More than anything, customers are drawn to products with attractive packaging. Therefore, choosing the best product label design can be a direct correlation to a product’s success.
Take Tropicana for example. In 2009, they were the best-selling juice brand on the market, earning more than 700 million dollars a year. That was until they invested 35 million dollars in new packaging and advertising.
After introducing the new design to the market, sales dropped by 20% forcing Tropicana to return to its old packaging only after a few months. The product label redesign failure cost them $50 million dollars.
Tropicana could have avoided this mistake by choosing its new product label with data-driven decision-making.
With package and design market research, brands can lean on customer feedback to decide which label to move forward with, drivers as to why a label tested well, and suggestions for improvement.
Keep reading as this post will cover the approach, example survey questions, and results from a recently completed product label study by our consumer packaged goods market research company.
The Challenge: Choosing the Best Product Label Design
Market research can be helpful to inform brand labels/design. Therefore it’s helpful to execute a package label test survey before making a decision on branding.
This was the case for our client, a produce company that grows and packages produce for other organizations. However, in this project, they were looking to brand their own offering to consumers.
The research goal was to collect the data needed to create an effective sales approach to support a product label created by the produce company.
Recommended Reading: How to Brand Like a Boss Using Market Research
The Solution: Conducting a Package Label Test Survey
Before conducting food product development, consider ways to ensure the research will be as effective as possible. Working with a third-party market research firm will help set you up for success.
For instance, being that the produce company wanted to gather measurable data, Drive Research recommended conducting an online survey.
This type of market research provides quick, cost-effective insights needed to decide what product label design is most appealing to consumers.
Based on our client’s target customer profile, we targeted the package label test survey to the following people:
- Reside in the US
- Aged 25 to 44
- Mix of 64% females and 36% males
- Mix of ethnicities
- $100k+ household income
- Suburban
- Child(ren) in household
The survey took an average of 12 minutes to complete and included 39 questions. The survey received 300 responses. Fieldwork for the survey began on September 30 and lasted until October 13, 2022.
Example Product Label Testing Survey Questions
The market research for new product development was uniquely customized based on the goals and objectives of the produce company. Below is an overview of the survey questions used in the product label research study.
Additionally, these questions can be used as idea generators for future label research.
- When thinking about [example product], what is the first brand that comes to mind?
- Thinking about brands that sell [example product] specifically, which of the following brands are you aware of?
- What brand of [example product] do you purchase most often?
- The next series of questions will ask your opinions about a product. Please take your time to review the product details. Please review the [brand story] below and share what you like and/or dislike most about it.
- Thinking about the [brand story] below, how much do you agree or disagree with each of the following statements? (Several attributes listed)
- Thinking about [example product], rank the following product names from liked most to liked least. Rank the product names below from liked most to liked least where “1” is “liked most”.
- Please review [label 1] below and share what you like and/or dislike most about it.
- Thinking about [label 1] below, how much do you agree or disagree with each of the following statements? (Several attributes listed)
- Please review [label 2] below and share what you like and/or dislike most about it.
- Thinking about [label 2] below, how much do you agree or disagree with each of the following statements? (Several attributes listed)
- Please review [label 3] below and share what you like and/or dislike most about it.
- Thinking about [label 3] below, how much do you agree or disagree with each of the following statements? (Several attributes listed)
- Please review [label 4] below and share what you like and/or dislike most about it.
- Thinking about [label 4] below, how much do you agree or disagree with each of the following statements? (Several attributes listed)
- After reviewing the product labels below, rank each from 1 “liked most” to 4 “liked least”.
Remember survey design is custom. While this survey met the goals and objectives of the client, adjustments may need to be made to accommodate additional/other research. Safe to say writing a survey is an art form!
The Results
The results of the package label test survey remain confidential with the produce brand.
The deliverables for the product label research included 1) an online portal of results, 2) CSV verbatim file by channel shopped, 3) a summary report in Word (~4 pages), and 4) a virtual presentation.
The following topics were covered in the report:
- Background and objectives
- Approach
- Online reports (question-by-question results)
- Key findings
- Purchase habits and awareness
- Quick comparison of labels
- Brand story review
- Label 1 review
- Label 2 review
- Label 3 review
- Label 4 review
- Demographics/respondent profile
Due to the client’s request, this report was completed within 2 days of fieldwork being closed. The findings were provided in a word document format, which can provide some cost savings!
Looking for more on CPG research? Check out these 6 CPG market research options for excellent consumer insights.
Contact Drive Research for Product Label Design Testing
Do you have various product labels to work with and need to decide which one to enter the market with? Market research to the rescue.
Drive Research is a market research company specializing in CPG and new product development. Our team can recommend the best approach to gather data-driven insights to inform packaging design.
Interested in learning more about our market research services? Reach out through any of the four ways below.
- Message us on our website
- Email us at [email protected]
- Call us at 888-725-DATA
- Text us at 315-303-2040
Emily Taylor
As a Senior Research Analyst, Emily is approaching a decade of experience in the market research industry and loves to challenge the status quo. She is a certified VoC professional with a passion for storytelling.
Learn more about Emily, here.
