The Power of a Packaging Redesign

When Mostly Made, a prepared meals company, struck an agreement with Target to move its products from the frozen to the refrigerated section, one of the top items on the to-do list was to update the packaging.

“It had a diecut window in it, and when the product was frozen, it was fine because you could see the product through the window and everything worked fine,” said Tricia Warren, group account director at Periscope/Favorite Child, which is part of Quad. The Sussex, Wisconsin-based company worked with Mostly Made on the redesign.

“But then once the product moved to the deli and it was no longer frozen and it was kind of thawed, it would slump down in the bottom of the box,” Warren said. “So then the window defeated its purpose and the packaging really wasn't supporting the product anymore.”

To ensure the product would sell, the packaging needed a redesign. However, maintaining the brand’s authenticity during this process was a top priority.

Quad’s Integrated Business Development and Growth lead Jamie McGarry explained the importance of the redesign: “It really was to ensure that we were portraying the brand authentically to consumers, what made the most sense in Target with their expectations from brands and companies, ultimately leading to getting that understanding and awareness all the way through to purchase, leading to sales.”

With those goals in mind, the team redesigned the package and put it to the test in two ways. First, they put a couple different versions of the new design in front of consumers to see which appealed to them the most. They also conducted a blind test, where consumers had to choose between the redesigned package and other similar products on the shelf.

Ultimately, the diecut window showing what was inside was eliminated. Instead, a photo of what the meal would look like once cooked was placed on the front of the package.

The final design “was pretty clean and it really left the finished product as hero front and center,” Warren explained. “It was kind of the center of the product, which I think is why people gravitated toward that.”

Additionally, the team at Quad helped Mostly Made save time and money during the printing process by making sure that as many prints as possible were placed on one sheet, reducing substrate waste. They also advised on the four-color offset printing, McGarry said.

As intended, these changes helped Mostly Made meet its sales goals.

“Year-over-year sales have been up 136%, which if we go back to that No. 1 goal, that makes us very happy and the clients very happy,” McGarry said. “But we've also done some testing and some research around how people encounter and view and see the product at-shelf, and all of that has also positively increased. They see the product two times faster; they spend over two times as long considering and evaluating and looking at the product.”

As a bonus, the packaging maintained Mostly Made’s authenticity, something McGarry acknowledged as a crucial element for all brands.

“Anywhere that we have an opportunity to be more authentic, transparent, true to who we are — that's what's going to draw consumers in,” she said. “A lot of times, packaging is the easiest way to do that; that's physically where they're interacting with your brand.”