One of the paradoxes of our high-tech world is the
humble cardboard box. Most end their life being
dutifully placed in the recycling bin. But savvy
mass-market brands (Apple, Target, Beats head-
phones) have turned the boxes that contain their products
into objects of desire and fascination in their own right by
investing in package design, thereby reinforcing their brands
along the way.You don’t have to be a corporate behemoth to achieve this
effect, however. Case in point: Thelma’s Treats, a bakery that
delivers warm, fresh-baked cookies in Des Moines, Iowa.
When Dereck Lewis founded the business in 2012, he didn’t
have a big marketing budget. So he decided to invest in a
memorable packaging experience. “We were brainstorming,
and we said, ‘What would be the most logical shape for a box
of warm cookies?’ ” Lewis recalls. “And it was obvious: Duh!
An oven!”
That was the genesis of what became known as the oven
box, a simple but clever oven-themed package that allows
Lewis’s customers to slide two-dozen cookies out of the
box , just li ke g ra nd ma remov ing t hem f rom a n oven. It was
an immediate hit and has become the key component of the
Thelma’s Treats brand experience.“When someone mentions us, people say, ‘Oh, right, the
people with those oven boxes,’ ” Lewis says. “They might not
even remember our name, but they know the box. The key
thing is that it opens from the front, not the top, so you get
that enjoyment of sliding out the tray of cookies.”
Lewis’s brainstorming partner was designer Brian Sauer,
who at the time ran an advertising-and-branding agency
called Saturday Mfg. “When you’re selling a product, the
product’s got to be good, but the brand’s got to be great,” Sauer
says. “We knew we could accomplish that with this package.”
Sauer gave the box some oven- and stove-themed graphics,
devised a slot-and-tab design that provided the necessary
functionality without the need for adhesives, and then worked
with the packaging manufacturer xpedx (now part of Veritiv)
to create prototypes. After he and Lewis hit upon a cardboard
stock that was lightweight yet sturdy, the box was ready to go.STRIKING THE SWEET SPOT
Eight years later, the oven box is now trademarked, has been
featured in packaging exhibitions around the world, and is
still going strong. Lewis says he goes through about 4,000
of them per year, ordering about six months’ worth at a time
from the Des Moines
firm PDS Packaging. He
estimates that the boxes
cost 30 to 40 percent
more than an off-the-
shelf model, but the ROI
more t ha n ma kes up for
that. “A lot of people tell
us their kids use them in
their toy kitchens, and
some people e ven use
them to serve their own cookies to friends, so that really rein-
forces our brand,” he says. “It’s pretty wild that this idea that
seems so simple to us—that warm cookies should come out of
an oven—had never been done before.”
One reason for the oven box’s success may be that it hits the
sweet spot between the digital and analog worlds. “Packaging,
e ven t hough it’s a n old-school med iu m, is still rea lly rele va nt,
especially if it looks good on Instagram,” Lewis says. “It’s a
great way of conveying your brand message.”
Sauer agrees. “Something lovingly made, that’s both tactile
and photogenic, can still have great appeal,” he says. Still, even
he’s surprised by how popular the oven box has been. “I was
simply trying to solve a business problem. I never thought it
would have such an impact. It’s definitely a highlight of my
career—if not the highlight—and that’s very satisfying.”How a cardboard box
became marketing magic
CRE ATED BY FASTCO WORKS CONTENT STUDIO AND COMMISSIONED BYTHELMA’S TREATS DELIVERS ITS BAKED GOODS FRESH FROM THE “OVEN”
“ WHAT WOULD BE
THE MOST LOGICAL
SHAPE FOR A BOX
OF WARM COOKIES?
DUH! AN OVEN!"