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Good Reasons for Package Redesign

Since reasons can include the questionable and the capricious, it’s worthwhile to know some good ones.

Packaging Redesign

Since last month’s column was devoted to avoiding misguided reasons for package redesign (pwgo.to/7277), let’s think about some good reasons to redesign.

The sequence in which the reasons will be discussed is not meant to suggest an order of importance, nor does this constitute an exhaustive list. These reasons are not mutually exclusive, either; they can overlap.

Product change. A package should be product-specific, its design reflecting the requirements of its contents. It follows, therefore, that a change in the product could justify a package redesign. The type of product change should be one that makes the product more attractive to targeted consumers: in promotional parlance, “New and improved.” Incidentally, that is not to be confused with “New look, same great_______,” (fill in the blank), which implies that the problem was the package.

Regulatory mandates. Packaging is subject to a variety of federal agencies, their regulations having the power to force package redesign. A familiar example is label disclosures, requiring strict compliance as to content and form. The safety assessment of structural components of packaging is another province of agencies. Even if an agency allows a certain component’s use (such as with BPA), its prior bad publicity can be a good reason for a package redesign. Examples are the variety of packages with labels declaring, “BPA-free.”

Expand distribution. It’s about place utility: making goods physically available to potential consumers as widely as possible. The larger retailers, exercising their power within the supply chain, can dictate packaging requirements to packaging users. It’s not always about a redesign of the primary package, but can influence secondary packaging, too. That’s the idea behind retail-ready packaging (RRP). Tertiary packaging is not exempt, as proven by sell-from-pallet displays favored by “big-box” stores. 


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