The holiday season is one of the most emotionally charged and commercially significant moments of the year. For brands, it is an opportunity to elevate the ordinary into the memorable by transforming everyday products into festive beacons that signal joy, nostalgia, celebration, and togetherness. Seasonal packaging becomes a powerful behavioral tool that cues gifting, triggers impulse purchases, and reinforces brand connection at the exact moment shoppers are ready to buy.
At Behaviorally, the PackPower Awards celebrate packaging that blends creativity with performance. Powered by the PackPower Score™, the industry’s leading behavioral benchmark for predicting a pack’s ability to drive sales in-market, these awards honor designs that combine emotional resonance, clarity, and conversion power.
This Holiday Edition highlights 12 seasonal packaging designs that captured shopper attention and converted it into buying behavior. Together, these packs demonstrate how brands use festive cues while remaining true to the equities that make them recognizable.
The 2025 PackPower Awards: Holiday Edition
This year’s winning designs show the impact of seasonal packaging across global markets. From beloved family treats to premium gifting assortments and celebratory beverages, each pack demonstrates how thoughtful design enhances brand perception and sparks shopper engagement during one of retail’s most competitive times.
Across categories and regions, the most effective packs share a common thread: each meets shopper needs across the behavioral stages of our 4S Framework:
Be Seen: They stand out amid crowded seasonal aisles.
Be Shoppable: They remain easy to interpret in busy, high-stress holiday environments.
Be Seductive: They create emotional engagement through nostalgia, warmth, or indulgence.
Be Selected: They remove barriers and reinforce reasons to choose, ultimately converting interest into purchase.
Additionally, each design strikes the right balance of Benefits and Barriers.
Benefits such as seasonal storytelling, gift-ready appeal, clear flavor communication, or premium cues motivate purchase.
Barriers such as clutter, unclear purpose, or weak brand recognition are minimized or eliminated.
Here are our 12 most effective Holiday packs:
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1. Galaxy Milk Chocolate Advent Calendar (Mars, Inc.) – A flowing ribbon shaped into a Christmas tree provides instant festive appeal and is easily seen at shelf, while Galaxy’s script maintains strong brand identity. Clear numbering and a clean layout support the ritual of daily treats and make the calendar feel premium and giftable. PackPower Score - 67 |
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2. Lindt Milk Chocolate Teddy (Lindt) – Lindt’s classic gold teddy becomes even more charming with a cozy holiday sweater and heart pendant. The friendly character shape and warm details make it a go-to stocking stuffer and impulse buy, being selected at shelf. PackPower Score - 65 |
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3. Milka Feine Kugeln Marzipan-Crème (Mondelēz) – Milka blends whimsical winter illustrations with its iconic purple color, creating quick visual recognition. The appetizing marzipan imagery signals indulgence, making this pack ideal for the benefits of holiday gifting and seasonal snacking. PackPower Score - 63 |
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4. Hershey’s Kisses Milk Chocolate Holiday Assortment (The Hershey Company) – Red, green, and silver foils cue the holiday season instantly being seen. The bright red background boosts visibility, while the classic Kiss silhouette delivers familiarity and makes the assortment perfect for baking, gifting, or sharing. PackPower Score - 62 |
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5. Coca-Cola Holiday Cans (The Coca-Cola Company) – Coca-Cola’s iconic Santa illustrations create strong emotional resonance and nostalgia. The bold red palette ensures quick recognition, and the collectible feel drives multi-pack purchase during holiday gatherings. PackPower Score - 58 |
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6. Sol de Janeiro Spritz the Season Cheirosa Perfume Mist Gift Set (L’Occitane Group) – Vibrant colors and Sol de Janeiro’s signature numbered bottles make this set stand out as a cheerful, ready-to-gift option. The playful palette communicates warmth and celebration while keeping brand equities front and center. PackPower Score - 58 |
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7. Kinder Mini Friends (Ferrero) – An adorable penguin character and snowy scene instantly attract families. The gift-box style window showcases the chocolates inside, reinforcing transparency and freshness while amplifying seasonal excitement. PackPower Score - 57 |
