State of Industry 2017: Competition and Brand Building Heat Up
Nearly 70 percent of respondents perceived an increased role for packaging in brand building over the last two years that is likely to continue or even accelerate. Multiple factors contribute to this development, including a proliferation of products in different sizes, expanding retail channels, e-commerce, regulatory changes and technological advances. A quarter of participants also expressed concern about the need to balance lifestyle needs of the different generations of consumer. All these developments create design challenges—and opportunities—for differentiating individual products within this expanding portfolio on retail shelves.
More than half of those in the study say their biggest challenge today is developing packaging designs that connect emotionally with the end customer. By a wide margin, they see product and packaging innovation as the single-most important factor that will contribute to a brand’s competitive advantage. Recognizing this challenge, a whopping 75 percent of those in the survey say their companies are taking the initiative to engage in more dialogues with their consumers to better understand their needs and to test packaging ideas.