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You’ve Got 20 Seconds Or Less to Live.

That is, your package design does. If that sounds melodramatic, think again. It’s true. Consumer product packaging exists in fast-changing retail channels loaded with competitive products and increasingly skittish shoppers, to boot.  

 When customers make purchase decisions, they’re spending anywhere from 10 to 20 seconds—that according to repeated surveys and research conducted by consumer behavior experts. Okay, so maybe in our currently contracting economy, they’re investing a couple seconds more to further assess their options. But ask yourself: is it any wonder so many products are getting lost and dying on retail shelves? 

So what is a package design consultant to do? I could tell you how important it is for us to collaborate closely with our clients, working to understand their industries and their categories; their business goals and brand strategies. All true. I could tell you how important it is to assess and leverage their brand assets in context of consumer brand perception. True. I could point out that a competitive survey of products within each category is crucial. Especially now.  

I might also point out that understanding how our evolving culture intersects the brand is crucial. Which demographic segments are loyal to the brand? What are these consumers’ attitudes and values now and how can brand packaging legitimately--without straying from its core--evolve with changing cultural values to remain fresh and relevant? 

Studies show that consumers ignore up to 2/3 of category products when they shop. That kind of statistic points to just how difficult it is to successfully package a new product or new line. It clearly demonstrates why so many products fail at retail. No matter how compelling consumer product marketing can be, the actual sale is made at the retail shelf. Packaging is the tangible representation of brand and product and if it fails to make an impression, it signifies numerous lost sales. 

Here’s the thing. We all know that for every packaging challenge, several viable solutions might present themselves. So how do we hone in on the one great solution, rather than a couple of good ones? How do we prove our value to manufacturers who are slashing budgets; who are loath to invest in “expensive” new product packaging? Or putting off revitalized packaging for products whose sales are beginning to go into decline? 

The first thing we need to do—gulp—is realize that great packaging is about selling first. Communication and persuasion is job #1. Not aesthetics. Package designers ooh and ahh over beautiful packaging, but remember: beauty is in the eye of the beholder. It’s subjective and each consumer responds differently to aesthetics.  

The Path to Innovation

In the world of structural innovation it is far easier to talk about innovating than it is to actually innovate. Large CPG companies are recognizing the need for structural packaging innovation but face many road blocks to actually implement it. The primary issue may very well be that their manufacturing assets are also their liabilities.  

The Need for Innovation

In today’s day and age, consumers expect more from their brands and product offerings. People’s lives are faster-paced and they need solutions to fit their lifestyles. Since consumers are increasingly faced with overload from more than 55,000 brands on shelf, compared to just 15,000 brands in 1991, companies are going to great lengths to vie for attention, provide brand value and create a competitive point of difference. Marketers are awakening to the potential for packaging to play a role in the marketing mix, beyond containment and display. Packaging has the ability to engage all of the senses due to its aesthetic, tangible and functional nature. For many products, packaging can be a lasting brand ambassador throughout the product’s use and create desirable and memorable brand experiences. Companies are now exploring how packaging can create new usage occasions and/or drive new product formulations.  

The Barriers to Innovation

Although there is the need and desire to innovate, many obstacles exist which may restrict success. One is the fact that structural innovation is not often done and most companies have limited or no experience with it. For many, their packaging is a common package form utilizing common equipment.  

Consequently, marketers are often challenged to innovate within unrealistic budgets and timelines. The realities of packaging equipment procurement, setup and qualification timelines are often not anticipated. It is expensive and time consuming to set up an efficient packaging line; sometimes this is much more extensive than product production equipment. It requires more factory space and more equipment so as to be able to form, fill, seal and pack. Unfortunately, many initiatives still place the emphasis and priority on product innovation, relegating the package options to off-the-shelf solutions or no solution at all. Adding to the complexity is the short tenure of brand marketers. It is often difficult or impossible to attain success when project leadership is constantly changing and/or short timelines are dictated by the need for success within ones’ term. These established tenures may work for product innovation but they don’t always work for packaging innovation. There is also lack of accurate predictors for packaging return on investment (ROI), making it difficult for companies to justify costs to upper management. New packaging is often implemented along with other marketing strategies making it difficult to measure its impact in isolation. Furthermore, forecast modeling based on use testing is often inaccurate as consumers may have no or limited context for evaluation. Often, long term packaging benefits aren’t understood and the deeper emotional connections aren’t manifested within the limited duration of a use test. Test markets may be the best way to predict ROI, but can only happen with manufactured products. Test markets can be time consuming, costly and are often not pursued out of fear of prematurely sharing your idea with the competition.  

