How to Run Seasonal Campaigns When Your Packaging Can’t Change

This guide covers how to set up seasonal campaigns, what campaigns work, and how to measure results plus real examples from brands already doing this.

Table of contents

1. What seasonal campaigns look like when packaging can’t change
2. Benefits of running seasonal campaigns without new packaging
3. Ways to run seasonal campaigns with the same packaging
4. Uniqode features that can power your seasonal campaigns
5. Steps t implement a seasonal campaign without changing packaging
6. Examples of seasonal campaigns with QR Codes
7. Enhance your seasonal campaigns with Uniqode

What seasonal campaigns look like when packaging can’t change

Brands no longer need to re-print their entire packaging or hire expensive designers to create seasonal or holiday-themed campaigns. You can absolutely run impactful seasonal campaigns even when the primary packaging must stay the same.

Your packaging can achieve everything a packaging that’s designed for seasonal campaigns can achieve, and much more. This includes repeat purchases, spreading brand awareness, and building brand loyalty.

In this scenario, your packaging acts as a digital gateway. The main element will be a dynamic QR Code.
Dynamic QR Codes link to destination content (such as webpages, videos, or forms), which can be updated anytime without altering or reprinting the code itself. Unlike static QR Codes with fixed data, they enable real-time tracking of scans (by location, device, and time) and customization for campaigns.

Customers scan this QR Code and are led into the holiday campaign experience.

For example, if you’re running a limited-time discount for the season, you can share a coupon QR Code within the packaging. Customers scan this to get a coupon code that they can use for their next purchase, thus driving repeat customers.

Similarly, you can create digital seasonal catalogs to highlight your best products of the season. Link this to a QR Code so that customers can view it.

According to a recent report by Uniqode, 79% of businesses have adopted dynamic QR Codes, resulting in better targeting and the ability to “tweak things on the fly without reprinting materials”

Here are some smart, practical options to use your existing packaging to run seasonal campaigns:

• Removable stickers on packs: “summer limited — try now.”
• Shelf talkers with the seasonal claim.
• Inserts: 1-page recipe or coupon card.
• Email, paid social creative update, and a featured homepage banner

Do you want to close your campaigns when the season is over? Dynamic QR Codes let you edit the content after it’s gone live. You don’t have to manually remove the QR Codes from the packaging. These tactics allow brands to stay agile, respond quickly to seasonal demand, and run high-impact campaigns without the cost or operational complexity of changing core packaging.

Benefits of running seasonal campaigns without new packaging

When QR Codes are in the picture, you can transform your static packaging into a bridge to your seasonal campaigns.

Re-printing packaging just for a particular season would cost brands a lot. And you also need to factor in changing the packaging when the season is over! Overall, you can reduce your costs to around 98% if you choose to run campaigns without altering the core packaging.

Speed is another major win. Re-designing, approving, and launching new packaging will also take a lot of time. Seasonal demands are often spontaneous, and you would need to get up and running quickly. Using QR Codes to make your packaging dynamic instead of re-printing will help you launch your seasonal campaigns faster and on time.

Less packaging means less waste. Your brand can take one more step towards sustainability by reducing new packaging.

Yes, you can be more creative with new holiday-themed packaging. What if you can be more creative with your existing one? Enhanced with dynamic digital experiences, your packaging can give smarter, more scalable seasonal campaigns.

Read more on how QR Codes are used in product packaging.

In fact, creative freedom often increases when brands move beyond physical packaging changes. With QR Codes, seasonal creativity is no longer limited by print timelines or on-pack space. Brands can experiment with interactive formats like limited-time landing pages, festive games, giveaways, recipes, styling ideas, or even region-specific campaigns—all unlocked from the same package.

Tracking abilities are another upside. With dynamic QR Codes, you can track how many people scanned, engaged, and converted. If a campaign underperforms, it can be optimized in real-time without wasting inventory.

Ways to run seasonal campaigns without changing packaging

Let’s look at the ways you can make the most of your existing packaging. Below are components you can add to your existing packaging, in-store space, and digital media to support your seasonal marketing initiatives. We’ve categorized the approaches into QR Code-based and others.

Share limited-time offers and discounts.

Festive seasons are a time when shoppers spend the most. And offering discounts are a great way to compel them to shop from your brand. It can also help get more repeat customers.
There are many ways you can promote a discount sale without changing your entire packaging. One way is to use inserts inside packs that have a QR Code. Customers can scan this to avail a discount coupon they can use for their next purchase.

