Aquarius Competition Leverages Accents™ Variable Printing Technology

Aquarius, a refreshing beverage brand produced by Coca-Cola, recently partnered with Crown Bevcan EMEA and its dedicated print and reprographics studio on a smart and engaging promotional campaign in Spain. Aquarius is now available in standard 330ml aluminum cans, a sustainable packaging format that advances a Circular Economy and helps to minimize the level of raw materials required to be sourced from the Earth via its infinite recyclability. 

The ‘Recover what moves you!’ campaign featured a brilliantly simple design concept that placed a single letter of the alphabet on each can. As consumers collected cans, they could spell out different words and earn one entry per can to a competition where they could show off their best lexicon on a designated website and get a chance to win a prize of €250 per day; with a grand prize of €100,000 awarded at the close of the competition in mid-September. The campaign concept, encouraging consumers to collect more Aquarius cans, saw a level of interaction and engagement in significant numbers, delivering the ‘wow factor’ in no uncertain terms.

Our Accents™ variable printing technology was used to produce the different letters and facilitated up to 24 different designs in a single run. Each decorator on the line can be equipped with up to 12 precision cut blankets, where the shape of each letter is removed, and the remaining section is printed. The process saves time on set-up and gives customers the flexibility to be creative, particularly where promotions and collectible campaigns are concerned.

In addition to decorative capabilities, we helped consumers gain access to the competition via tens of millions of unique entry codes. Each code was concealed beneath the tab of the can. The codes are applied using the latest laser etching technology and can be marked directly onto plain or colored tabs. The high precision laser works at full line speed and can also be used to create fine text, logos or even QR codes.

Aquarius benefited from the support of our Studio facility in the U.K. as well as the Iberian Print and Reprographics Team, who together carried out technical tests and carefully selected the metallic inks to ensure the best use of the technology.