69 2025 - number 4 - promzvak.nl Looking for printed year-end or Christmas gifts? Then Brisby’s coolers are the perfect choice. Get in touch quickly! –› Factory-direct printing with your own design –› Long-lasting quality, even after years of use –› Save costs by ordering now –› Personalization possible, including full color printing on the lid We’re happy to think along with you about the options. Contact us at: sales@wevegoods.com 9 BY ED VAN EUNEN Chips and Towels – Tops or Flops? The launch of chips in a box earlier this year probably won’t go down in the books at Lay’s as a major “top.” Then again — you never know. It’s not unusual for manufacturers to experiment with different packaging formats. Take breakfast cake, for example: one large loaf vs. individually wrapped slices. At Lay’s, they likely assumed — quite reasonably — that there would be a market for boxed chips. But things didn’t go quite as planned. For unclear reasons, many consumers got the idea that the familiar Lay’s chip bags were being phased out in favour of this new box format. The rumor spread on social media and in the press. The panic only grew when someone calculated that a gram of chips in a box cost twice as much as a gram of chips in a bag. Dutch newspaper AD devoted half a page full of angry consumer responses, and other media outlets followed suit. The tone of the feedback was the same across the board: Lay’s was being portrayed as a greedy villain using sneaky marketing tactics to rip people off. Interestingly, many of those who complained also claimed they had already switched to private-label chips — which suggests the actual financial impact on Lay’s may have been minimal. Still, the company felt compelled to place an ad in national media, assuring customers that regular chip bags would remain available. So — no harm done? Just a storm in a teacup? That’s just the question. It’s certainly annoying, even if the revenue loss was negligible. But no brand wants controversy surrounding its name. So it was smart of Lay’s to publish that clarification — because afterward, the uproar quickly died down. The trouble is, incidents like this can erupt at any moment and over anything. There are always consumers ready to pounce with a know-it-all attitude. And it costs time, energy, money — and nerves. Usually, there’s little you can do to stop it. Could similar storms occur in the promotional products industry? Absolutely. One of the most well-known examples comes from Shell. In the 1990s, Shell launched a savings campaign: collect stamps when you refuel, and a full card earned you a towel. After about two years, Shell decided the campaign had met its commercial goals and announced it would end. Even without social media (which didn’t exist back then), a full-blown media frenzy ensued. Suddenly, Shell was the villain taking away the beloved towel from poor consumers. In the end — perhaps with a sigh — Shell chose to continue the towel-saving program. And now, more than thirty years later, you can still save for towels through the Shell GO+ program. In that sense, you could say this campaign was a massive “top” for the towel supplier. And for other towel producers as well — because today, almost every fuel brand offers towel savings programs! TOPS OR FLOPS TOP: Chips and Towels FLOP: Chips and Towels
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