10 Steps to Help CPG Brand Marketers Achieve Packaging Excellence in Today’s Market

Image credit: Birgith Roosipuu - Unsplash

A customer’s lasting commitment to a brand is the direct result of the brand’s market presence, effective messaging, and brand qualities—from how well the brand’s products perform, to customer service, to the brand’s commitment to sustainability. According to Gartner’s 2022 Brand Activation Survey, brand commitment drives more than long-term product loyalty—it drives profitable, continued sales, with 87% of dedicated customers willing to pay a premium for their favourites.

Because packaging is so closely tied to a brand’s identity, for CPGs (Consumer Packaged Goods), brand consistency and accurate versioning must be maintained to win over fickle customers and stand up against fierce competition.

With rising packaging supply costs, strict industry regulations, and increasing environmental guidelines adding to the complexity of the CPG supply chain, their entire packaging design and production process is vulnerable to becoming fragmented, especially if multiple creative agencies, vendors, and suppliers are involved. CPG brand marketers need a streamlined packaging workflow to support a brand-cohesive packaging design and production process—but how can this be achieved, especially when different packaging and versioning are needed?

How can CPGs retain brand consistency in their packaging design and production process?

For the packaging design and production process to be precise and seamless, the CPG brand marketer should first establish clear brand guidelines, covering all design elements such as colours and logos to typography and other digital and visual styling. Rather than deal with potential setbacks and lack of quality control that can result from multiple creative partners in multiple geographies, CPG brand marketers need dedicated creative production expertise—one creative agency partner whose experts fully understand the brand, their products, the market, and the end customer. This one-stop-shop approach helps ensure brand consistency without sacrificing quality and speed-to-market.

Beauty and Pharmaceutical companies both have complex and diverse product portfolios and markets that dictate a variety of packaging needs, sizes, functions, and formats.

A case of Beauty (brand) taming the intimidating (packaging) Beast

Beauty products—skincare, fragrance, makeup, and haircare—generated approximately $430 billion in revenue in 2022 according to a recent McKinsey report. In the same report, McKinsey projects “the beauty industry will have reshaped itself around an expanding array of products, channels, and markets before this decade is over,” which translates to an increased demand for creative, brand-aligned packaging to remain competitive.

Case consideration: a US-based beauty brand is launching a cosmetic line in Brazil and needs packaging designs that:

• are brand-aligned across all channels
• protect the products
• culturally adapt to the new market are consistently on-brand and produced to-scale
• meet sustainability requirements and are regulatory-compliant
• compel Brazilian customers to purchase

To manage the new packaging design, the creative agency’s Packaging Subject Matter Expert (SME) provides guidance across every stage of packaging design and production, from brief to in-store activation, all while maintaining brand consistency throughout these 10 steps:

1. Comprehensive brief: Detailed campaign objectives provided by the brand to the Packaging SME are a critical first step in the packaging design process. Having a clear understanding of what the brand aims to achieve – target customer demographics and psychographics, product distribution, sustainability goals, how and when the package design will appear in online and offline promotions – together with brand guidelines, serve as a roadmap for the strategic design, sourcing, and production of the perfect package.
2. Cultural consultation: Local, on-the-ground in-market experts work with the Packaging SME advising the best approach to positioning the new product for success. They’ll address nuances in target markets across states, regions, and even neighbourhoods, providing transcreation and design experts with the information needed to appropriately adapt copy, fonts, colours, and other design elements from the US product to avoid cultural faux pas.
3. Packaging creative and design: This is a crucial step where transparent collaboration with the brand’s in-house design teams and creative agency design teams takes place. Utilisation of tech-enabled solutions provides research, key visuals, concepts, art direction, photography, retouching, illustration, and real-time ideation.
4. Copy Consultation: Using existing US copy, in-market copy and language experts adapt copy from the original version to create new versions, reflecting localisation and transcreation recommendations from the previous cultural consultation.
5. Technology: Enabling the customer experience to extend beyond the point of sale is a popular and critical consideration for establishing customer loyalty. A simple QR code on the package linked to a virtual make-up try, or a video tutorial featuring a celebrity makeup artist can delight and excite customers, inspiring them to repurchase the same product or purchase other cosmetics in the same range.
6. Sourcing sustainable solutions: The sustainability regulation landscape is complex and requires a Packaging SME who has access to fully vetted, compliant in-market suppliers. The SME considers the brand’s ESG commitments, country regulations, and customer expectations as part of the packaging design process with the end objective to provide design and material options that are sustainable, affordable, and sellable.
7. Inclusivity and accessibility: The packaging experience should consider all customers within the target demographic. Committing to a packaging design that enables all customers to open, use, and enjoy the product is a key consideration for brands that are committed to the societal aspect of ESG.
8. Proofs and mock-ups: The Packaging SME remains on hand throughout the proof and mock-up stage to guide and manage content review, execute colour corrections, and help direct prototype development, using the approved artwork for white samples and final samples.
9. Transit and packaging testing: After samples are produced and sent to the brand’s preferred testing facility, recommendations are provided by the Packaging SME on how to modify the design based on the transit testing results.
10. Retail Activation: A great package design doesn’t always mean it will stand out on a shelf of competitor products in-store. A Packaging SME with direct access to in-house Shopper Marketing experts can mean the difference between a sale or fail. Point of Purchase and shelf space design and positioning are the final steps in the packaging journey. Creating interactive shareable moments and virtual experiences at the shelf can generate emotional connections between the customer and brand, ultimately helping the brand (and package!) to stand out and sell more.

