CPG packaging and the great brand switching of 2020

By Steve Flynn 07.14.20

Two major factors are driving the great brand switching of 2020 – impacting the world of CPG packaging.

First, brand share and loyalty are eroding amidst significant switching behaviors brought about during the coronavirus pandemic. As consumption patterns and purchasing occasions have been forced to change, consumers have not only tried new brands and products, they’re continuing to buy them even once their previously preferred items become available. With unemployment high and consumers concerned about the economic realities ahead, it’s no surprise that significant switching has been to private label brands.

Second, online has gone so mainstream that it’s even prompting impulse purchases, driving further erosion in brand share and loyalty. Online shopping behavior is normalizing and for many, will remain a part of their shopping mix. One thing that may come as a surprise is that consumers are making more frequent impulse purchases online than in-store – and the online experience lends itself nicely to personalization as well as a host of categories that may not have been considered impulse in the past.

For more detail and further insights on this topic, download the infographic below outlining the latest insights from our latest Food & Beverage Pulse Tracker.

(click to download)

Key takeaway: it’s time to ask better questions when it comes to your CPG packaging strategy.

Packaging is more important than ever. As consumers continue to be disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic, so too will consumption patterns, purchasing occasions and shopping behaviors. There are a wide variety of questions we’re currently helping clients answer, including:

How is your packaging, your last line of communication, helping to protect eroding loyalty and/or keep new entrants to your brand?
Do you understand shopability and navigation in shelf context for the way your category’s consumers are buying?
What is most important to them and is your messaging & label hierarchy in tune with that?
Is your brand and product portfolio still serving an occasion salience that may not exist in this environment? If so, where else can you place your brand and products?
Is your brand promise aligned with today’s consumer in this changed environment? Does your design drive that brand promise?
What’s your e-commerce strategy and have you optimized online presence across platforms?
Do you have a DTC plan in place?

The time is now.

The deprivation consumers have felt over the past few months is real. The insights you can gain now are not only valuable to understanding the landscape but can further drive brand and packaging decisions that can put you on a path to success immediately. Packaging studies can be customized to and guided by the stage of development your package may be in using multiple phases overlaying qualitative and quantitative. This iterative process helps you emerge with a consumer-driven design system that enables you to leverage where consumers, behaviors and your category are today.

Magid has deployed various methodologies, including virtual 2D and 3D shelf assessments to address qualitative research in our socially distant environment. The clip below featuring Magid’s Lauren McCluskey and Gary Spangenberg highlights our thinking on packaging methodologies from a recent webinar we hosted offering best practices for conducting effective research in the coronavirus era.