Frito-Lay ties Alexa skill to personalized back-to-school packaging

Dive Brief:

Frito-Lay announced in a news release that it is adding Snackable Notes to its variety packs of chips that feature a blank "talk bubble" where parents can write customized messages to their kids. The packs, part of the marketer's back-to-school push, are available until Sept. 9.
Parents and other consumers can submit their favorite notes at SnackableNotes.com for a chance to win a $1,000 weekly prize. A random winner will be selected each week. The campaign was inspired by a company survey that found 75% of parents worry about their kids' happiness when they are at school, and 81% look for ways to encourage their kids when they are apart.
Frito-Lay is tying the campaign to a new Amazon Alexa skill, Snackable Notes. Parents can get ideas for their personalized notes that range from funny to thoughtful by saying "Alexa, open Snackable Notes" or searching for the Snackable Notes function.

Dive Insight:

Frito-Lay is tapping into a few food marketing trends with its latest back-to-school effort, including personalized packaging and mobile-driven voice functionality. Consumers are increasingly expecting greater levels of personalization from their favorite brands, and the chip marketer might be able to create emotional resonance with the push by keeping parents connected to their children as the school year gears up.

The packaging notes, combined with the online submission contest and Alexa piece of the campaign, fit in with other recent Frito-Lay efforts. Its Lay's brand this summer ran a "Tastes of America" tour that leveraged YouTube influencers, as well as flavors inspired by different regions of the country and online contests to win daily prizes.

The chip marketer also is hoping to take advantage of consumers' growing interest in voice technology. Two in five consumers now own devices integrated with voice assistants like Alexa, according to research by Episerver. Despite growing adoption, 60% of voice-ready device owners never use the technology to make purchases. Frito-Lay potentially recognizes this by instead focusing its skill on helping parents develop more clever notes to leave on their packages.

Other brands in the food space are trying to innovate with their packaging plays to make an impact for the key back-to-school sales window. Kellogg's Rice Krispies Treats, for example, recently introduced Braille stickers and re-recordable audio boxes to help parents send encouraging messages to children who are blind or have low vision.