Fizz from ConsumerPop

CPG Brands and the Private Label Challenge

As I mentioned recently, CPG manufacturers are looking for ways to combat the growth of private label offerings which are increasing in quality and appeal. The days of generic plain-wrap are gone. Two routes CPG manufacturers can take are 1. build consumer connections to brands through smart social media use and 2. Create packaging that has stronger shelf impact.

Route 1 is a conversation for another post. Route 2 is expensive, slow and it is difficult to gain approval for bold, challenging designs within a multi-layered, conservative bureaucracy which is true for many large CPG companies. Consumers almost always will go further than CPG companies are willing and then they wonder why watered down, safe choices in package design change don't move the needle as much as hoped.

Here is an example (H/T Live4Emma on FriendFeed):

From the blog, Lovely Package. Their comment? "If only all supermarket own-brands had packaging that looked this good…" I'd ammend that to say "if only all brands..."

UK design firm Pearlfisher has created numerous fantastic, arresting designs which serve their brands well. The product quality of the soup has to deliver, but if it does I would be willing to bet both that this brand would eat market share from established CPG players and that a bold design like this would never make it through to shelf at a big U.S. CPG company. Pity it seems to be a lesson that's unlearnable.

IDEO: Sharing Ideas

Fast Company reports on the latest innovation in idea sharing from the ultra-cool design firm in "Open-Source Innovation: IDEO's Human-Centered Design Toolkit" by Alissa Walker:

A series of PDFs that are free to download, the Human-Centered Design Toolkit hopes to empower organizations and design firms by giving them their field-tested tools for social impact in a way that focuses more on sharing information than authorship.

I've used IDEO's Method Cards for years now when developing consumer research design. Their approach is not just useful for designing products. I love that rather than holding their innovative approaches tight they are distributing and sharing them. IDEO is unique and highly successful in what they do and sharing in this way is in no way a threat to their business. Rather it helps up everybody's game and builds their brand and business in the process.