The high ROI of package design
What is investment in package design worth to your brand? More than almost anything else, suggests research by the Design Value Project of the Design Management Institute.1,2 Packaging is just one touchpoint many brands have with consumers, but it’s often the most significant for CPG brands given its role in influencing consumer decisions at the point of purchase.
Quantifying the ROI of individual redesigns can be a challenge—many other factors are often changing at the same time. But it is not impossible and the studies that isolate the effect of packaging show it to be the single most effective marketing effort in which to put your resources.
Of course, any redesign needs to be done right. That means ensuring that your redesign comes at the right time; fixes something that wasn’t working or adds to the original packaging rather than change for its own sake; keeps your brand’s core identity obvious and identifiable; and balances continuity with change.
Package design can influence consumers at the point of purchase
The first step to any package redesign is consumer-driven research: What works about your current packaging, and what doesn’t? Clarity on the real issue to be solved is crucial—for example shelf visibility is a very different problem to solve than shopability or sub-brand differentiation. You also have to consider how a redesign looks both on the shelf and at home, and be clear on existing brand equities that should absolutely be retained.
A thoughtful package redesign offers a tremendous and quantifiable payoff, and is absolutely worth time, attention and resources if done right. As you consider your marketing strategy going forward, how will you balance continuity with change in your packaging design?