gotcha- that makes sense, and that’s been my experience as well. there’s always something successful to build on, and it makes sense to work with that rather than start from scratch.

In whatever case, it was up to us to really try and understand the buyer’s needs, preferences, and whatever information we could get up front so we minimize the possibility of sudden changes before order finalization.

Thus it was our responsibility to be the investigator and provide feedback to designers. For the largest retailers, we’d just send the designers along to the sales meeting.

Anyways, thanks for the insights.

I have managed packaging redesigns and the knee-jerk reaction for a brand that is failing is to scrap everything except the name and start over. When you’re as close to a brand, (as a Brand Manager or Director/VP of Marketing is) it’s easy to fall into the trap of believing that current consumers will accept wholesale changes and new ones will be attracted to the brand. And chances are that research will support that belief.

But, based on my experience, it’s better to take your time, maintain core equities (as weak as you might think they are) and make big changes over a longer period of time.

I’m going through this right now with brand that has been beat up and kicked around. When, we started the redesign process, it didn’t make any sense to just “tweak” the design – we might as well overhaul it right? NO.

We eventually came to our senses and decided that the core equities needed to be maintained and I’m happy we got there. It will give the current consumer base something to work with.