The archive · Product Ideas · Marketing decision · 2024–2025
Penny prints the price onto its packaging — 'Price Packs' wins Cannes Print Grand Prix
Germany's discount chain made the price itself the package design — an unbreakable promise of stable prices that sold 1.4M packs in 4 weeks.
PENNY (PENNY-Markt GmbH)
What it had to solve
German shoppers were struggling not only with rising food prices but with new strategies like dynamic pricing; PENNY wanted to prove its low prices were a permanent commitment, not a promotion, and that trust could be rebuilt at the shelf.
How it works
Inflation and the rise of dynamic pricing were eroding German shoppers' trust in grocery prices. Discount chain PENNY wanted a credible way to say its low prices were permanent, not a temporary promotion — a message that needed to land at the exact moment of decision: the shelf.
Serviceplan's idea was to make the price itself the design. PENNY's private-label packs were redesigned so the price dominated the package, and because packaging production takes months, the printed price became an irrevocable commitment to price stability. Placed next to competitors, the packs let shoppers spot the best value at a glance, backed by an equally reduced out-of-home campaign.
The results were immediate: 1.4 million products sold within four weeks, 94% positive customer feedback and 120M in earned media. The work won the Print & Publishing Grand Prix at Cannes Lions 2025 along with multiple Gold, Silver and Bronze Lions, D&AD Yellow Pencils, and was ranked the most awarded campaign of the year by AdForum's 2025 Business Creative Report — proving a simple packaging idea could travel around the world.
Why it lands
- The packaging's production lead time made the printed price a genuine, irrevocable commitment rather than a marketing claim.
- It answered a concrete anxiety (dynamic pricing) with a visible counter-signal at the exact decision point — the shelf.
- Shoppers could compare PENNY against competitors at a glance, so the design did the selling.
- The reduced visual language carried into OOH, turning a packaging idea into a coherent campaign.
What it did
1.4 million products sold in four weeks, 94% positive customer feedback and 120M earned media; the campaign took the 2025 Cannes Lions Print & Publishing Grand Prix plus 3 Gold, 3 Silver and 3 Bronze Lions, D&AD Yellow Pencils, and was ranked the most awarded campaign of 2025 by AdForum's Business Creative Report.
What you can take
Turn your core promise into a physical, unchangeable artifact — a price printed on packaging is a commitment no ad can match.
Since then
The temporary edition sold out in places and was expanded into a permanent brand line at PENNY. The campaign swept the awards circuit — Cannes Lions Print & Publishing Grand Prix, D&AD Yellow Pencils and a wide haul of other metals — and AdForum's 2025 Business Creative Report ranked it the most awarded campaign of the year.
Sources
- Cannes Lions 2025 Grand Prix Winners in Audio & Radio, Health & Wellness, Outdoor, Pharma, Print & Publishing, and the Grand Prix for Good
- PENNY – Price Packs
- Price Packs
- Adforum Business Creative Report: #1 most awarded campaign is Penny's Price Packs by Serviceplan
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