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8. Favorite Day Hanukkah Cookie Kit (Target) – Bright blue borders and themed cookie shapes clearly signal Hanukkah. The included decorating tools and finished-cookie imagery show value and inspire families to create festive treats together. PackPower Score - 54 |
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9. Godiva Christmas Tree Tin (pladis) – The tree-shape and intricate details position this pack as a premium, keepsake-worthy gift linking to being seductive. The festive red base and elegant ornaments elevate perceived value and strengthen gifting appeal. PackPower Score - 53 |
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10. BuzzBallz Chillers Holiday Nog (Sazerac) – A holiday-sweater motif paired with the brand’s ornament-like round shape creates immediate festive impact. The design is playful, bold, and perfect for impulse pickup in seasonal beverage displays. PackPower Score - 53 |
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11. Dove Gifts Chocolate Assortment (Unilever) – Jewel-toned wrappers and gold accents create a polished, gift-ready look. The assortment communicates variety effectively and balances indulgence with approachability for the benefit of sharing and gifting occasions. PackPower Score - 53 |
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12. Richebel Brut Holiday Sparkle (Patriarche) – A rich red label decorated with gold filigree communicates celebration and sophistication. The refined aesthetic and subtle holiday icons make it an appealing choice for gifting or holiday toasts. PackPower Score - 51 |
What Makes an Effective Holiday Pack Design?
Holiday packaging must work harder than everyday design. The season brings crowded shelves, emotional shopping triggers, and heightened demand for products that feel special. The most successful holiday packs consistently excel in the following areas:
Immediate Seasonal Signal Without Losing Brand Identity: Effective holiday packs use clear festive cues such as color, symbols, and textures while still preserving the brand’s core assets. This combination helps shoppers instantly recognize both the season and the brand, reducing decision time.
Emotional Uplift and Memory Activation: Holiday purchases are emotion-driven. Designs that tap into joy, nostalgia, warmth, or tradition create stronger connections and influence choice more quickly. Simple seasonal storytelling often delivers the biggest impact.
Clear Purpose and Fast Communication: With crowded shelves and fast-moving shoppers, clarity is essential. Packs that clearly show flavor, form, assortment, or gifting purpose help shoppers make confident choices without effort.
Gifting Cues and Elevated Perceived Value: Premium finishes, shaped structures, and limited-edition elements increase perceived value and make products feel more gift-ready. These cues boost both impulse purchases and gifting suitability.
Balance of Novelty and Familiarity: Seasonal packs should feel fresh without losing brand recognition. The best designs introduce festive updates while keeping key brand elements consistent enough for quick identification.
In essence, seasonal packaging is more than decoration — it’s a behavioral trigger. The PackPower Score helps quantify that impact, predicting which designs are most likely to convert visibility into sales.
Why Seasonal Design Testing Matters
Holiday SKUs face unique challenges. They have short selling windows, high competition, and elevated shopper expectations. Because there is no second chance to correct a poor design, testing becomes essential for ensuring success.
Testing with the PackPower Score provides clear behavioral insight into how well a seasonal pack will perform in real shopping environments. It helps brands understand:
Which holiday cues best attract attention and signal seasonal relevance
Whether shoppers still recognize the brand quickly and confidently
Which elements improve or hinder communication clarity
How premium or giftable the design feels compared to alternatives
What drives impulse behavior and last-minute decision making
Which design version is most likely to convert in the moment of choice
With the PackPower Score, brands can optimize with precision rather than relying on instinct or tradition, ensuring every seasonal launch is grounded in behavioral science.
Make Your Holiday Pack a Winner
Holiday packaging is a powerful sales accelerator when executed well. Whether you are developing a festive wrap, a limited-edition SKU, a collector tin, or a seasonal gift set, Behaviorally can help ensure your design resonates emotionally, stands out visually, and drives purchase.
Test your Holiday 2025 designs with Behaviorally and use the PackPower Score to maximize your impact during the highest-stakes shopping season of the year. Contact us now to start testing today!
THE AUTHOR
Beyond the world of research, Morgan plays to win in all aspects of life. An extrovert who thrives on connection, she’s a Bon Appétit and New York Times recipe explorer, a wine enthusiast, and a dedicated fashion & beauty trend hunter.