For CPG brands about to meet a retail buyer
Food, beverage, supplements, beauty, household. D2C to shelf.
A new CPG brand gets one first impression with a buyer and one with a shopper, and both happen in about three seconds. Branding and packaging for a CPG launch is about winning those two moments: a pack that reads from four feet away on a crowded shelf, and a sell sheet and story the buyer can repeat to their boss. I spent two years inside a multinational CPG brand team watching which launches got the space and which did not.
Who this is for
Founders with a product that is selling online or at farmers markets and is about to go into grocery, specialty, club or Amazon. Food and beverage most of all, plus supplements, beauty and household. You know the product is good. You are not sure the brand is ready for the shelf next to the big guys.
What I do for a CPG launch
Built in the order a retail launch actually happens.
- A brand identity designed for a shelf first and a screen second: mark, type, color, hierarchy, and the rules that keep every SKU looking like one family.
- Packaging design to the retailer's and the printer's specs, with dielines, print-ready files and a printer who does not call you confused.
- A sell sheet and a line review deck that read in under a minute and give the buyer the story, the numbers and the shelf set.
- Amazon and retailer PDP content: main images, A+ content and copy that sells and passes compliance.
- Launch creative: product photography, a short launch film, and the social and email for the first ninety days.
- Shelf and shopper pieces when you win the space: shelf talkers, displays, demo materials.
Why me for this
Most designers have never sat in a line review. I have, from the brand side, at a multinational food company, across launches, retail programs and packaging. I know what a buyer looks for and what a planogram does to a pack. You get that from one person, directly, at a fixed price per project, which is a fraction of what the agencies that do this charge the brands I used to work for.