You can place the QR Code on your packaging, in-store banners, or on social media posts. In a survey, Uniqode found during Black Friday/Cyber Monday season that 53% of QR Code engagements came from in-store displays (shelf talkers, signage), and 30–36% from digital channels like social media and website ads. So, make sure that you use QR Codes in different channels for your holiday campaigns.

Engage customers with a game or contest

A great way to make your current packaging interactive is by using a QR Code that leads to a game or contest. You can place a simple sticker or use a packaging insert like a card. Scanners will be redirected to a website where they can play an interactive festive-themed game.

You can offer winners a coupon code, a free product, or a festive-themed gift with their next order, getting more sales.

Enhance post-purchase experience

Keep the festive spirit alive even after the purchase by using QR Codes on receipts or packaging to share a festive-themed extra element. Some examples are personalized thank-you notes, gift guides, or a holiday-themed playlist. Get creative and plan an experience that matches your brand image.
For example, a brand that sells cookie dough can share Christmas recipes during the season. Lifestyle brands can create gift guides for different personalities and share QR Codes that lead to them in-store or on social media posts.

To know about how you can use QR Codes for Christmas campaigns, read this blog.

Other QR Code strategies for your holiday campaigns:

• QR Code stickers on packs linking to seasonal landing pages
• AR experiences, playlists, or exclusive content unlocked via QR Codes.
• Digital-first overlays: QR Codes lead to a microsite that drives email/SMS capture and personalised follow-ups.
• Collectables inside packaging
• UGC prompts

Other strategies:

• Removable stickers with promotional copy.
• Shelf talkers, gondola toppers and endcap displays.
• Slip-sleeves or secondary gift wraps that slide over existing packs.
• In-store sampling, demos and pop-ups.
• Limited-time bundle SKUs, co-branded gift boxes and short-run secondary packaging.
• Display units and traditional POS media

For the biggest impact, pair QR Code-driven content with tactile in-store elements so that shoppers get a cohesive, memorable experience.

Uniqode features that can power your seasonal campaigns

As a QR Code platform, Uniqode can be at the centre of your seasonal marketing efforts. It’s not just a tool to create QR Codes. You can customize them, create landing pages, track performance, and optimize your campaigns. Here are the top features Uniqode offers that will help you run a successful seasonal campaign with the same packaging:

• Dynamic QR Codes: A dynamic code lets you change the destination URL or content after the code is printed. That means the same code on your packaging can point to a Halloween landing page in October, a Black Friday offer in November, and a New Year gift guide in January — all without reprinting.
• Track performance: Built-in analytics measure scans over time, by location, device, source and campaign. Those metrics tell you which seasonal messages are converting, which regions are most engaged, and what channels drove the most scans.
• Smart Rules: Smart rules let you route scanners conditionally: by geolocation, time/date, language, device type, or referrer. The same QR Code shows content in different languages based on the location of the scanner’s device. Time-based rules also let you schedule when a seasonal page goes live or expires (e.g., enable a winter sale landing page automatically from Dec 1–Jan 5).
• Linkpages: Linkpages are compact, branded microsites (think: a multi-link landing page) you can update instantly. For seasonal packaging, use a Linkpage to surface product highlights, videos, downloadable coupons, store locators, social UGC and CTAs in one place.

Steps to implement seasonal campaigns without changing packaging

Here are four tactical steps to start running a seasonal campaign with the help of QR Codes:

Step 1: Choose an objective and an event

To measure the effectiveness of your campaign, set a clear objective. Some common goals for holiday campaigns include boosting brand awareness, get repeat customers, referrals, and collecting User Generated Content (UGC).

Setting clear goals will also help you decide which events to create and optimize them.

When it comes to choosing an event for your seasonal campaign, there are many creative options. Refer to the above section to get detailed ideas. Here are some events that can be promoted with the help of your packaging:

• Limited-time discount coupons
• Incentive to create UGC content
• Buy-one-get-one or bundle upsell
• Limited-edition products
• Scratch and reveal (digital scratchcard)
• Refer-a-friend rewards
• Seasonal-themed games
• Seasonal recipes

Step 2: Map the customer journey

The next step is to decide what scanning should lead to. This can be a promo landing page, a multi-link microsite, a video, a store locator, a coupon, or a product bundle.