RITZ needed an innovative solution to breakthrough in-aisle that would feel engaging and relevant to shoppers at a local store level, but also scale nationally. It had to be accessible to shoppers using only the technology they would have in the grocery aisle and compelling enough to breakthrough the clutter. And with budgets limiting us to only one national version of packaging, it needed to be dynamic enough to work across all of RITZ's top 12 retail accounts, plus everywhere else!

To us, this meant one thing. Our packaging had to become our platform. Turning static print into an onramp for digital engagement allowed store-by-store versioning of our experience to happen digitally, delivering customization at scale. And to get users involved we needed to minimize friction while maximizing value to our users.

For generations, RITZ crackers have been a staple at events from game day parties to holidays. But younger customers have come to see the brand as only relevant for these less-frequent moments, and not for everyday snacking. Our challenge was to showcase the versatility and relevance of RITZ in the moment and place where snacking purchase decisions are made - the grocery aisle.

To do so, we decided to engage shoppers through our packaging itself. And to bring our promise of versatility to life, we needed an experience as dynamic as our product. This led us to design all-new connected packaging that seamlessly brought shoppers into a mobile experience. There, we tailored unique sites based on the interests and values of shoppers at 12 of our top national grocery partners, so whether they cared about speedy recipes, adventurous flavors, or pairing with local craft beers, RITZ had them covered.

This innovative program was the first of its kind for us, for our clients, and, to our knowledge, for the category. That being the case, we had in-going ambitions for user engagement but establishing benchmarks/projections was a challenge.

Ultimately, the program's impact blew away even our highest hopes. We saw over 177,000 unique users scan packs and spend an average of 1:10 per session with us, right in the middle of their shopping trip! This meant we were generating substantial opt-in engagement in the most valuable of moments, those steps between the grocery aisle and the register.

1) An on-pack call to action encourages users to either scan a QR code or visit a promotional site to access an Image Recognition scanner. (see Media Uploads attachment for packaging)

2) Via either entry trigger, the user is then redirected to one of the versions of our campaign microsite.

3) The decision of which version of the site to serve is made based on the user's location. We programmed geofences around every store location of each of our top 12 retail partners, so if the scan took place within any of those stores around the country then the user would be sent to the corresponding microsite. And if the scan took place outside all those geofenced areas, then they would be sent to our base RITZ brand experience.

4) Each retailer-specific microsite was designed based on insights about the shoppers of that store. While all experiences were different, they all included some option to submit an entry to the 'TOP YOUR RITZ' promotion somewhere within the experience.

5) For many retailers, additional in-store collateral reinforced the microsite experience. For example, WalMart kiosks showcased "20 seconds or less" recipes and Lowes Foods demonstrated pairings of RITZ with local craft beers.