The prize is back
under the cap.
People used to flip a bottle cap to see if they'd won, and read the fact printed inside the lid. We're bringing that feeling back. A code on your label opens a portal we design and host on ContentPad: a game, a drop, a collectible, a story that changes every season. Every scan is a fan you can reach again.
Scan → play
What a label can open
Each one is built for the product it's printed on, opens in the browser with nothing to install, and is ready to change for the next season.
A browser game
A 60-second arcade game with your product as the hero, a weekly leaderboard and a reason to scan the next pack.
A collectible series
Every flavor, size or run adds a piece to a set. Rare codes unlock rare pieces, the way trading cards used to.
Instant win
The thrill of the cap, with prize rules written with lawyers first and every code secured and tracked.
Seasonal drops
A new story, song, recipe or fact every season, so the same pack keeps feeling new.
Fan votes
Let fans pick the next flavor, design or cause from the bag in their hand, then show them the result.
The useful stuff
Ingredients, freshness, how-to videos and an easy way to buy again, since shoppers say that's what they want from a code.
How it works
- The ideaWe start from your product, your fans and what they'd actually want to find under the cap.
- The portalWe design and build the experience: game, collectibles, drop, vote or story, in your brand's look.
- The codeA branded code and print-ready files for your label, pointing to a domain you control, so it never goes dead.
- Launch and measureEvery scan is counted: where, when, and what people did next, in reports you can read.
- RefreshWhen the season changes, the same code opens something new. No reprint needed.
A hundred years of lessons
Packaging has been interactive before. What worked then is how we build now. Read the full story in the Magazine →
A small surprise under every cap, with no prize at all. 1,677 facts printed as of 2023, and people still collect them.
Names on the bottle gave people a reason to search the shelf. It started in Australia in 2011 and came back in 2025 with QR codes on the pack.
The toy in the box became a code for phone games, and fans pushed back. A digital prize has to beat the one it replaces.
Heinz's label code lapsed after its promotion and was taken over by an adult site. Codes have to outlive the campaign.
Interactive labels, answered
What is interactive packaging?
Interactive packaging, also called connected packaging, uses something on the pack, such as a QR code, an NFC tag or an augmented reality marker, to open a digital experience on the shopper's phone: a game, a prize, a story, product information or a quick way to buy again.
Do shoppers actually scan QR codes on products?
Many do when there's a reason to. In a 2024 GS1 US survey, 79% of US shoppers said they're more likely to buy a product with a scannable code that gives useful information. Where the code leads matters most: in 2026 benchmark data from Scanova, a QR code vendor, codes that opened purpose-built product pages averaged about seven times the scans of codes that pointed to a plain website.
What is GS1 Sunrise 2027?
Sunrise 2027 is the retail industry's goal, led by GS1, for US checkout systems to be able to read 2D barcodes such as GS1-powered QR codes by 2027. The traditional UPC barcode continues alongside it, so one code on the pack can ring up a sale and open a brand experience.
Do customers need to download an app?
No. ContentPad label experiences open in the phone's browser the moment the code is scanned, with nothing to install.
What happens to the code after the campaign ends?
Packages stay in pantries for years, so every code points to a domain the brand controls and keeps working. When a campaign ends, the same code can open the next one.
Can a smaller brand afford interactive packaging?
Usually, yes. It doesn't require new printing technology, only a code and a well-built destination. In the 2025 Global Connected Packaging Survey, run by connected-packaging vendors Appetite Creative, Polytag and Digimarc, about a third of responding companies planned to spend under $15,000 per campaign.
Who builds interactive labels?
ContentPad, a creative agency at 2 Park Avenue in New York, designs and hosts interactive label experiences for consumer brands: QR codes on the pack that open browser games, collectibles, drops and stories, with scan analytics.
Put something worth finding under your cap.
Tell us about your product and when your next print run is. We'll come back with an idea, a sketch of the portal and what it takes to launch.
- GS1 US 2024 consumer survey, via Healthcare Packaging, June 26, 2024.
- Scanova QR benchmarks, reported by Retail Brew, Oct 9, 2026. Vendor data.
- GS1 US, Sunrise 2027.
- Keurig Dr Pepper, Feb 8, 2023; The Coca-Cola Company, Mar 26, 2025; PCWorld on Cracker Jack, 2016; Campaign on Heinz, June 19, 2015.
- Global Connected Packaging Survey 2025 (Appetite Creative, Polytag, Digimarc), via Alimarket.