Branding With Color: Does it Work?

I really like the approach of crafting a brand around color. Especially in a stripped-down way, with simple, bold and modern typography, like Chocolat Factory's packaging (designed by ruiz+company of Barcelona, Spain).

There is one catch, though. Built into this super-simple, stripped down approach is its primary flaw: it can be too simple to 'own'. This popular look, if applied without enough of a differentiating element that is unique to the brand, can be generic. Color blocking is a great solution for differentiating chocolate bar flavors, but something else has to be going on to create an 'ownable' design.

Below are some examples of chocolate brands that are predominantly using color + spare typography in their packaging. I think some of them rely too heavily on color and don't make their packaging distinctive enough from other chocolate brands, while others are doing better job. Can you tell the difference between brands well enough? Are the differences memorable enough so you'll know where to go back for your next chocolate fix? You be the judge!

The Sustainability Enigma

Are you thinking about stripping away material, or extending usefulness? 

The CPG industry is in the midst of a crash course education in sustainability, with the lion’s share of attention focusing on packaging. The reigning strategy of many brand owners appears to be centered on material use and selection, with three common approaches: source reduction, increased use of post-consumer recycled content and new bio-derived/degradable materials.  

These approaches can be effective at reducing waste. Take, for example, what Nestlé has done by reducing the gram weight of its PET water bottles. The brand was able to achieve an almost 30 percent reduction of the eco-footprint of the package and is now looking to include more recycled content as well. 

While this is a great example of a sustainable success story, it should also be considered in the context of future scalability. Source reduction has inherent limitations because, at its core, packaging must maintain specific technical requirements. In the case of the lightweighted PET bottle, it can only be taken so far before it loses the rigidity required for appropriate handling and stability. To focus entirely on material may result in designs that are at odds with packaging’s primary roles of effective product containment, durability and functionality.  

New Challenges Arise

This raises new challenges about how to approach the “greening” of your pack, and where to look for alternatives. One area to consider may be that of reusable and refillable packaging. It can be argued that if a product requires more robust packaging due to its unique characteristics, extending the use of that package beyond containment – and thus extending its life – could represent a compelling design strategy.  

Let’s look at a typical household product, like window cleaner. The need for effective product application has created a durable, multi-component trigger spray pump mechanism, the usability of which can certainly exceed the short lifespan of a single bottle. The vessel is made of a durable rigid material that was manufactured to resist atmospheric pressures and top load, and thus is able to live beyond the volume of product it contains.  

Recently, we’ve seen several innovations in this category. Wonder Tablitz created a spray bottle with an integrated compartment that contains three dissolvable tablets of cleaning concentrate. The bottle can be used over and over again by simply placing a tablet inside and filling the bottle with water from the tap. Once the tablets are used, the user can purchase more without ever having to purchase an additional bottle or sprayer.  

A similar strategy directed Reckitt Benckisers’ new line of Glass Plus cleaning products. Here, dissolvable pouches of concentrate are sold in two-packs. The pouches can be dropped in an empty spray bottle, which is filled with warm water to create 32oz of Glass Plus surface cleaner.  

Digging deeper, we find that there are refill/reuse strategies at play in other areas as well. Restore Products, a Minnesota-based manufacturer of ecological cleaning products for residential and commercial use, has developed an automated refilling station for retail stores. The station recognizes encoded Restore brand bottles and refills them with one of five different cleaning products. Restore’s stations have extended their initial Minnesota territory to include stores in neighboring Wisconsin, Illinois and Iowa and have been picked up by several Whole Foods stores in the region.  

At Petco, cat litter is sold in typical large plastic pails, but can be refilled in-store from a large hopper. The pet supply retailer recognized that these packs had value in their durability that could be easily extended if a refill option were made available.  

But refill programs can be rife with complications and are only appropriate for certain types of products. Many of us are familiar with the bulk dry goods hoppers at stores like Whole Foods. At first glance, this seems like a pretty straightforward offering that reduces packaging to a minimum. But retailers claim that these hopper systems can incur additional costs due to a higher rate of product loss from spoilage and spilling. Those who have invited consumers to bring in their own packaging have run up against health code regulations, which are intended to protect store environments from outside contamination.  

