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Insights

If Shoppers Can’t Place Your Product In A Second, They’ll Walk.

When your product is a true innovation, the hardest job isn’t design—it’s giving consumers the right frame of reference. This clip breaks down how we create instant understanding, even for products the market’s never seen before.

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Description

Breakthrough innovation fails when the frame of reference is wrong.

If a new product feels like “Ben Gay” or “Icy Hot” in a consumer’s mind, that’s the shortcut they’ll use, no matter how different it actually is. That’s why subcategory innovation is harder than launching a slightly more premium version of something familiar. You’re not just selling benefits. You’re redefining what the product is.

In this case, the solution wasn’t better claims. It was reframing the category. Instead of competing with muscle rubs, the product was positioned like sunscreen. “Cold Screen.” With its own version of SPF: Cold Protection Factor.

That simple shift gave consumers a mental model they already understood. And once the shortcut made sense, the product did too.

Great packaging and positioning don’t just explain innovation. They anchor it to something familiar so the brain can say yes faster.

Video Transcript

00:00:00 What is the consumer's frame of
00:00:02 reference? If you're just another
00:00:04 product that's like slightly higher
00:00:05 premium, it's pretty easy and you can
00:00:07 jump straight to like what is it that
00:00:09 makes your more premium, but like in
00:00:11 your case, Jordan, and a lot of really
00:00:13 good product innovation happens by kind
00:00:15 of merging or kind of switching and kind
00:00:18 of subcategory innovation. And those are
00:00:20 the harder ones where you actually have
00:00:21 to really get the frame of reference
00:00:23 right. This actually reminds me of a
00:00:25 client we had many, many years ago. And
00:00:26 this one was pretty fun because the
00:00:28 product was very much an innovation and
00:00:31 I'm gonna explain what it is. You tell
00:00:32 me what comes to mind. Okay. So this is
00:00:35 how you use it actually. This is the
00:00:36 kind of the use case. So maybe I'm going
00:00:38 skiing and you know gets chilly in the
00:00:40 end. So I have this lotion. I'm going to
00:00:42 rub it on my skin or maybe I'm live in
00:00:45 New York City female. I got a nice dress
00:00:46 on and I don't want to wear the big
00:00:48 bulky clothes on a cold evening. So I
00:00:50 put this lotion on my skin. So what
00:00:51 comes to mind to you when you think of
00:00:53 that? You know, it kind of sounds like
00:00:54 icy hot but the hot.
00:00:55 >> Yes. And that's the problem. This is a
00:00:57 perfect example. You don't have a frame
00:00:59 of reference. And so the client came to
00:01:02 us. They're like, "Oh yeah, this
00:01:03 product, everybody likes it after we
00:01:05 explain it, but they always just like
00:01:06 think of Ben Gay." This was a really
00:01:08 tricky one, but I think it kind of it's
00:01:10 an exaggerated point, but it's a real
00:01:12 example of how the consumer needs to
00:01:14 kind of shortcuts. And so what's the
00:01:16 decision-making shortcut? In their case,
00:01:18 we actually had to change the whole
00:01:19 frame of reference, and we called it
00:01:21 cold screen. So your frame of reference
00:01:23 is now sunscreen, cold screen. And then
00:01:24 they had like SPF which was like CPFs
00:01:27 cold protection factor.

Christy Lebor Partner & Head of Brand Development, SmashBrand

45 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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Why Rao’s Soup Misses the Mark on This Packaging Design.

Rao’s is a pasta sauce powerhouse, but their soup packaging tells a different story.

This Retail Display Tells You Everything About a Brand in Trouble

A once-hyped CPG brand is showing serious signs of decline and it’s all right there on the shelf. In this short, Christy breaks down what the pricing, graphics, and display strategy are really saying (spoiler: it’s not good). If you’re in retail or brand management, you’ll want to see this.

Why This Parent and CPG Marketer Secretly Loves This “White” Bread

A subtle copy change. A clear packaging strategy. And a parent who also happens to be a CPG marketer, instantly sold. This is how Sara Lee’s “white” whole grain bread nails the moment of truth at shelf—by speaking directly to its real buyer with just the right message. If you’re in CPG, this is the kind of packaging move that moves product.

Wait, Sargento Makes Crackers Now? Not Exactly

Sargento’s known for cheese, not crackers. But when we spotted “Cheese Bakes” in Chicago, we had questions. Is it a cracker? Is it cheese? And what does Nabisco have to do with it?

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