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Max Wimmer and David Kossmann look into the camera, one of them holding a Tetra Pak with advertising up in one hand.

Max Wimmer (left) and David Kossmann are bringing fresh ideas to the packaging industry.
Image: Affordables

How Free Tetra Paks Are Funded by Advertising – When Packaging Pays for Your Groceries

The founders from Bamberg, David Kossmann and Max Wimmer, are rethinking packaging with their start-up Affordables, offering food and beverage products for free or at significantly reduced prices – financed through advertising printed directly on the packaging. For the industry, this ad space could represent an exciting field for business that combines brand communication, design, and direct customer access. 

Two years ago, the two founders came across an innovative idea from the USA, where the company “FreeWater” is enjoying success. In this concept, free or heavily discounted consumer goods like bottled water are financed through prominent advertising on the packaging. David Kossmann and Max Wimmer wondered: “Why not use packaging, which is produced anyway, as ad space here too?” After a one-year development phase, they launched Affordables just over a year ago.

Inside Affordables’ Business Model: How Brand Placement on Packaging Delivers Free Products

How does the idea work in practice? Kossmann and Wimmer collaborate with food producers to bring products – financed through advertising space on the packaging – to consumers either free of charge or at a steep discount. Their first launch took place at the “Bamberg zaubert” variety festival: there, they handed out 21,000 water Tetra Paks featuring ads for the Open Beatz music festival. A QR code led directly to the ticket shop – with measurable success. “Our conversion rate was 6.5 percent,” says Kossmann. “In digital advertising, the conversion rate typically averages below 1 percent, and traditional out-of-home ads usually stay under 2 percent.” The verdict after the first outing of Affordables' branded Tetra Paks: the free product ad space concept proved itself – the market entry was a success.

Since then, things have been on the up – their latest partner is Playmobil. Talks are also underway with the organizers of Wacken music festival in Northern Germany and the Berlin Marathon. “The initial response encouraged us to approach well-known brands as well,” Kossmann explains. 

Several Tetra Paks printed with various advertisements.

21,000 water Tetra Paks have been distributed to consumers free of charge so far.
Image: Affordables

Ad Space on Food Packaging: Which Products Is the Start-up Planning Next?

Later this year, a protein powder produced in Germany is set to hit the market. This sponsor – what the two founders call their business partners – has already been secured. Via their own online shop, they plan to offer the product at around 50 percent below the usual price. During the Christmas season, so-called “Noodle Cubes” will also be handed out to visitors at the world-famous Nuremberg Christkindlesmarkt, spreading a very own kind of "word-of-mouth" to local and international visitors alike.
A “Noodle Cube” filled with pasta and printed with advertising.

At Christmas, the team behind Affordables plans to launch their “Noodle Cubes” on the market.
Image: Affordables

The founders place particular emphasis on sustainability when it comes to packaging. “A Tetra Pak offers us four separate advertising spaces and is also an environmentally friendly solution,” explains Kossmann. His goal: ad space that doesn’t annoy but adds value. “TV ads irritate many people, posters go unnoticed, and social media can quickly become overwhelming. But if I receive a product as a gift, that leaves a positive impression. And the brand benefits from that in the long run.”

Kossmann hopes that major companies will soon take notice of this new advertising channel – and either expand on it or adopt it. As for the start-up itself, it aims to grow, launch new products, and establish a presence beyond the regional market.

Further information:
https://affordables.io

The Heads Behind Affordables

Max Wimmer (23) & David Kossmann (26)

Portrait of the two founders of Affordables.

The Two Minds Behind Affordables.
Image: Affordables

The two founders from the Bamberg area have known each other for almost ten years. They first met playing for the local football club SG Rossdorf am Forst: Kossmann was a defensive midfielder at the time, Wimmer a fast winger. Today, they divide responsibilities in their business venture as well: Wimmer, who studies Business Informatics at the University of Bamberg, handles creative processes, marketing, and customer acquisition. Kossmann, a master’s student in Media Management and Culture in Bayreuth, is in charge of strategy, finance, and legal matters. At Affordables, they are supported by two interns from the academic field.

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