Regardless of the approach, there is a measurable synergy between reusable/refillable packaging and consumer mindset and behaviors. A recent study conducted through the DEFRA Waste and Resources Research Programme in the UK traced and tested the correlation between refill packaging and the consumer’s need for value and convenience. The study maintained that, while current examples are few and far between, there is certainly opportunity for growth, just so long as baseline convenience is preserved.  

New developments in cosmetic and personal product refills have already begun popping up and other markets are being explored as well.  

One Great Name is Worth 100,000 Words

Your name is the brand asset that travels social spheres, appears in conversation, shows up on a package, signage and will likely be uttered from the lips of your CEO. How important is your name? Find something else this central to your brand strategy. Find something else that permeates everything you do. A name is so valuable, yet anyone can identify a word/phrase and register it with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Seems simple, doesn’t it?

If you’ve tried to name yourself, you know the pain of discovering your “brilliant” name is already registered. Then, you start compromising with names that are not memorable or relevant to the brand strategy you’ve defined because you’re getting desperate. After way too many hours and too much stress for what seems like such a simple task, you identify a name. Just before you sign the USPTO office paper work, you wonder: are there professionals who do this for a living? Heck, yes!


If you think naming is merely a process that starts with brainstorming words and ends with picking one and asking for legal clearance, you’ve not had a real naming experience. While pointing out all the pitfalls of doing it yourself would encompass many blog posts, we’ll start with the basics. Naming professionals use criteria to filter through the debris until they find the right name.

Here are the four ironclad criteria that naming professionals follow:

Cutting Packaging Down to Size

Smaller, lighter packaging generally raises red flags with consumers. It usually signals they’re getting less product for their money instead of the steady, insidious price hikes which always cause consternation, especially in a down economy. But that isn’t always the case nowadays.

Consumer product manufacturers, faced with several dilemmas, have steadily worked to cut down on extraneous packaging for very good reasons. With the rise in raw materials, energy, manufacturing and transportation costs, coupled with the meteoric rise in environmental consciousness, they’ve been consistently cutting down on packaging.

Wal-Mart’s introduction of a “Packaging Scorecard” a couple of years ago, applied considerable pressure from the world’s largest retailer to over 66,000 suppliers to reduce packaging. The retailer promised to become “packaging neutral” by 2025. No small feat. It does signify Wal-Mart’s commitment to virtually having all the packaging that flows through its distribution chain recyclable, reusable and compostable by 2025. The impact of this decision has had profound ramifications in the entire consumer product industry.

The effect of all of these factors combined: a classic case of push-pull. Slowly, but surely, manufacturers are becoming more environmentally focused and making significant strides in reducing packaging. Examples abound in the marketplace. Procter & Gamble’s rigid tubes of Crest toothpaste now stand on retail shelves sans boxes. General Mills reduced Hamburger Helper packaging by 20%, saving materials and an estimated 500 product distribution truckloads. Kraft’s Crystal Light new PET bottles cut about 18% of packaging weight, saving an estimated 8.7 million pounds of plastic.

Stonyfield Farm’s initiative, switching from #2 plastic cups to #5 thermoform plastic cups for its yogurts, reduced its overall packaging by 17% thanks to the thinner-walled #5 cups. The #5 cups are not recyclable as the #2 cups were, but in true Stonyfield Farm fashion, the company is working with TerraCycle to repurpose used yogurt cups to repackage new consumer products.

Nestle Waters North America saved 20 million pounds of paper over a five year period by simply designing narrower labels on its popular regional water brands, including Poland Spring and Deer Park. Coca-Cola has announced it will cut the amount of plastic in its Dasani water packaging by 7% merely by redesigning the shape of the bottles.

In a recent move, Kellogg’s announced that it would test shorter, fatter cereal boxes in its Detroit market, representing the company’s biggest packaging change since the 1950’s. This is big news. The footprint of cereal packaging hasn’t much changed in decades. If this experiment is well-received, it will no doubt have ramifications throughout the entire spectrum of the consumer product industry; including non-food companies. Significant changes to consumer staples like cereal are bound to be immediately visible; a source of instant conversation and debate.

