Why most CPG redesigns lose money in the first 60 days
Three failure modes that turn a refresh into a velocity hit, and the validation steps that prevent each one.
Most packaging redesigns fail quietly. Not in the boardroom, where the creative gets applause. In week six, when sell-through dips and the team starts blaming distribution, pricing, or seasonality.
We see three recurring failure modes. First, hierarchy collapse: the pack looks better in a deck but reads worse at 1.2 meters. Second, SKU confusion: variants that used to navigate cleanly now compete with each other. Third, production drift: what shipped is not what was approved, and the shelf photo proves it.
The fix is not more research. It is the right research, timed before tooling spend. Baseline shelf photography, planogram renders, and a small in-store or digital panel before you cut plates. Sixty days is enough time to recover if you measured before you launched.