5 charming ways to make your owned media memorable

Owned media today often seems to mean digital media - a brand's website, blog or social media account. ]

What has often been over-looked in recent years is a brand's physical owned media such as packaging or business cards.

Here we explore some of the charming and creative ways brand's are using some of this owned media, often turning it into earned media in the process.

1. Build functionality into your promotional media
Mexican restaurant chain Wahaca use the conventional restaurant matchbook instead as chilli growing kit providing Serrano chilli seeds for you to grow at home.

Anti-virus software Cylance package webcam cover up stickers in their business cards and promotional media.

2. Bury a hidden egg in your packaging
Nut butter brand, Pip & Nut, have subtly embossed 'Pip Pip Hooray' on the bottom of their jars. Not many will ever notice this but those that do won't forget it.

Sipsmith too have used this area of their bottle to emboss 'CYGNUS INTER ANATES' which google tells us is Latin for 'Swan Amongst Ducks'. Who the hell knows Latin? Oh yes Sipsmith's ideal customer. Bottoms up!

3. Create drama around un-boxing (even if you're not a tech brand)
Thelma's Treats dramatise the unboxing experience by turning their cookie box into a 1950's style oven complete with front loading oven tray.

Domino's Pizza recently redesigned their pizza boxes to dramatise their logo when purchased as a pair, making their existing owned media, photogenic and infinitely more shareable.

4. Use packaging to project your beliefs
Swedish drinks brand Oatly, have used a panel of their packaging to proclaim their Swedish independence and to make a promise that they will never sell out to a big conglomerate. At a time when many smaller challenger brands within food and drinks are being bought, such a promise becomes quite a unique stance to take.

5. Personalise your thank you notes
Fragrance company Jo Malone often follow up an in-store purchase with a handwritten letter thanking them for their purchase. It shows customers it's a brand that cares. Cares enough to have a member of their team take the time to send you a handwritten letter. Crucially the note includes specifics about that last shopping experience so that the person receiving the letter knows it's been customised for them and isn't a blanket mail-out to everyone on their database.

Think about your business and list your brand's owned media channels? How could you apply some of the ideas here to those?