Scooby-Doo Applesauce: The Mott’s team wanted to bring more kid focus to their product line using a lower sugar alternative applesauce formula. Warner Brothers was looking for foods to endorse and their Scooby-Doo asset seemed perfect to appeal to kids 6-9. We also wanted to bring more elements of fun to the package by making it interactive in some way. Cost was a big concern. Warner Brothers also wanted to offer up some Scooby-Doo DVD’s as part of an ongoing promotion.
Smith Design was chosen for their excellent work on cereal boxes and other brands with marketing tie-ins. Once we determined the design that best fit the communication hierarchy, we brainstormed what exactly would offer consumer interaction without big cost.
We looked at inserts such as magnifying glasses, lenticular stickers, a neat ‘mystery’ lens that would reveal a message and special die cuts. In the end we went with a sticker insert as well as three fun mazes that would be printed on the inside unique to each flavor.
The stickers were designed and inserted into the 6-packs by the print vendor and then the consumer would peel them off the liner for use. One of the big operational challenges was that when the stickers were applied in one location, they would ‘fan’ causing the application equipment to jam. The solution was to alternate the sticker placement to even out the stacks. The stickers were innovative at the time for us at least as we had never done it before.
The applesauce cups have a foil lid and I spent considerable time with the foil lid printer getting the colors to match the 6-packs as closely as possible. Separations were tricky as it was printed flexo.
This package was featured on the cover of Flexo Magazine Feb 2007.
