Another day, another brown cardboard delivery. But recent activations prove packaging doesn’t have to be boring. Here are some of our favourites.
Remember the childhood magic of unwrapping presents at Christmas?
You probably don’t feel quite as excited ripping open the third online order that arrived on your doorstep today, but what if you received a mobile phone inside a milk carton?
How about a personalised chip packet with a single chip inside, or a secret box that can only be opened with a game of mahjong? We bet you would take notice.
These are some of the recent creative packaging activations from Kiwi and international companies, often targeted at influencers, that have helped campaigns go viral and seared their brands into the hearts and
minds of consumers.
Here are a few examples that wowed the NZ Marketing editorial team.
Chia Sisters IWD cans
In the lead-up to International Women’s Day on March 8, Nelson-founded beverage company Chia Sisters turned packaging into a platform.
In previous years, Chia Sisters has marked IWD with bold activations such as its ‘8.6% Less’ campaign, where bottles were 8.6% shy of full to reflect the gender pay gap.
This year, the company invited 14 influential women to answer one simple but powerful question: What do women want?
Their responses, spanning financial freedom, maternal mental health, safe water, fair representation, digital inclusion, collective care and period equity appeared on a limited edition run of Chia Sisters Bioactive Sparkling drinks that launched in the lead up to IWD 2026. All proceeds go to Women’s Refuge.
“We didn’t want to create a slogan campaign,” says co-founder Florence Van Dyke. “We wanted to create something reflective – something that asks women to pause and consider what they truly want, not what they’re told they should want.”
– Niko Kloeten
Snackachangi single chip
It’s no secret that I am an absolute fiend for Snackachangi chips. Their Vinegar & Salt are the best on the market (trust me on this, I’ve done extensive taste tests).
Not only are their chips good, their packaging is also always fun, with amusing visuals and the most unhinged copy.
In 2025, comedian, broadcaster and Snackachangi founder Leigh Hart took the kooky brand persona to another level.
He announced a new campaign to literally put the snacks in front of every person in the country. His idea? Hand deliver a single, solitary Snakachangi chip in a personalised mini-packet.
The teams at Pitchblack, OMG and MBM joined the cause and the resulting marketing campaign was labelled as crazy. (Firstly, how do you even personalise a chip packet? This seemingly impossible task was no sweat for SCG’s print team.)
My inner child, whose name was never found on a gift shop keyring, crowed with joy at the prospect: my favourite chip inside a bag with my name on it.
Of course, Hart gave up on the personal delivery idea not long after launch. In the end, he outsourced the job, putting his budget on the line for one lucky person who could demonstrate and post the most creative sampling on social media.
– Zahra Shahtahmasebi
Samsung Team Galaxy welcome pack
The name Samsung is synonymous with mobile phones and televisions, but did you know the world-famous brand hasn’t always been a tech company?
It was founded in 1938 as a South Korean grocery store, trading noodles and other goods. Though it eventually became an electronics giant, Samsung hasn’t forgotten where it came from.
Like many modern brands, Samsung works with influencers to tell its story, and its influencer network is known as Team Galaxy.
It decided to welcome new creators to Team Galaxy with a pack that paid homage to its roots. The idea was to celebrate Samsung’s evolution from humble grocery store to tech innovator – packaging up the latest phone and its accessories like grocery essentials.
Chep Network (now folded into Clemenger) worked with Think Packaging to collaborate and design an influencer pack for Samsung that would welcome the newest creators to Team Galaxy, in a fun and shareable way.
Finding a phone inside a noodle box or milk carton would have been a cool moment!
– Niko Kloeten
Milk Christmas gift with Huffman’s sauce
Packaging activation campaigns don’t have to be huge to be memorable or have an impact, as design agency Milk proved with a ‘saucy’ Christmas client gift.
Milk wanted to surprise and delight its food-centric clients and friends with a summer holiday gift. The idea was to showcase the agency’s passion for collaborations, craft and food as well as a commitment to care for the community as an ethical design practice.
