensory impairment. 

"Over two million people in the UK live with sight loss and are unable to simply read the information on our cereal boxes," says Chris Silcock, head of Kellogg’s UK. "As a company focused on equity, diversity and inclusion we believe that everyone should be able to access important and useful information about the food that we sell. Kellogg’s will be the first company in the world to use NaviLens on packaging. We will share our experience with other brands who want to learn more.” 

The technology allows smartphones to pick up the on-pack code from up to 3 metres distance. This then alerts the phone and the shopper can choose to have the ingredients, allergen and recycling information read aloud to them – as well as reading it on their device using accessibility tools. 

"The incorporation of the NaviLens codes onto food packaging is a positive step towards a more inclusive and accessible shopping experience for the visually impaired," according to Javier Pita, CEO of NaviLens. 

Starting in September, specially marked versions of Nerds Gummy Clusters and Rainbow Nerds Theater Boxes will come with a receipt that can be uploaded to nerdscandy.com/dnd. On the site, visitors can start an exclusive "Restoring Harmony" campaign that includes a PDF adventure and character sheets based on the Ferrera-owned candy's mascots.

The packaging also promotes a sweepstakes running through the end of the year that offers prizes like a D&D Starter Set and Player's Handbook. The effort shows Nerds deepening its content strategy at a time when interest in tabletop gaming is high.

Nerds is providing consumers with a piece of content-rich storytelling through its collaboration with Wizards of the Coast's Dungeons & Dragons game. D&D, which debuted in the '70s, is a bedrock of nerd culture, providing a clear link to the Ferrera candy's brand name. But gaming has also grown increasingly mainstream, with tabletop offerings seeing an explosion of popularity in recent years.

As part of the tie-up, D&D designed a special campaign for Nerds that features its cartoon mascots. In D&D terms, campaigns are rough outlines of an adventure that a Dungeon Master — the game's chief storyteller and wrangler — can fill in with improvisational help from players who role-play as different characters in a fictional fantasy world.

Each Nerd candy color has been converted into a different D&D archetype, with orange serving as the fighter class, pink as the rogue and purple as the wizard. There are six classes in total that can be unlocked by uploading Nerds receipts, while the "Restoring Harmony" campaign can be completed in under an hour. The story is intended to be family-friendly — though entrants must be 13 years or older — and accessible to D&D newcomers. Thematically, Nerds is emphasizing D&D's focus on teamwork and how bringing different ways of thinking together can make problem-solving easier.

On the marketing end, the candy brand is trying to link a packaging play closer to digital channels. To sign up for the D&D experience, users can enter their email address and personal information, including their full name, address and date of birth, along with a photo of their receipt. That information might prove valuable in informing future marketing efforts, especially as marketers contend with the deprecation of targeting tools like third-party cookies.

For D&D, the promotion may bring on newcomers in the coveted Gen Z age range. The tabletop game has experienced a resurgence in interest after playing a prominent role on hit shows like "Stranger Things." The pandemic has not slowed D&D play, as sales jumped 33% year-on-year to their highest levels ever in 2020 as people sought entertaining ways to stay connected to friends and family.

Other marketers have tried to capitalize on the current tabletop role-playing craze. In 2019, burger chain Wendy's introduced a homegrown take on the concept called "Feast of Legends" in partnership with global entertainment brand Fandom. The game was marketed with the help of Critical Role, a popular role-playing franchise.

Quest Industrial says its standardized Box Bot QB300 has the same features and benefits as the original Box Bot, but is built for manufacturers that don’t need much additional customization. Box Bot users can design and automate precise pallet patterns for boxes, bags or other products to optimize shipping space in semi-trailers. The system’s footprint starts as small as 8 feet by 10 feet.

“There are many customer applications that are relatively straightforward and ultimately don’t need something that’s extremely complex,” Quest Director of Sales Ryan Womble said in a news release. “We’ve standardized and pre-defined key configurations of the Box Bot, while not sacrificing capability or functionality. Our standardized version enables us to offer a more cost-effective palletizing solution to customers with shorter lead times.”

TheQuest will debut the Box Bot QB300 series at the packaging industry’s Pack Expo and Healthcare Packaging Expo, both held concurrently at the Las Vegas Convention Center from Sept. 27-29.