I wanted to buy this. The packaging talked me out of it.

The product checked every box: cheesecake, convenient portions, no cutting, and perfect for sharing. I was practically sold. Then the packaging made me question the quality, taste, and entire purchase. That’s how quickly design can destroy demand. So, how does promising packaging lose a ready buyer? Read on to find out.

Description

Sometimes the product is right, the occasion is right, and the shopper is ready to buy, but the packaging kills the sale.

This handheld cheesecake has plenty going for it: convenience, portionability, and a familiar dessert consumers already love. But the packaging creates uncertainty. The retro-inspired graphics can read as dated rather than nostalgic, the messaging feels unnatural for a U.S. audience, and “soft cheesecake” raises more questions than it answers.

This highlights a critical challenge for global CPG brands entering the U.S. market. Packaging localization requires more than translating copy. Visual codes, product language, appetite appeal, and quality cues must align with how local consumers evaluate the category.

A strong product can still lose at the shelf when its packaging signals the wrong expectations.

Successful CPG packaging builds confidence in the purchase. For global brands, that means understanding the market before expecting the packaging to perform in it.

Video Transcript

00:00:00 Hey guys, it's Christie. I'm at Costco
00:00:02 today and I saw an interesting product
00:00:04 and even more interesting packaging that
00:00:08 I want to talk about. This is a topic we
00:00:10 get called by clients looking at this
00:00:14 exact situation and I want to point a
00:00:16 couple things out to you right now.
00:00:21 This caught my eye. Boop boop boop. Soft
00:00:24 cheesecake. It's like this sort of
00:00:26 orange, maybe trying to be nostalgic
00:00:29 design vibe. But I'm like, what is this
00:00:31 thing? It pulled me in and I'm like, you
00:00:33 know, this is trying so hard to be sort
00:00:35 of nostalgic and it kind of is, but it
00:00:37 also kind of just looks old to me
00:00:40 anyway. And then I come in here and I'm
00:00:42 like, isn't all cheesecake soft? And
00:00:44 then I'm reading the content and here's
00:00:45 the language. Only carefully selected
00:00:47 ingredients are added to serve you the
00:00:49 best. And I'm like, oh jeez. That sounds
00:00:52 like probably a foreign translation of a
00:00:54 different language. And I'm like, who is
00:00:56 this Samlip? I don't know it. And I
00:00:58 thought to myself, I wonder if this is
00:01:00 an imported product, you know, from
00:01:02 another country. And sure enough, I look
00:01:03 at the top right here. Korea's number
00:01:06 one bakery.
00:01:08 >> Ah, okay. Now it makes sense.
00:01:09 >> I know probably what happened here.
00:01:11 There's probably a large supplier in
00:01:13 Korea, probably named Samlip or
00:01:15 something like that. I should look at
00:01:17 the manufacturer information. There it
00:01:19 is. Manufactured in Korea. And so they
00:01:21 got an opportunity with Costco to launch
00:01:23 here with these sort of mini handheld
00:01:25 cheesecakes. Good idea, bad execution
00:01:28 for the US market. We get contacted by
00:01:31 global manufacturers all the time,
00:01:33 specifically looking to optimize their
00:01:35 packaging for the US consumer in the US
00:01:38 market because of course here we're a
00:01:40 large market. And, you know, with my eye
00:01:43 and shopping here as a consumer, I can
00:01:45 see it from a mile away when you've got
00:01:48 a good product, but you haven't really
00:01:50 done the work to get the right language,
00:01:52 get the right visual for the US market.
00:01:55 This is just not optimized here. I don't
00:01:58 think I'm going to buy this even though
00:01:59 I'm literally looking for desserts for a
00:02:01 family get-together.
00:02:02 >> Cheesecake?
00:02:03 >> I just I can't wrap my head around this
00:02:06 item mostly because of the graphics.
00:02:08 What I love, cheesecake? Yes. My family
00:02:10 loves cheesecake. Would I love
00:02:12 cheesecake you can hold in your hand?
00:02:13 Yes. Would I love cheesecake I don't
00:02:15 have to cut? Yes. Literally I would buy
00:02:18 this. Like I'm imagining myself pulling
00:02:20 this package out for my family. I
00:02:22 wouldn't want them to see it. I'd be
00:02:23 like embarrassed. This looks like sort
00:02:25 of an old 70s bulk food service cheap
00:02:30 item and I don't want to serve that,
00:02:32 right? I don't know what to expect from
00:02:33 the taste. There's all these kind of
00:02:35 problems here. Anyway, that's my
00:02:36 thought. Good luck to Sam Lip. Call us.
00:02:38 Bye.

Christy Lebor Partner & Head of Brand Development, SmashBrand

48 Articles

Christy Lebor is a Partner and Head of Brand Development at SmashBrand, a premier brand development agency championing the FMCG space. With two decades of Fortune 500 CPG experience, Christy harnesses her background from industry titans to infuse brands with a growth trajectory that transitions them from category disruptors to legacy brands.

Her portfolio includes:

Brand management roles at global giants: Kraft, PepsiCo, and Unilever.
Launching pivotal products: Axe Body Wash in the US and the original Dove Campaign for Real Beauty at Unilever.
Steering innovative product lines at PepsiCo: Gatorade chews, protein bars, Mio Fit, and Amino Energy.
Pioneering breakfast innovations at KraftHeinz: Just Crack an Egg
Leading the branded business segment and global innovation at JBS, the world's largest meat company in the world.

Prior to her tenure at SmashBrand, Christy's track record spans various senior management and development roles. Each role has honed her expertise in the intricacies of FMCG, enabling her to cultivate category advantages for brands. From SKU rationalization to directing pivotal innovation stage gates, Christy's acute expertise in FMCG has consistently placed her at the forefront of the industry. Her ability to make incisive, strategically sound decisions has been key in propelling brands to market leadership.

Her philosophy pivots on the principle that timely, relevant data, integrated with brand strategy, is the linchpin for brands aspiring to scale and establish market dominance. At SmashBrand, Christy intricately weaves this philosophy, ensuring brands are not just strategically poised but holistically developed.

Educationally, Christy is equipped with a BBA from The University of Michigan Business School, an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management, and additional prowess in Private Equity and Venture Capital from Harvard Business School.

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