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Lack internal creative and development groups? Here's the path to package innovation.

Most of us have walked through either a major retailer or grocery store chain recently.

Pw 3481 Path To Innovation

If you are a small to mid-level consumer packaged goods (CPG) company, creating your own design and package-engineering organization can be cost-prohibitive. Your packaging needs might range from updating current packaging to creating new and innovative packaging for a new product on the horizon. Your current sales and profit margins probably don’t support a full-time organization. Companies in this range frequently rely heavily on packaging suppliers and contract packagers to perform a significant portion of their package-innovation requirements.

As a senior executive at a major Fortune 500 CPG company, I had responsibility for our global package development organization several times in my career. Even with an in-house organization supporting creative art design and package development, the experience did not always meet everyone’s needs around the globe for new and innovative packaging solutions.

Discussions with our regional marketing and sales organization frequently led to their desire to have their own packaging expert. While on the surface this might appear to meet their needs, it also can lead to inefficient and poor packaging decisions that can damage a brand’s image. In addition, such a move can impact the quality image of a product if not managed effectively.

Today’s packaging needs to interface with numerous distribution and retail environments. The science of creating the right package that addresses both the consumer and retail environments should not be underestimated. A retail package involves not only the product package structure and specifications but also the secondary and tertiary packaging. Where new packaging technology involves new equipment, package development ensures manufacturability and certification.

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