Smart Packaging Pushes Boundaries

What if a food can could alert us when a product is near expiration via our smart phones? Or inform us about product nutrition, ingredients, manufacturing processes and how and where to recycle the package once its contents are consumed? This kind of “intelligent packaging” is closer to becoming a reality than you might think.

We are already pushing the boundaries of the Internet of Things (IoT) and metal packaging with a number of innovations. Designed to give brand owners flexibility based on how they want to engage consumers, our technologies focus on making interaction an added-value feature of the metal container that buyers can activate when they choose to through the use of scannable codes. In addition to fostering engagement, the codes enable brands to gather valuable, real-time purchasing and consumption data, including who opened what content and when and where the code was activated. This information allows brands to connect with individual consumers in ‘real time’ and will, in turn, help brands tailor subsequent campaigns to stay aligned with consumer behaviors, desires and needs.

One such enabling technology we offer to the market is CrownConnect™, a family of products including CrownSmart™, SeeThrough™ and CrownSecure™, that has been developed to address three key aspects of today’s marketplace: traceability, authenticity and customer loyalty. We partnered with EVRYTHNG, the IoT Smart Products Platform pioneer, to bring these technologies to life and enable brands to generate new digital value from their products by enhancing their packaging with added functionality and applications.

The combination of IoT and packaging has the potential to provide an unprecedented level of transparency and engagement between brands and consumers. We are excited to be at the forefront of this exciting opportunity.