Go Viral With Packaging: The Power of UGC & Good Branding

In 2025, packaging isn’t just part of your brand — it’s the launchpad for your content. It’s the thumbnail. The punchline. The thing people see before the product, and often the thing they remember after.

The best-performing brands right now know this. They’re designing packaging that gets filmed, posted, shared, and saved. Because when done right, a box isn’t just something you ship with. It’s something people talk about.

The Box That Broke the Feed

Look at the recent Krispy Kreme x Pistachio Papi collab. A playful, nostalgia-filled PR campaign with packaging right at the centre. The bold, branded mailer wasn’t just there to deliver doughnuts — it was the experience.

That box drove over 25,000 comments and millions of impressions — not because someone paid for a boost, but because the packaging itself was worth sharing. The structure. The print. The colour. The hype. All of it came together to create a moment that people wanted to post.

You couldn’t scroll past it. You wanted to know what was inside.

And that’s what smart packaging does: it tells the story before the product even appears.

When the Box Is the Campaign

The same thinking went into the Mecca x Glossier launch — one of the most anticipated collaborations of the year. The product was limited. The branding was strong. But it was the packaging that tied it all together.

Custom-built for the launch, the mailer carried weight. It felt premium, layered, shareable. It showed up on social feeds organically — not because anyone was told to post it, but because the packaging made it feel like something worth documenting.

That’s what brands are chasing now. Not gimmicks. Not forced hashtags. Just real, scroll-stopping design that aligns with the moment.

UGC That Doesn’t Need a CTA

User-generated content is no longer a “nice to have” — it’s one of the most effective brand growth tools available. But here’s the catch: people don’t create content for average packaging. They post when it looks considered, surprises them, feels tactile and elevated, or reflects something about their identity. It has to feel worth showing — and when it does, it travels further than any paid placement could.

Design for the Share

We’re seeing more brands shift their packaging process from “protect and ship” to “impress and spread.” That means thinking about how the box opens, what’s visible first, the pacing of the reveal, the tone of voice inside, and what happens when it hits the feed. Smart packaging adds layers. It builds anticipation. It makes people slow down, interact, film it, remember it — Just checkout this reel for proof.

Why It Matters

The brands leading in 2025 aren’t just great at marketing — they’re great at designing physical brand moments that people want to talk about. And it’s those moments that drive repeat purchase, better brand recall, stronger perceived value, and community growth. Most of the time? It starts with packaging.