Packaging: Update or Overhaul?

Packaging: When do you just give it a tweak? And when is it time to go for a total refresh?

Is it time for a packaging overhaul? Or maybe something more akin to an update? The answer is not always straightforward. And, as we’ll detail a bit here, even the corporate giants sometimes take a misstep in one direction or the other. More often than not, it’s a highly strategic decision.

In some cases, old packaging may simply feel dated. If the product still functions the same, is a recognizable mark and sales are steady, a refresh may be the answer. What if the product’s sales are suffering and the packaging is no longer in sync with its consumer (“We used to sell only to women!”), or product (“Our bags are now all made of aircraft aluminum, not fake leather!”) or placement (“We are now 100% digital, online sales.”)? These scenarios may call for something a little more strategic and thoughtful – a revamp!

How Tide Stayed Current and True to Its Roots

Tide, a mainstay for venerable Procter & Gamble’s lineup of recognized brands, probably fits in the former category. Its detergent powder box was unique for its time, with the sunshine-y orange bullseye design bringing light to a somewhat dreary task – that of washing clothes. In many ways, the appearance of the packaging has changed little over the years. A few things to consider as to why that might be:

• Context: In many ways, the shelf at the grocery/supermarket/club store hasn’t changed that much.
• Task: The task of washing clothes is not terribly different now from what it was 80 years ago.
• Product: Pods, liquids and other variations aside, the powdered detergent is still pretty similar today to what it was 80 years ago.
• Brand: The orange concentric circles stood out on the shelf from day one. It didn’t hurt that Tide invested heavily in daytime soap opera advertising and that this miracle product came about at almost the same time as top-loading, agitating washing machines. The Tide brand identity, over the years, has become almost synonymous with the task itself.
• People: People are loyal. Or creatures of habit. Actually, a bit of both. And studies show the grocery is one destination where the creative brain sometimes takes a break and we go with what is familiar.

That last point is a good segue into the question of when is it a good time (or could be a good time) for a change?

Tropicana’s Packaging Disaster

For Tropicana orange juice, that question was probably answered by market conditions. Though most “Monday morning quarterbacking” and analysis of 2009’s packaging disaster focuses strictly on what went wrong, it can be inferred that it is a competitive category with the likes of Minute Maid, Florida’s Natural and store brands all vying for a share of the pie. We can also assume that other drinks and morning routines – coffee, energy/meal replacement, and the like – cut into Tropicana’s profits. So, there were probably perfectly logical reasons to explore the idea.

Regardless of the exact motivation to change the packaging, change they did. And the results were a bit shocking. A slight dip that could be expected as shoppers adjusted was actually a deep 20% sales trough that was simply too much to take. So, as quickly as the modern, clean and ‘different’ packaging showed up on shelves, it was replaced with the old packaging. So what went wrong? Marketers and brand managers associated with the product cited a few possibilities or nuggets gleaned from research and/or experience.

• People had more of an emotional bond to the existing brand than what Tropicana management had perceived. The look, feel and familiar trappings mattered.
• The sleek, modern look and san serif fonts (now seen in Google and Verizon) were too ‘generic’ at a glance – “It feels like a store brand.”
• It wasn’t recognizable. People grabbed for the one that felt familiar. The new Tropicana wasn’t that.
• It may not have been necessary. “Don’t change my juice, man! I like it as is.”

And the list goes on as a search for the guilty party(ies) was performed. It might have just been too much at once. Or perhaps they could have benefitted from prototyping. There was definitely good thinking in the campaign built around the change, but time, consumer tastes and retailer patience didn’t allow for it to play out. Food for thought. Whether you’re more Tide or Tropicana, you might be right. It’s worthwhile to know that mistakes can happen, non-decisions can look brilliant in retrospect and that a brand has value – and that packaging can be a big part of that value.

One thing we at BoxUp know, is that with low minimums and an easy-to-use design platform, the opportunity exists to test things out. Yay for Prototypes! Create.

Worksheet

How do you know whether it’s time to change? Some questions that might act as a ‘filter’ for you and the box that is such a big part of your brand identity

You could set this up as a grid with checkboxes. If you have a lot of checks that things have changed, that may be an indicator that it’s time to give serious consideration to a revolutionary change.

Has your customer changed?

Are there changes that have occurred in the exposure between your product and the demographics or psychographics of your audience? An example: has the average age of a Facebook user moved ‘north’ as it evolved from a campus-only (.edu) product to a product that grandmas are comfortable with?

Has the delivery method of your product changed?

Tide powder hasn’t changed much in that regard. It’s still largely a grocery purchase. Same aisle. Same box. Relatively the same product it’s been for decades. Yogurt came in cups for years. What insights caused someone to say, “Hey, this stuff could be squeezed out of a tube! It will be fun! Kids will love it!”

Has the shelf or placement of your product changed?

Maybe it’s club stores. Maybe it’s Amazon. There are waves of change in how and where we shop. And our expectations change along with those changes. Some products are high-touch, involved sale early on and later become low-touch and the packaging does the explanation and selling that a person did once upon a time.

Has technology changed?

You probably know Moore’s law. It shows how as a popular, useful consumer technology (DVD player, for instance) advances, the power of that technology continues to rise while the retail cost goes lower. If you’re looking at two lines on a graph, they travel opposite each other.

Has the competitive environment changed?

And if it has, how has it changed? If patents have run out, technological advances are difficult and some of those strategic advantages you had before have gone away, is there a change in order? (Maybe packaging is the next difference-maker for you.)

Has there been a change in positioning?

Perhaps people have found new uses for your product. Or it’s become more of a commodity and others have adopted your look and thus, changed its meaning.

These are six questions. Answered ‘yes’ to more than two or three? Or was the answer to one so emphatic that it deserves deeper examination? Consider this worksheet an invitation to set aside your day-to-day work of building a brand and allow for some time of thoughtful reflection on all the factors that surround your brand’s past, present and future. If you have thoughts, examples or brand updates, you’d like to share, send us a note! #HappyBoxing #BoxUpLabs