20 PW OCT2021
THE BIG PICTURE
By Sterling Anthony, CPP, Contributing Editor
Best Practices for Undertaking Package Redesign warranted, and if yes, the form it should take (graphic, structural, Every package redesign is a gamble, but the odds for a favorable or both). It’s easier to achieve consensus when vested parties outcome are enhanced by following best practices. Unlike lists of believe that decisions are supported by the numbers. While it’s misguided reasons and good reasons for package redesigns, sequence fair to argue against an unquestioning reliance on analytics, even matters with this list of best practices because they are step-wise. more detrimental would be such reliance on going with one’s gut (a Have the support of top management. That’s not to suggest common cause of corporate indigestion.) that top management should be directly involved in package Compose a redesign brief that’s comprehensive but concise. redesign. Support should take the form of making it clear throughout Every package redesign project has to its advantage a history, the company that packaging is a strategic tool and a source of compiled by the present design. The redesign brief must retain the competitive advantage. As a logical consequence, package redesign features valued by the target consumers, while incorporating revisions receives the same recognition. Of the various ways to demonstrate for overall improvement. The approach favors incremental changes. support, none are more convincing than giving packaging a position On the other hand, a major overhaul would suggest that there was on the organization chart reflective of its prowess. something fundamentally deficient about the process that produced Have a realistic packaging philosophy. At the core of this best the present design. A redesign brief should practice is understanding what packaging be of exacting detail, regardless of whether can and can’t do. Without that distinction, While it’s fair to argue against the redesign alternatives are generated by package redesign can be undertaken for an unquestioning reliance on an outside agency or in-house. the wrong reasons and with the wrong analytics, even more detrimental Conduct streamlined evaluations. expectations. Packaging’s capabilities are When the redesign is not done in-house, limited to these functions: containment, would be such reliance on invite several design agencies to present protection, communication, convenience, going with one’s gut (a common their credentials. Vet them down to one. and utility. The functions don’t only apply to consumers, but to partners throughout cause of corporate indigestion). Have that agency come up with several redesign alternatives. There’s no need to the supply chain. A package redesign is get inundated with alternatives, thinking that among them will be misguided if it will not improve one or more of those functions. the perfect redesign. Perfection is as mythical as are unicorns—except Take an interdisciplinary approach. Marketing is not the only one would certainly recognize a unicorn, if ever encountered. discipline with a vested interest in package design. Others include Conduct streamlined testing. Rather than pursuing perfection, sales, line operations, distribution, legal, and purchasing—just to the pursuit should be for a redesign that does not embody a major name a few. The various interests can conflict, requiring compromises error. Examples of such an error might be consumer confusion about and trade-offs for an optimal net result. No discipline should have product category, or colors that have negative connotations relative to carte blanche authority. An advisable alternative is a committee, its the product category. Qualitative and quantitative tests are numerous, members representing the various vested interests, and headed by and a company should not get bogged down with an unwieldy battery someone with a packaging-related title. of them. Limit testing to a few methodologies, chosen for what they Have effective channels of communication and information. purport to measure. Indicators that might warrant a package redesign can be numerous Document in detail. The need for a package redesign should not and dispersed. Effectively funneling them requires monitoring come down the pike often, at least not for the same product. That, in relevant environments, tapping relevant informational sources, and itself, is reason to document each instance. What’s to be avoided is conveying what’s learned to the right parties. The objective is to reliance on the recall of past participants (who may have moved on, convert information into intelligence and to make that intelligence anyway.) Another benefit accrues to companies with multiple brands actionable. The network should not be more complex than needed; or different products under the same brand. There’s no need to start however, in all cases, what’s needed is more than just a 1-800 from zero, procedurally, with every redesign project. Lastly, detailed consumer feedback line. documentation provides a basis for grading how well a project was Make data-driven decisions. All the preceding practices will managed, and therefore, a basis for improving the process. PW facilitate making the fundamental decisions: whether a redesign is
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