As the editor of BRANDPACKAGING, I spend much of my time speaking with brand managers who are constantly evaluating and re-evaluating the brands they direct. Often, I have the chance to experience, through their eyes, the journey of rebranding from the beginning—the decision to make a change, the challenges faced, goals set and objectives accomplished. In hindsight, it’s often easy to see what could have been done differently, or why an innovative approach proved so successful.

Time for a confession, now. As I have these conversations, see first-hand as the concepts become reality and watch as the amazing results of months of creativity and hard work come to fruition, I often feel a twinge of envy. You see, BRANDPACKAGING is our brand, and as the editor, I am its steward.

Our history is a story of evolution. The first issue of BRANDPACKAGING hit the streets in the spring of 1997 with the tagline “For Performance Presence & Profit”. Its pages were packed with information on shopping behavior, building shelf presence and taming global markets. This was a publication ahead of its time—the first magazine devoted to how packaging connects to the larger dialogue about the brand.

Fast forward to 2007; ten years later and the landscape has changed drastically. Design is a business imperative and marketers have realized that the media environment is fragmented at best. Now more than ever, packaging is critical to delivering your brand message. And while a percentage of your target consumers may see a TV spot (TiVo not withstanding), or happen to catch that glossy ad in the myriad publications they browse each month, a simple fact remains: if they buy your product, they interact with your package. 100 percent.

So why the history lesson? Because the brands we speak to and profile aren’t the only ones looking to the future. BRANDPACKAGING has just begun a rebranding of its own. Over the course of the next six months, with the help of Northbrook, Ill.-based brand identity firm laga, we will be making over our brand—aesthetically and substantively—from the ground up.

We’ve just begun the first phase of this undertaking, and as we prepare for what the next ten years will bring, my goal is to continue to listen to you, our readers. What are we doing well? What can we do better? Call me at 815.568.0786 or drop me an e-mail at jacevedo@stagnito.com and help shape our future.