Tom Newmaster is founder of packaging design and brand agency FORCEpkg. Opinions are the author's own.
Food and beverage brands are trying to buy attention in an increasingly expensive and inefficient media landscape. For the smartest brands, they're reimagining packaging not as a cost to manage, but as a marketing platform built to earn attention.
This shift is often referred to "Mini Moments," or leaning on cultural experiences with limited-time offerings that can capture consumers during the split seconds they reach for their phone. In this attention divided world, packaging is more important than ever to generate cultural relevance, social sharing, and earned media.
For marketers, that creates an opportunity traditional advertising often cannot. A successful Mini Moment turns packaging into content, extending a brand's reach beyond the shelf and into social feeds, news coverage, influencer conversations, and everyday consumer interactions. Rather than simply supporting a campaign, the package itself becomes a driver of awareness, engagement, and brand visibility.
This shift comes at a critical time. Paid media performance is under pressure, with increasing ad fatigue and ...