Brand-aligned, customer-focused packaging that delivers—both the actual product to market and an authentic, engaging brand experience, is vital for any CPG brand.

Case result: By using one creative partner for its cosmetic launch in Brazil, the US-based beauty brand’s simplified packaging design and production process helps avert any packaging ‘beasts.’ Both product and packaging ‘come out smelling like a rose.’

A case of reducing packaging and compliance headaches for a new pharmaceutical product

Financial Services and Pharmaceutical brands rely on accurate, compliant information and efficient brand-agency collaboration. For pharma, volume production is high, deadlines are tight, and the approval process is long; accuracy and compliance cannot be at risk. Pharma brand marketers know that once a product is approved for go-to-market, packaging compliance is not optional, it’s mandatory.

Case consideration: A global pharmaceutical company is launching a new pain reliever specific to migraine sufferers and potentially faces headaches of its own unless a creative agency is secured that implements secure, streamlined packaging design systems, and has Medical, Legal, and Regulatory (MLR) experts on staff to ensure packaging and labelling adhere to brand guidelines and industry regulations.

In addition to the packaging design and production steps mentioned above, there are two additional processes pharma marketers should seek in their creative agency to help relieve the pain and stress of compliant packaging:

• A modular content framework: This allows pharma brand marketers to digitally compile collections (modules) of compliant copy, logos, and designs to use for packaging and packaging components. These can also be reused for various product-related documents, such as package inserts, pharmacy displays, and other print or digital assets. Modular content fosters a transparent brand-agency collaboration, reducing the potential for error in content creation. As regulations and/or campaigns change, the copy, logos, and disclaimers can be altered, and new versions can be created and approved as often as needed. This modular content process provides speed-to-market, which is critical to help customers whose health and well-being rely on the pharma product and/or service.
• Medical, Legal, and Regulatory (MLR) Review is a service not all creative agency partners are equipped to offer. There is immense value when agency-based pharma experts are on hand, ready to assist in the MLR approval process. MLR services should include:
  • MLR submission file prep
  • Reference, core claim, and file standards library maintenance
  • Attendance at MLR review meetings on behalf of or alongside brands
  • End-to-end label update support
  • Expiry submission management

As the creative agency’s designers, copywriters, and MLR experts create, substantiate, contextualise, and approve the new medicine’s packaging design, pharma brand marketers can continue focusing on important tasks that help deliver the product to patients, faster.

Case result: Brand alignment, regulatory compliance, and speed-to-market are achieved in packaging design and production by the pharma brand’s creative partner. By alleviating packaging headaches, the pharma company makes great headway in efficient and expedient delivery of its new pain reliever.

Achieving packaging design excellence within a Packaging Center of Excellence

When CPG brand marketers reduce the need to engage multiple vendors for multiple packaging design services, they can achieve the desired agility and go-to-market with their product. Tag’s Packaging Center of Excellence provides CPG brands with the latest and best technologies, specialised services, and expertise within one centralised creative production hub.

Led by Packaging Subject Matter Experts (SMEs), our Packaging Center of Excellence offers a comprehensive packaging creative production workflow system, ensuring a brand-aligned, creative design supported by enhanced project management capabilities. From design inception to regulatory compliance to final print and every step in between, Tag’s Packaging Center of Excellence is itself ‘the complete package’—expertly managing every step within packaging’s creative design and production process.

Tag Marketing Centers of Excellence gives CPG brands access to a complete range of services via a single point of entry. Led by Subject Matter Experts (SMEs), each Center of Excellence (CoE) provides specialised expertise and dedicated resources to help brands achieve best-in-class performance and growth.

Our Packaging Center of Excellence is the streamlined, one-stop solution for CPG brands’ packaging design. In keeping with all touchpoints of the packaging design lifecycle, Tag’s dedicated Center SMEs help boost speed-to-market with packaging that is creative, informative, and brand-compliant, to help brands stand out and sell more and enhance the end-customer experience.

Want to know more about our Packaging Center of Excellence? Send us a line here.