Use caseTest packaging
Check that loyal buyers still recognize their brand in a new pack, and hear what shoppers read into its design and any change of material, before the artwork is signed off.
A redesign must win new shoppers without losing those who find the brand by habit, and the study shows which way it leans while it can still change.
The brief lists each new route alongside the current pack and the rivals it usually sits next to, and Pulse shapes the interview around that comparison, so every route is judged against what buyers already know.
A weekly buyer judges a new route by whether it still looks like the product in the cupboard, while a first-timer judges it by whether it makes the category look worth trying, and the study keeps both verdicts.
Regular buyers say aloud whether each route is still their brand. Video insights catch the flicker of recognition, or the second look, that comes before the words, so the team knows which routes buyers knew at once and which they had to work out.
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GrowwRecognition is read first, since a route regulars no longer know as theirs fails whatever else it says; meaning and material are weighed for the routes that pass.
Loyal buyers say whether each route still looks like their product at a glance, and which change, a new color block, a moved logo, a different cap, would make them check the label twice.
Shoppers describe what each design tells them about taste, quality, price and who it is for, which gives the design agency specific changes to color, imagery and claims instead of a general preference.
When the pack moves to paper, a lighter bottle or a refill pouch, shoppers say what they infer, and the team hears who reads a greener material as a weaker recipe or a smaller portion.
Understand how people notice, interpret, evaluate and choose a product based on its packaging.
A pack design is checked before it is printed, and a redesign carries a particular risk: buyers who find the brand by habit may no longer recognize it. The current pack is the benchmark, since the question is whether a new route does better than what is already on sale without losing those buyers. Common measures include brand recognition among current buyers, communication of the product's key messages, appeal and purchase intent, with each route presented beside the rivals it will sit next to. Qualitative questions explain what shoppers read into a design: taste, quality, price and who it is for. A change of material deserves its own questions, because shoppers draw conclusions about the product from what the pack is made of. Online, packs appear as small images among many results, so e-commerce versions are worth checking separately. Results guide the choice of route and specific refinements, and significant changes are retested before print.
Procurement has priced the paper tube; the brand needs to know whether shoppers will pay for it. Shoppers also say, in a short survey, whether the new material would change what they would pay, so the business case carries the cost and a price shoppers named.
Regular buyers can show their current pack on camera and how they open, pour and reseal it. Video insights keep the struggle with a stiff cap or a torn corner, which the packaging technologist carries into the new structure.
A new design has to work across every flavor and size in the range. Comments sorted by variant show the design agency which flavors stop standing apart once the family look is applied.