Most founders think packaging is a design problem. It's usually a business problem.
When sales stall, the immediate reaction is to redesign the label, refresh the colors, or hire a new agency. But according to packaging strategist Anna Ison, that’s often the wrong move.
After 20 years helping CPG brands like Magic Spoon, Good & Gather (Target), and Velveeta, Anna has seen the same mistake over and over: founders using design to solve other problems. Problems with positioning, differentiation, clarity.
In this conversation, Anna explains the importance of looking at data, packaging’s two jobs (grab attention and close the sale), and the simple research method every founder can do for free.
Before you redesign, start with data
You have under three seconds to grab someone’s attention, explain the offering, communicate what makes it unique, and give them a reason to buy. Before you touch anything, you need data. Velocity from the retailer, shelf performance, whether people even understand what your product is at a glance.
Is it moving compared to competitors? Does it look credible? Does it fit the right price point? Is it communicating anything different? Get a sense of how it’s performing first.
Packaging has two jobs
If someone is attracted by the visual but doesn’t understand what it is, there’s confusion. Mental friction. And you’re already competing against everything else on that shelf. People don’t have the time or energy to decode what you are. Make it easy to buy and help them understand quickly.
It’s one thing to catch attention. It’s another thing to close the deal. You have to do both.
Your brand is not your product
Americans are novelty-driven. Dopamine packaging, new everything. That’s part of why so many brands enter the market; and why most don’t last more than two years.
What founders get wrong: they want their packaging to list every benefit, every functional claim. But there’s no emotional storytelling. Branding isn’t the product. It’s the story, the emotional connection. That’s a different layer of strategy entirely. It’s not just about the look. It’s about knowing your consumer and speaking their language.
When packaging isn’t the problem
Sometimes the issue isn’t packaging at all. It’s positioning. Is there enough visual context (texture, size, flavor) for someone to understand what they’re looking at? And more importantly: is your product actually different from everything around it? If it’s a granola sitting next to five other granolas, what’s the differentiator?
That’s a strategic question before it’s a design question. Packaging is more than look and feel. It ties back to where the brand is coming from and what it’s trying to say. It becomes less about the designer’s style and more about making the brand feel like itself.
How many messages should be on a package?
Three. Fewer is better. You’re not writing a crossword puzzle. You’re trying to help someone make a decision in seconds. Too many messages and the eye scans everything and lands on nothing. Mental friction sets in and people move on.
Look at Oreo. One giant logo, maybe a flavor. That’s it. And over time those shapes and colors get embedded. They become visual shortcuts. You flash a Coca-Cola bottle and you just know. That’s what you’re building toward.
Why great brands don’t constantly redesign
Every time you redesign, you lose equity. Equity is what compounds over time: the shapes, the colors, the visual language that live in people’s memory. Redesign ten times and customers don’t recognize you anymore. Do it once, twice, properly.
Think of it as a facelift, not a face transplant. Identify the core visual equities, the things that are distinctly yours, and bring them forward in a new way. You’re not changing the person. You’re just refreshing them.
The best packaging research is free
Go to the store and watch someone shop. Do they touch your packaging? Pick it up and put it right back down? Are they scanning? Where does their eye go?
Just observe it. You might get some good clues out of it. Be like a little investigator.
