Here, for example, are six ongoing developments you should have on your radar screen:
• Branding, brand partnerships, and co-branding
• SKU proliferation—mixed-product groupings and convenience packs driven by retailer demand push this trend at a brisk pace
• Packaging as an extension of customer desires
• Compressed lead times
• Cost pressures from the ever-increasing competition, consolidation, and global impacts
• The “big box” effects from the likes of Costco and Sam’s Club
To be successful against this backdrop of trends, brand managers must bring innovative packaging designs to market rapidly and at low costs. Among the resources to leverage are contract packagers, whose key value proposition—if they’re properly managed—is that they are flexible yet affordable.
