To change or not to change
The Art of Refreshing Branding and Pack Design.
How often should you refresh your branding and pack design? It’s a question we are often asked.
Some say that pack changes should be every 3-4 years to keep it up to date. Or whenever the brand team senses a bit of pack ‘fatigue’.
However, on a recent trip to Dublin it reminded me that the branding and pack designs we created for Jacob’s biscuit icons Mikado, Kimberley and Fig Rolls 12 years ago were still going strong! And in the cheese isle, Kerry’s EasiSingles we developed at around the same time was still looking as fresh as ever.
In reality, changes should happen only when the need arises – as the Jacob’s biscuits and EasiSingles prove. Why change an enduring design?
So what might those signals for change be?
Needs must
The most common reason is when there is a change to product ingredients or legislation that means the pack must be changed. This provides an opportunity to evolve the design but you should be very clear about why the design is being changed and what it will seek to achieve.
Competitors upping their game
Updated packaging from existing competitors and perhaps new brands coming into the category can have a major impact. Such changes may make your brand look dated. They may be doing a better job at communicating key benefits or be using new pack structures that make their products more appealing. If so, then it’s time to think about how to respond.
Brand evolution
Your brand positioning may have evolved and changed. Take an objective look at what your brand offers and consider whether your pack is still a good reflection of how you want consumers to see you. If it doesn’t quite work then it’s certainly time to look at what changes need to be made.
Product extensions
New product ranges or even extensions can help you to see the shortcomings of your current pack. New products that are added will challenge the way your existing products look.
Made you look
Tired packaging designs can lose their appeal to existing consumers. And fail to attract new ones. If you sense that this is a problem then a refresh, which may possibly include a new sustainable pack format, can reinvigorate the brand among both existing and new consumers.
Changing trends
Lifestyles, food and drink and environmental trends keep evolving. Perhaps these have had a particular impact on your category. If so, your brand may need to adapt and play more to the changing landscape, so a pack design refresh may be what’s needed to exploit new opportunities.
There are some brands that routinely make changes to their pack graphics. Much less so, pack formats. Many bigger brands, in particular, make incremental changes little and often simply to keep the brand fresh. For smaller brands, this is neither practical nor necessary. So, all the more reason for brands to keep reviewing their category, consumer behaviours as well as their own brand and product positioning to make objective judgments as to when a refresh may be in the offing.