Lately, three big companies have embraced mass customization in the same category: beverages. I find that a big coincidence and thought I’d portray them here:
The video says it all - you can create your own bottle design on the site. Only downside - you can’t actually order anything, it’s all virtual. It’s a campaign to market a new bottle of theirs that has a surface that you can draw on in real life. Still, really fun concept. (sorry about the formatting here, but “content trumps pretty”)
2) HEINEKEN IRELAND - Your Heineken
I made this bottle by choosing first a base design (color, style), and then I was able to personalize it with images and text (that’s my Dad - it’s Father’s Day after all). The cool thing here is that you can actually buy these bottles! Downside is - it’s only in Ireland. Which is surprising, since I’ve seen very little demand for customization and personalization come from the islands (GB and Ireland).
When you click on the link, make sure to find the Heineken Ireland site (a little hidden).
Very famous already, Starbucks lets you play on their website with a create-your-own Frappuccino tool. Like Heineken, you design your own Frappuccino online, and then go to the real world (read: Starbucks around the corner) to recreate what you “planned” online. I say - better than nothing, and they’ve done a great job at creating a fun interface and posting “create your own” all over it.
THE SO WHAT
Left to ask - where are these coming from? Why now, and why in the beverage industry? My two cents are that the beverage world essentially just learned from the food world, in-store customization and create-your-own is already very common in even a Burger King. I wouldn’t be surprised if Heineken was inspired by German startups like BeerStickr that allow you to personalize stickers for (generic) beer bottles. I believe that Starbucks just picked something they’ve always been doing - creating custom drinks right there and then - as something to talk about in a new marketing campaign.
What I really think all this means is that the trend mass customization is ringing in the ears of marketing executives at big, yet creative companies. Is it ringing in your ears yet?
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