Ace's "Breadblox": My Favorite Brand Marketing Thing This Week
I’ll be honest. I’d never heard of ACE Bakery before this week. For those who might be in the same boat, it’s a Canadian bakery that started in Ontario in 1993 and now has multiple locations, in addition to selling its artisanal baked wares through grocery and retail food locations. You can read more about them here (sounds like a nice story).
Their origins, though, have nothing to do with why I’m writing about them today. Instead, I want to shout them out as my favorite marketing thing this week. I’ve recently broken down PR/comms/marketing wins (IMHO) from IKEA, Pringles and PBR. All cool, consumer brand activations. All clever. All fun. ACE’s Breadblox, though, takes the uhhh….cake? It checks all the boxes and then more. So, WTF is it? Take a look.
PHOTO: Ace Breadblox.com
What??? Not getting it yet? Looks like a regular old, bread box. Riiiiight? Au contraire mon frère. This is brilliance in disguise. Let’s “unbox” it a bit more through images, shall we?
What about now? Yes, yes and yes. More from AdAge.com.
Created by Toronto agency Mosaic, the "Breadblox" is described by the company as a "modern take on the bread box" that not only blocks the phone signal but hides the phone completely. It was designed with an “out of sight out of mind” mentality, allowing users to choose to put away their phones and know that they won’t be missing anything.
The $39.95 bamboo and glass polymer box can be bought online (the original run of 50 is already sold out, but Ace is planning a second run). It has room for seven phones and comes with a bamboo cutting board. To emphasizes its benefits, it comes in packaging featuring a design of a soundwave being silenced.
"We often say that meals are sacred times to bond with those we care about, but as we’ve seen these moments are often disrupted by our device’s distractions." explains Ace Bakery’s senior brand Manager Rachel Leung. "It’s not even enough to flip our phones over anymore – it’s been proven that the mere presence of our phones causes us to not be present.”
Just. F-in. Great. This one that taps into all the things for me.
Grabs onto something cultural. CHECK.
The reality of phone distractions invading everything, including family meals, is super-real. The value of the at-home dinner and “breaking bread” with family and friends is meaningful and has all sorts proven benefits. Nevertheless, it’s becoming less and less common, and our phones are doing nothing to help the situation.
Logical connection to brand. CHECK.
At Ace, they make bread for meals. They want those meals to be shared with family and friends. They believe their food enhances those moments. They don’t believe technology should get in the way of those experiences.
Product/innovation. STRONG CHECK.
The Breadblox. New product. Unexpected. And beautifully-designed to boot. Oh yea, and with its cutting board functionality, it can assist you with your delicious, Ace Bakery bread!
Limited Edition/Call-to-Action. CHECK.
Sure, everyone sees through the “SOLD OUT” thing at this point (heck, they made 50 of them). Still, it’s a smart tactic and gives media and folks on social a reason to talk about it now. And, do you think it’s coincidence that it all is happening now as we head into the holiday season?
Ace Bakery, aces all on around on this one.