Last year, Australian shoppers were bombarded with supermarket collectibles as Coles and Woolworths tried their best to outperform each other with concurrent campaigns.
But despite suggestions that consumers might be suffering from collectibles fatigue and Coles CEO Steven Cain previously indicating a move away from such programs, the retailer is not ready to ditch them just yet.
Coles’ Stikeez collectibles make their return to stores on Wednesday, this time with a more sustainable approach.
The miniature fruit and veg toys copped plenty of backlash in the previous campaign over the unnecessary use of plastic. Careful not to repeat the mistakes of the past, the new range is fully recyclable.
All Coles supermarkets will offer recycling points through which the items can be repurposed into other products such as anti-fatigue mats for use in stores.
The collectibles campaign, which is designed to encourage healthy eating in kids, also includes a new program to help promote a balanced diet.
The Fresh 5 Challenge encourages kids to eat from all five food groups daily through a reward system. The range includes 24 new characters and has expanded into other food groups like dairy, proteins and grains.
According to Coles’ chief marketing officer, Lisa Ronson, 31 per cent of customers who collected the first Stikeez range increased their purchases of fruit and veg and 50 per cent bought a wider variety of fresh produce.
“Kids who had never touched broccoli or tasted a fresh tomato found it fun to challenge themselves to eat foods of all colours of the rainbow,” Ronson said.
“We wanted to bring Stikeez and a healthy eating initiative back but in a more sustainable way. Customers can now return any duplicate, old and spare Stikeez back to Coles supermarkets to be recycled. They’re also wrapped in responsibly sourced paper that’s fully recyclable in kerbside recycling bins at home.”
As with previous campaigns, consumers can redeem one Stikeez with every $30 spent at Coles Supermarkets, Coles Express and Coles Online.
Coles is also selling further Stikeez merchandise including collector cases and tins as well as kids’ plates, bowls, tumblers and drink bottles.