Working with their client Huffman’s Sauces, Milk created a bespoke Chilli Pepper, Pomegranate & Orange Blossom Sauce and an experiential gift that tasted good and did good too.
Think Packaging was brought in to design and develop the structural design, crafting and creating bespoke inserts and workings.
The tactile opening experience enabled Milk to present a three-part invitation to recipients:
- ‘Live a little’ (try the sauce)
- ‘Create a little’ (follow the recipes)
- and ‘Give a little’ (take a photo and Milk would donate $50 to the Auckland City Mission).
Many feel overwhelmed with requests from charities for donations, so using the universal language of food was a creative way for Milk to encourage giving while also thanking clients.
– Niko Kloeten
Asahi Nama Jokki rip top influencer box
This was one of the most fun things that crossed my desk in the past year: a box of beer that opened like a rip-top can to reveal… beers with rip-top lids!
To create some froth around Nama Jokki’s Aotearoa debut, Asahi Super Dry sent out 250 custom-made boxes of the self-foaming brew. The beer itself is a bit different: you rip off the entire lid – as you would a tin of beans – and it develops a creamy head, like a pub-poured pint. Then you drink straight from the can.
I like Nama Jokki, but I love a cardboard box. My basement at home is populated with stacks of the things: shoeboxes, old packing boxes, ones with lids, little ones I save just in case I need to post something small. I can’t help myself and every now and then I have to have a cull.
Relieved it was essentially destroyed by the time I got inside (so I wasn’t tempted to keep it), I recycled this box – delighted with how its form echoed the contents.
The delivery came with instructions on how to crack open the beer cans, but the packaging taught me everything I needed to know. By the time I’d popped the top on the box, I had the can technique cracked. Kanpai!
– Penny Murray
Peddlers Gin mahjong lock box
As a mahjong fan, I was fascinated by Peddlers Gin’s innovative use of the game to build hype around the launch of its new bottle in China.
Peddlers wanted to launch their new bottle by doing something unexpected and uplifting for the community that helped them grow as the country’s first craft gin.
Supporting Peddlers on the project were design studio OMSE and Think Packaging, who were asked to collaborate with the ideation and physical idea/model of the activation pack.
Before releasing the boxes, Peddlers sent hundreds of bartenders a branded antique key in a wax-sealed envelope. But no other explanation. This created intrigue and buzz across socials and via word of mouth as bartenders tried to guess what the key might open.
A week later, Peddlers sent a limited edition mahjong box with the new bottle smuggled inside in a secret compartment.
The key unlocked the box, but the secret compartment could only be opened by completing the game of Peddlers Mahjong. With the correct tiles in place, the final piece clicked to create a handle. This in turn revealed the bottle via a trap door.
I don’t live in China, I am not a bartender and I don’t drink gin, but this still ticks all of my boxes.
– Niko Kloeten
Aids Foundation ‘Condom Fitkit’
Kurt Cobain sang about a “heart-shaped box”, but the New Zealand Aids Foundation chose another part of the anatomy for a creative campaign encouraging condom use.
Wearing a condom is important for preventing HIV/Aids transmission in gay, bisexual and transgender people, but many are put off by struggling to find the correct size.
The NZ Aids Foundation (now the Burnett Foundation) tackled this challenge by launching The Condom FitKit, a free resource for gay, transgender and bisexual individuals under 25 who have sex with people with penises.
The find your fit campaign was created with the support of DDB Aotearoa, who approached Think Packaging to help them ideate and create an influencer kit for the campaign.
Think Packaging Design Director Mat Bogust puts it simply: “We went all out dick box.”
The colourful phallic boxes were packed with eight different condoms, various lubricants, and a masturbator toy for recipients to work their way through and find the best fit.
It was surely a memorable experience for the influencers who received these boxes!
This story comes from NZ Marketing magazine issue 86, March-May 2026. Why not subscribe? Get four issues a year for just $50 (including delivery) if you autorenew.
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