What happens when we consider everyone in innovation? Kelly Dawson believes we see better outcomes for both brands and consumers ahead of her conference session at Packaging Innovations & Empack 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For decades, packaging and products have been unconsciously designed around a \u2018default setting\u2019 consumer. Invariably, that old adage \u2018design for what you know\u2019 means that this consumer often falls into the same demographic, perhaps all too often a young, western consumer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite being the first touchpoint between a product and its audience, packaging has at times overlooked the insights and needs of the rest of the world’s population.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kelly Dawson<\/strong>, Co-founder and Strategy Partner at specialist innovation agency Studio Every, suggests this approach isn\u2019t just suboptimal for many consumer groups \u2013 it\u2019s harmful for brands in the long run, too. It\u2019s a topic she will unpack on stage at Packaging Innovations & Empack 2026, when she takes part in a discussion titled Hidden Women, Visible Impact: The female lens on packaging innovation. And this proactive approach to inclusivity is something she touches on repeatedly when discussing her approach to today\u2019s packaging landscape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The touchpoint you can touch<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n In the world of strategic design, Kelly is the rare sort of professional who has seen it all. Her experience has seen her work on packaging designs for everything from gaming peripherals to medical devices, and from working for some of the world\u2019s largest companies like Unilever to co-founding her own business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI think we underestimate sometimes, certainly in the brand world but even in the packaging world, how much packaging can really do for brands,\u201d she says. \u201cWe underestimate those everyday encounters and interactions that drive brand loyalty. It\u2019s easy to forget the value that it has in brand equity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere\u2019s so much focus on social media and digital marketing, but in consumer goods your greatest asset is the touchpoint of your packaging. But also, it\u2019s just one point on the spectrum, as is the product, brand image, value proposition, and so on. It\u2019s all interlinked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019ve observed a dichotomy in recent years. There are those who are going all in to make packaging one of their greatest assets, an icon even. And there are others who are thinking more about the total experience and being realistic about what packaging innovation really is, when it comes to understanding the context for people and what feels appropriate for the brand. It often doesn\u2019t need to be a major leap. Finding the clues is the hard part, that should make the execution simpler.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n These shifts are challenging traditional ways of thinking around demographics, bridging divides between groups that once felt impassable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The common connection<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Kelly suggests that packaging is key to closing the gaps between demographics. \u201cI think the biggest divide is generational appeal,\u201d she says. \u201cBut there\u2019s a lot of energy spent on how we appeal to Gen Z, for example \u2013 that\u2019s a big age bracket over a decade wide. Who are Gen Z? That\u2019s a lot of people. How do we appeal to Gen A? Gen A have Millennial and Gen Z parents. So, in that case, the shopper and the user \u2013 the person who wants it and pesters for it \u2013 are different. That generational conundrum is the burning issue right now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s a challenge where demographics make me uncomfortable. We struggle to pigeonhole generations. There\u2019s nothing to say a 65-year-old on the cusp of retiring won\u2019t have the same sustainability attitude as a 20-year-old \u2013 but many don\u2019t consider them , because they\u2019re not part of the target group. That challenges me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n This demographic breakdown means that our traditional understanding of packaging design is in need of an update. Kelly believes that this is impossible without brands and designers working together to develop a renewed focus on their value propositions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI think in that instance, you\u2019ve got to push and pull different levers, because you can\u2019t say everything at once in packaging otherwise it\u2019s chaos,\u201d she adds. \u201cSo, you\u2019ve got to think: what are the motivations behind the purchaser, the shopper, the parent in this instance? And what does the end user want? Sometimes, you\u2019ve got to find a happy medium, and you\u2019ve got to find where the value is. We call it the pull \u2013 what\u2019s the consumer pull and why are they going to want what you\u2019ve created as a brand?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n What\u2019s after what\u2019s next?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n In the present day, of course, many other considerations exist. There is no simple solution to packaging innovation challenges. A more nuanced understanding is needed and it\u2019s here that the expertise of professionals like Kelly can add value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOur perspective is always, \u2018have we delivered something that\u2019s going to create a competitive edge in the future?\u2019\u201d she asks. \u201cCall it differentiation, disruption, call it what you like \u2013 it\u2019s got to stand out, show up, and win hearts and minds. We look at the market landscape, where everyone else is selling the same thing but slightly different, and say, \u2018you have a licence to own this space that doesn\u2019t feel occupied.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSome categories can be chaotic as everyone is saying the same things. But for those more ambitious brands, we should talk about what\u2019s after. In the current economic climate, a lot of people don\u2019t have time for that \u2013 it\u2019s all hands-on-deck in the here and now. But from time to time, people look ahead to the beyond the next few years or the next decade. 2030 is getting close from a launch pipeline point of view. And if you\u2019re linking things together, then you\u2019ve got that licence to really get ahead and be a leader in your domain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf I\u2019m being realistic, 80% of your focus must be on what\u2019s next. This helps develop a coherence. No consumer will follow a brand that\u2019s zig-zagging. However, just a little imagination beyond your next launch goes a long way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s an approach that views consumers less as personas of the kind you might find in a marketing presentation, and more as people with wants, needs, and preferences that change over time. Instead of looking at what demographics have done in the past, focus more on what they\u2019re going to do in the future \u2013 this forward-thinking approach is at the heart of successful inclusive design.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" What happens when we consider everyone in innovation? Kelly Dawson believes we see better outcomes for both brands and consumers ahead of her conference session at Packaging Innovations & Empack 2026. For decades, packaging and products have been unconsciously designed around a \u2018default setting\u2019 consumer. Invariably, that old adage \u2018design for what you know\u2019 means<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20627,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[70],"tags":[1196],"class_list":{"0":"post-20626","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-articles","8":"tag-packaging-innovations-empack"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cpmirror.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20626","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cpmirror.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cpmirror.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cpmirror.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cpmirror.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20626"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cpmirror.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20626\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20628,"href":"https:\/\/cpmirror.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20626\/revisions\/20628"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cpmirror.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20627"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cpmirror.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20626"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cpmirror.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20626"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cpmirror.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20626"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}