The difference in one table
| Packaging refresh | Full rebrand | |
|---|---|---|
| What changes | How the brand works on pack: hierarchy, typography, colour discipline, imagery, range structure, mandatory information layout | The brand itself: positioning, audience, personality, often the identity and sometimes the name, then all the packaging |
| What stays | The brand's recognisable assets: the mark, the core colour, the shape cues shoppers use to find you | Only what is deliberately carried over, if anything |
| Risk to existing customers | Low, if the recognisable assets are kept | Real: loyal buyers can lose you on shelf for a while |
| Typical scope | Pack design and artwork across the range | Strategy, identity, packaging system, artwork, and usually beyond the pack |
| Typical timing | Four to eight weeks for a single product, longer across a range | Months rather than weeks, depending on range size |
There is a middle ground that most good projects actually sit in: refine the identity, keep what shoppers recognise, and rebuild the packaging system properly. That is not a compromise. It is usually the most commercially sensible answer.
When a refresh is the right call
- Shoppers still recognise you, and the positioning is right.
- The range has grown product by product and no longer looks like one family.
- Variants are hard to tell apart, or compete with each other instead of building one brand block on shelf.
- Competitors have moved and your packs now look dated next to them.
- The mandatory information has been squeezed in over time and the pack has lost its hierarchy.
- A retailer is ranging you and the artwork needs to meet their specifications.
James Boag's is a good example. The brand had real heritage equity, but the packaging system had drifted and the variants competed against each other. The work was to audit every shelf-facing element, keep the cues that carried recognition, and sharpen the system around them. It was a refinement, not a replacement.
When you need a full rebrand
- The positioning is wrong: you are priced, made or sold for a different customer than the brand speaks to.
- The business has outgrown the brand: new categories, new channels or a move up in price.
- The name or identity is generic, hard to own, or looks like everyone else in the category.
- Shoppers do not recognise you by anything in particular, so there is little equity to protect.
- A merger, new ownership or legal issue means the old brand cannot continue as it was.
Houndztooth had outgrown its brand, so we built a new identity and a packaging system to carry it across supplements and grooming. Natural Animal Solutions was a ground-up rebrand and system. In both cases there was more to gain from a clear new brand than to lose by changing.
Five questions that decide it
- Recognition. What do shoppers use to find you on shelf: a colour, a mark, a shape, a name? If something works, it should survive.
- Positioning. Is the brand saying the right thing to the right person at the right price? If not, packaging alone will not fix it.
- Shelf hierarchy. From a metre away, can a shopper read the brand, the product and the variant in that order? Hierarchy problems are usually a refresh.
- Range consistency. Does every product look like it belongs to one family? Inconsistency across a range is usually a refresh with range architecture, not a rebrand.
- Distinctiveness. Take the logo off. Would anyone know it was you? If not, there is a stronger case for rebuilding the identity.
Heritage brands: change carefully
For a long-established brand, every cue is a trust marker. Remove the wrong one and loyal buyers walk past you. Leave everything as it is and you look dated next to new entrants. The job is to rank what carries recognition, protect it, and modernise the rest. Cenovis, co-designed with Cowan Design, is one example on this website of bringing a heritage brand into the present without erasing what made shoppers reach for it.
What changing your packaging means in practice
- Stock and print runs. Plan the changeover so existing packaging sells through, and order the new print against it.
- Retailer notice. Retailers set their own rules for artwork changes. Chemist Warehouse, for example, asks for 90 days notice and treats a major artwork change as a new line. Check each retailer's process before you set a launch date.
- Barcodes. A pack redesign alone does not usually need a new barcode, but a change to the product, size or count often does. Check the GS1 rules for your change.
- Artwork and compliance. Every pack is re-artworked and re-checked: mandatory information, allergens, net quantity, barcodes, retailer specifications.
- Online. Product images on your website, marketplaces and retailer listings all need updating at the same time.
- Cost. A refresh costs less than a rebrand because the strategy and identity work is smaller. The calculator on this website gives an estimate for both.
If you are not sure which you need, that is a normal place to start. Send me your current packs and what is not working, and I will tell you honestly which one I think it is.
Questions people ask
A refresh keeps the brand and improves how it works on pack: hierarchy, legibility, colour, range consistency and layout. A rebrand changes the brand itself, its positioning, audience and identity, and then rebuilds the packaging on top.
Common signs are a range that no longer looks like one family, variants that are hard to tell apart, packs that look dated next to competitors, and mandatory information that has crowded out the hierarchy. If shoppers still recognise you and the positioning is right, a refresh is usually enough.
It can, if the things shoppers use to find you are removed. Keeping the recognisable assets, such as the core colour, mark or shape, and changing the rest is how a refresh avoids losing loyal buyers.
Yes, usually. A refresh skips most of the strategy and identity work and focuses on the packs. The estimator on this website gives a range for both, and every project is fixed against a written scope.
Not usually for a design change alone. A change to the product, size or pack count often does need a new GTIN. Check the GS1 Australia rules for your specific change.
Want a second pair of eyes on your artwork?
Morice has spent 20+ years getting packs through print, compliance and onto shelf at Coles, Woolworths, Chemist Warehouse and more. Tell us about your project and we will come back with a fixed written scope, with a proposal within five working days.
Sources
Published . Last reviewed . Next scheduled review . Regulatory content is re-checked against the primary sources above at each review. See our editorial standards.
