How Nutella Is Using Custom Merch to Drive People to Its Stores

We admit that we laughed a bit upon learning that today is National Shower With a Friend Day, apparently, but we confess that we revised our shopping lists when reading that it's also World Nutella Day. We know there's always room for Jell-O, but everyone who can should make ample space for the hazelnut spread, as it is pure perfection. To honor the 12-year celebration, Nutella's Chicago and New York City stores made this morning quite memorable for aficionados, giving away personalized jars to 200 patrons, a move that could add another layer to the personalization phenomenon that could become a lasting element of the custom merch experience.

We here in Philadelphia have pride in abundance, so we don't normally envy anywhere or anyone, but we have fallen prey to that emotion since Chicago and New York are the lone cities to have parted with the freebies today. While we could certainly just decide to venture to either (or both!) before the day ends, we would bet that fellow fans of the spread have made the Nutella Cafes’ employees tired hires by now, as not only did they distribute the aforementioned individualized jars but also 800 additional complimentary containers to customers who purchased an item.

Happy #WorldNutellaDay! How are you celebrating and in which part of the world? Comment here with the name of your city! pic.twitter.com/lagiCTjJqm

— World Nutella Day (@nutelladay) February 5, 2019

In a society that often thrives on instant gratification, the notion by Nutella to mark its eponymous day with personalized jars for devotees speaks to companies’ growing awareness of consumers’ receptivity to putting their stamp on a product. The promotion has already generated considerable buzz on the internet, with a number of major sites picking up the story—a reminder of how important personalization and print-on-demand options have become, and how effective they can be. But it's also part of a larger strategy by Nutella, in which the brand has made its pair of flagship retail locations must-visit hubs for fans by offering a huge selection of other branded merchandise to go with the Nutella-based food options.

Ferrero, which makes Nutella and holds that 150 million families worldwide regularly dine on the spread for breakfast, could find itself handling requests for more opportunities to let patrons customize their purchases, and, given the global clout that the company has, we could see more such cafes appearing on the scene. As long as they, too, offer chances for guests to emblazon a jar with an individual reminder of the shopping experience, we would be happy to spread that news.

Looking ahead, we wonder what advances will come for the print-on-demand scene. While Nutella will have joined Disney by day’s end as a thriving practitioner of that customized practice, it will likely not last for long as the latest brand to do so. The possibilities for print-on-demand applications seem endless, and even though the idea of placing patrons’ names on Nutella bottles might sound novel, expect for other entities to be even more original in their attempts to have their goods forge lasting ties with consumers.