Since being introduced in July 2015, Nestlé Pure Life’s Share-a-Smile 8-oz bottles of water have used packaging to promote healthy hydration for families. Featuring fun label graphics year-round, with special seasonal packaging for Halloween and winter, the kid-centric labels are designed to help make drinking water fun. Starting in February 2017, Nestlé took the concept one step further, rolling out bottles labeled with graphics designed by kids.
Through the Pure Life Share-Your-Smile contest, co-sponsored by Crayola, Nestlé asked parents to have their children “draw what makes them smile.” Two grand-prize winners were chosen, and their designs, along with illustrations from six of the runners-up, were included in the Share-a-Smile Kid Designed Edition 24-pack.
To enter the contest, parents submitted their child’s artwork in one of two ways: on an 8.5 x 11-in. template submitted in person during one of Nestlé/Crayola’s national Share-a-Smile community events, or through a template downloaded from the Nestlé website, onto which parents uploaded their child’s drawing digitally. Once the winning designs were selected, Nestlé adapted them for use on the label.
Explains Celeste Wallace, Associate Brand Manager for Nestle Pure Life, “We worked with our packaging agency of record to translate the winning designs onto our labels. They fit the designs into the space of our labels and worked hard to maintain the integrity of the original designs.”
Depending on the vendor, Nestlé uses either roll-fed or cut-and-stack labels made from oriented polypropylene or paper. Different methods are used to assemble the multipacks to ensure a mix of labels. “For roll-fed, collation is handled by the nature of the printing process,” says Wallace. “For cut-and-stack, collation is managed manually.”
In addition to having their designs featured on bottles of Nestlé Pure Life water through August 2017, winners of the Share-Your-Smile campaign were awarded a number of generous prizes from Nestlé and Crayola for themselves, their families, and their schools. The two grand-prize winners each won $25,000 scholarships.
According to Wallace, the customization of Nestlé Pure Life’s water bottle labels encourages promotion of the product though social media. “There is a very natural connection with social media because our collections are meant to be visually appealing,” she says. “In fact, most of our Share-a-Smile marketing campaigns include a robust social media program activated on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and even through the social channels of influential blog partners.”
Nestlé Pure Life’s Share-a-Smile Kid Designed Edition 24-pack will be available through August 2017 in retail stores nationwide.
