Hardware Podcasts

230: Product Packaging Advice for Your New Hardware Invention

Product Startup · 14 Jun 2024 · 17m

What this episode covers

Elizabeth Corbett, President of Enterprise Sales at AE Global, shares 30 years of packaging expertise with hardware startups, emphasizing that packaging must first protect the product, then represent the brand, and fit the budget. She discusses the critical differences between retail and e-commerce packaging, highlighting sustainability, cost reduction strategies like SIOC (Ship in Own Container), and the risk of porch theft. Corbett illustrates how unboxing experiences can drive viral marketing, citing examples from Tiffany, Wahl, and MeUndies, while advising founders to use packaging as 'free real estate' to connect directly with early customers via QR codes and personal videos.

Most relevant to

early-stage companies

Topics

Mentioned

Companies
AE Global, Tiffany, Starbucks, Estée Lauder, Wahl, MeUndies, Mako Design

Related episodes from other shows

Other shows on the same ground, closest first.

  • People of Packaging · 41m

    37 - Matt Reddington - Packaging industry vet and expert

    Matt Reddington, Director of Global Design Services at Veritiv, discusses his career path from supply chain and procurement at Newell Brands and Carstar to leading Vine, Veritiv’s internal packaging design consultancy. He explains how Vine helps brands, from startups to Fortune 500s, navigate the shift to e-commerce by optimizing unboxing experiences and driving co-growth rather than just cost reduction. Reddington also shares his perspective on the critical need for universal recyclability and holding brand owners accountable for packaging waste to improve sustainability.

    Industrial & consumer product designSustainability & circular products
    6 chapters

  • The Startup CPG Podcast · 54m

    #203 - Packaging Your Brand 101: Jamie Valenti-Jordan and Andy Kurtts

    Jamie Valenti-Jordan, CEO of Catapult Commercialization Services, and Andy Kurtts, founder of Buttermilk Creative, discuss the technical and design aspects of CPG packaging. Valenti-Jordan explains how to protect products from oxygen, moisture, and shipping damage, while advising founders to use standard packaging formats to keep co-manufacturing costs low. Kurtts details how to balance shelf standout with category norms, using examples like Graza and NoBull to illustrate successful format choices. The guests emphasize that packaging must align with brand promises, comply with regulations, and support marketing goals from the earliest stages.

    Packaging designManufacturing partners & offshoring
    6 chapters

  • Thoroughly Considered · 50m

    8: Packaging

    Dan Provost and Tom Gerhardt of Studio Neat discuss the strategic role of packaging in their direct-to-consumer business, contrasting their minimalist, mail-optimized designs with Apple's high-end retail packaging. They detail specific solutions for products like the Neat Ice Kit and Cosmonaut, explaining how they balance custom printing with off-the-shelf components from suppliers like U-Line to manage costs and assembly labor. The conversation highlights the trade-offs between aesthetic delight and operational efficiency, particularly when dealing with third-party fulfillment centers and shipping constraints.

    Packaging designDesign for manufacturing & NPI
    10 chapters

  • The Startup CPG Podcast · 45m

    #233 - Ask-Me-Anything: Marketing with Janice Greenwald

    Janice Greenwald, a fractional CMO with 20 years of experience at companies like Sabra and Unilever, advises early-stage CPG brands on marketing strategy, budgeting, and packaging. She argues that social media and PR are long-term brand-building tools rather than immediate sales drivers, recommending that 60-70% of a velocity-focused budget be spent on tactics like Instacart and Inmar. Greenwald highlights specific packaging failures, such as Sabra's custom salsa container that didn't fit shelf space, and emphasizes the importance of measuring retail dimensions and designing for the actual merchandised side of the package.

    Marketing & brandPackaging design
    7 chapters

  • People of Packaging · 39m

    80 - Talking packaging design with Joey Rippole from Conran Design Group

    Joey Rippole, a designer at Conran Design Group, discusses his transition from architecture to packaging design and the interdisciplinary nature of the work. He explains how packaging serves as a tangible extension of brand strategy, particularly in the healthcare and pharmaceutical sectors where functional constraints and patient perception create complex design challenges. Rippole highlights the increased importance of packaging in the e-commerce era, where the unboxing experience replaces the retail shelf interaction, requiring brands to invest more heavily in structural and visual design to drive value.

    Industrial & consumer product designMarketing & brand
    5 chapters

The summary, chapters and topics are generated from the episode’s audio by this directory, not written by Product Startup. The episode itself belongs to its publisher.