Kellogg’s is touting the company’s commitment to innovative thinking, responsiveness to its retail partners, consumers’ environmental concerns. However, there can be little doubt that an 8% decrease in packaging materials has its own advantages. Cost savings that go right to the bottom line. The perception of a greener footprint. Taking a lead marketing position in a highly competitive category. All good—if it works according to plan.

On the face of it, retailers ought to embrace the shorter packaging because they can move shelves closer together and offer more product in the same footage. Consumers ought to love the new packaging since it will fit far better on their pantry shelves. The potential hitch: after decades of consumers being educated that smaller packaging equates to less product, it’s going to take time to reeducate consumers that in the case of greener packaging, it isn’t necessarily so.

Recession Proof Packaging Strategies

Today, as we look to our new administration to right the economic wrongs, our focus has shifted dramatically.  As a nation, we have been obsessing over the economy, specifically trying to understand consumers’ spending habits in this environment. Companies and retailers alike are focusing on how to survive in these unprecedented conditions.  These difficult economic times call for smart thinking from our industry leaders as we strategize on how to protect brands from the effects of the recession with long-term packaging solutions.  Short-sightedness has no place in the packaging industry in today’s economic climate if we are to survive. 

 The Value of Packaging:

Consumers have become skeptical of traditional advertising campaigns that make false promises and unrealistic claims. The enormous diversity of media outlets today also adds to the fragmentation and ineffectiveness of traditional advertising.  This fragmentation reduces the potential to reach large numbers of consumers, and the Wall Street Journal points out that “the $138 billion dollar advertising industry seems unprepared for an interactive future.” 

As a consequence, some companies have shifted their marketing budgets away from advertising and are finding package design to be a far more efficient use of their dollars and a more successful means of connecting directly with the consumer.  Packaging has come a long way in recent decades – evolving from generic cost-driven formats to the highly differentiated value-added brand ambassador it is today.

In the current economic environment, there’s a need for brand building that’s right for the times and acknowledges consumers’ interactive experience with the package itself.  This ability for packaging to double as “visual advertising” has always been one of its primary strengths, particularly as shoppers are far more cautious with their spending.  For many brands, the package provides the tangible point-of-difference from one product offering to another, particularly when there is no perceptible difference. 

Vitality of the Pack: A new framework to maximize the multifaceted nature of packaging.

Packaging plays an important role in the lives of consumers, business and the planet. It’s called upon to protect, preserve, present and deliver the product; to delight the consumer; and ultimately, to do no harm to the world we live in. So how can we effectively leverage this important piece of the marketing mix that, for so many years, has been underleveraged or misunderstood? 

From Containment And Beyond

To begin, we need a better framework for understanding the discipline. The history of packaging begins with the need for containment. Many of the products we enjoy today would not exist without the preservation that packaging affords. Crops would rot in the fields and medicine would not reach the masses. Over the years, entire markets began to develop around certain types of products, and with this came competition. Multiple offerings at the shelf fueled the need for packaging to evolve from its primary role of simply keeping things fresh to actively aiding brands in the communication of the product.  

Despite the growing complexity of packaging’s role, for many products and for many years, packaging has only leveraged these same two principles: containment and display.  

This has much to do with the nature of the industry that grew to support the packaging boom of the last half-century. With roots in heavy manufacturing, the packaging sector developed under guiding principles of speed and efficiency. This meant that the focus was on standardizing equipment, optimizing materials and driving out costs. For many companies, the margins that their brands enjoy are derived from the low cost of packaging.  

So what about the brand experience? In some cases, that experience is less than adequate. The cereal bag-in-box doesn’t reseal or tell you how much of the product is left. The 40lb bag of dog food is difficult to transport, dispense and often won’t reseal. Before it can offer you relief, the pain reliever bottle first requires you to throw away the outer box, struggle to defeat the child-proof closure and remove the cotton ball within.  

With competition reaching bewildering levels and many forms of advertising losing their effectiveness, the brand experience afforded by packaging can no longer be ignored.  

At the same time, new challenges have emerged for the traditional brand owner. Store brands are becoming more sophisticated, creating unforeseen competition on the shelf. Supply chain logistics have grown increasingly complex, requiring even broader handling and containment requirements for goods. And we are now awakening to packaging’s impact on our planet, which will continue to have profound influence on our future decisions.