Movie Popcorn Bucket Gets Peelable IML Coupons
- Published: November 09, 2017
MALDEGEM, BELGIUM | Cinema, film, popcorn: Cinemark customers can’t have one without the other while watching a movie. With that in mind, the Chilean branch of the American Cines brand wanted to reward its loyal customers with a refillable bucket and a smart customer retention action.
The company’s brand-new IML packaging, produced by Fosko, sets itself apart from the pack with its sustainability and reusability. Thanks to Verstraete IML’s Peelable IML label, Cinemark customers are enjoying more popcorn than ever before.
Loreto Boitano, concessions manager at Cinemark, says, “Our customers believe popcorn is a major part of their cinema experience. It is an essential element of a cinema visit, and it helps them enjoy the film. A lot of our customers are frequent cinema visitors, and their loyalty deserves to be rewarded. That’s where our idea of reusable popcorn packaging came from — when they next visit, our customers can simply refill their IML bucket.”
From cardboard to Peelable IML packaging
Boitano continues: “Our former popcorn packaging was made from cardboard and could not be reused after a film, so we started looking for a more sustainable packaging alternative. Our new popcorn bucket also needed to provide added value to our customers, and Fosko proposed an IML bucket with Peelable IML labels in response. It’s proving to be a hit, both for our immediate sales results and for long-term customer retention.”
IML packaging excels in print quality
Nicolás Ramirez, commercial director at Fosko, explains: “It didn’t take much to convince Cinemark of the excellent print quality of our IML buckets. To reward customer loyalty and boost popcorn consumption, we started looking for an innovative customer retention concept. Together with Cinemark, we came up with the Peelable IML action: thanks to the three removable discount coupons on the IML label, the buckets can be reused up to three times in the cinema. Afterwards, customers can give their buckets a new lease of life at home as storage containers.
Benefits of Peelable IML
According to Oscar Peres, regional business development manager for Latin America at Verstraete IML, “Peelable IML offers a host of marketing opportunities; it’s an elegant way to include reward scheme points or discount coupons. It makes things easier for customers too: they don’t have to cut up the packaging or soak the label off. Peelable IML is exceptionally user-friendly, and once the label has been removed, customers are left with a neutral, sustainable storage container. Peelable IML also can be combined with DoubleSided IML. Doubling the printable surface comes in handy to provide twice as much product information.
On the Cinemark packaging, only the cup’s refill coupons are removable, meaning the rest of the IML label on the packaging continues to convey the brand message, even in customers’ homes.
Ramirez explains: “This innovative Peelable IML packaging allows Cinemark to kill two birds with one stone: the reward concept fosters strong customer retention. As a bonus, customers get a sustainable, reusable storage container to use at home. It’s a win-win situation: Cinemark buckets in customers’ homes means better brand recognition in the long term.
According to Ramirez, “The large dimensions of the label made the production process a little more complex, but with the right injection molding machine and a fine-tuned IML label, the results are excellent. We can rely on our IML partner, Verstraete IML, to provide high quality labels, delivered on time — and they continue to innovate too. We would highly recommend Verstraete IML to anyone.”
Environmentally friendly: 100% recyclable
Boitano adds, “One of the best features of our new plastic IML packaging is that it’s environmentally friendly; it complies with legislation that promotes recycling and extended producer responsibility, and it’s a so-called ‘3R’ product: 100% reducible, reusable, and recyclable. Consumers are better informed than ever before and expect companies to act in an environmentally responsible manner, which provides a commercial advantage. The new IML packaging is hygienic too: it can be easily washed, meaning it is particularly sustainable — the buckets can be reused over and over again.
Boitano continues: “Our huge sales and refill figures are the best response we could have wished for. Some months, customers refill more buckets than they buy, which is the best evidence that they love and value our reusable packaging and the refill concept.”
