Do you stand out?

Product packaging is a miniature billboard. Whether it’s on Instagram or a store shelf, your packaging does the heavy lifting of grabbing the attention of a customer.

And when it comes to packaging, different is king. Different breaks through the clutter. Different creates curiosity. Different leads to a purchase.

The secret is identifying how to be different in the right ways. The following is a simple step-by-step process you can use to find your different.

Step 1: Competitive Analysis

You have to know what everyone you’re competing against for a purchase is doing to create something meaningfully different. Many companies look at the competition, but they do it to copy the market leader.

Do the opposite. Find industry trends and competitor weaknesses so you know what to avoid. Go do an audit of your category. Start by taking a photo of the shelf where you’ll be competing and then build a profile for each competitor that includes…

• Positioning & Messaging - What messaging do they use? Who are they targeting? How are they uniquely positioned? Write down taglines, key copy, and product descriptions.

• Color System - What is their primary color? Do they use a secondary color? Do they own a specific color on the shelf?

• Design - Is their packaging minimal, illustration based, using bold type, etc…? Note all key design elements for each brand.

Build a profile of each competitor so you can spot overall themes and opportunities. That brings us to step 2…

Step 2: Positioning Strategy

The goal of the competitive analysis is to help us find negative space to fill. We want to discover the neglected audience, brand personality, color system, and design approach. Rather than copying the market leader, we search to find their vulnerabilities.

Turn their weaknesses into a positioning strategy that will inform how you build your brand and design your packaging.

For example, you may find that everyone in the market uses minimal branding with earth tones and a stuffy boutique attitude. You talk to a segment of customers and find out they don’t resonate with that vibe. Your positioning strategy could exploit this by leaning into the exact opposite to appeal to that neglected segment of customers.

Starface is a masterful example of positioning. They created a skincare brand that is the exact opposite of what everyone else in the market was doing.

Step 3: Brand Message

Before you run off and start designing packaging, know what you want it to say to potential customers (literally and figuratively).

Every aspet of your brand should say the same thing with the same language. Consistency makes it easy for people to tell their friends.

Creating a brand script is how you make this happen. Think of your brand message as the first step to bringing your positioning strategy to life. A clear brand message is the foundation everything else is built upon.

Omyum uses the line “SuperNatural coffee alternative” consistently across every touchpoint to make it easy for people to understand and tell their friends.

Step 4: Design

Now it’s time to get into the fun stuff. When designing packaging, you’ve got numerous tools at your disposal:

• Words

• Color

• Typography

• Design Elements (like illustrations and patterns)

• Materials

Use these tools to create something unique, not just something pretty or cool that you like. If everyone in your category uses minimal design and muted colors, go with a loud and vibrant design that demands attention. If everyone in your space is loud and vibrant, consider minimal design.

Again, packaging design is about standing out from everyone else and appealing to a specific group of people. Find the neglected audience and design packaging that fills a void on the shelf.

Liquid Death brought a killer (pun intended) positioning strategy and message to life with their packaging design that uses cans (instead of bottles) and features a graphic design approach drastically different from the current market leaders at the time.

There’s no one right answer when it comes to packaging design. Do the research, find the holes, and create something different in all the right ways.

Until next time,
The CPG MBA Team

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