When the Rules Change, Strong Brands Stay Consistent

The motivations for a packaging redesign often relate to a desire to refresh the brand and boost its chances of being chosen at shelf. But sometimes, changes are driven by external factors—leaving marketing and design teams scrambling for answers.

Take a look at recent events in America, with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2024 introducing new laws around nutritional labeling. The crackdown mandated greater transparency on the reporting of preservatives and artificial additives on packaging.

So when the goal posts are suddenly shifted, how do brands ensure compliance without compromising their on-shelf impact? And, perhaps more importantly, how do they ensure they don’t lose sight of what actually drives consumer choice?

Strong brands are built on a clear proposition that taps into consumers’ most important wants and needs in the category. In the case of the snacking category, that’s usually great taste first and foremost, but it can sometimes be backed by a secondary reassurance of being better for you. But even when the proposition is clear, communicating this in a way that doesn’t compromise the brand’s visibility at shelf can be a delicate balancing act.

Therefore, if regulatory additions become the dominant story on pack, the core drivers of choice risk being diluted. After all, consumers rarely put something in their shopping basket because it meets a regulatory definition; they make decisions based on what tastes good, feels like a good choice, and addresses other important wants and needs.

In response to FDA changes, iconic chip brand Lay’s launched the biggest redesign in the brand’s nearly 100-year history. Unsurprisingly, its health geared “Baked” range came under particular scrutiny.

With the old pack featuring a clear and simple design that heroed the product’s baked proposition (supported by a “65% less fat” call out), the updated design introduced several new health callouts (such as being “made with olive oil” and “not fried”) while also dialing down the less fat claim (from 65% to 50%).

But despite numerous changes, the new pack’s reconfigured visual hierarchy, richer color blocking, and typographic enhancements helped improve clarity and increase the saliency of key design elements (including sub-brand and variant labeling). As such, the new pack was successful at ensuring the key drivers of choice remained easy for shoppers to access and process.

Crucially, the redesign also strongly aligned with Lay’s classic aesthetic, with its richer yellow and more prominent (albeit subtly altered) lockup helping the brand leverage shoppers’ propensity to choose what feels familiar. And while the color shift did raise concerns of being more category-generic, the new design ultimately boosted claimed purchase intent and perceptions of value for money.

So, in terms of navigating regulatory changes, the brands that are most successful make the necessary adjustments while continuing to prioritize what truly matters: maintaining visibility at shelf and emphasizing the key drivers of choice. And regulation should ultimately reinforce that story, not overshadow it.

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