Top reasons to test early in the packaging design cycle:

• Save time and costs: It's cheaper and easier to fix issues at the design stage compared to post-launch adjustments.
• Validate ideas before launch: Early feedback shows if a design aligns with your brand’s positioning and consumer expectations.
• Align teams: Objective data can help internal stakeholders agree on a direction, reducing subjective debate.
• Uncover hidden biases: What resonates with your internal team may not reflect real-world consumer responses.

How Zappi fits into the packaging design process:

• Explore ideas: Quickly gather directional feedback on early-stage sketches or concepts.
• Iterate designs: Compare multiple package variations and identify which elements drive clarity and appeal.
• Benchmark success: Use proprietary databases to see how your designs perform compared to industry leaders.

The Zappi platform is designed to make testing packaging and visual identity ideas faster, easier, and more data-driven. For many marketing and insights teams, Zappi provides an efficient way to gather consumer feedback on creative elements without waiting for lengthy research cycles. But what exactly can you test with Zappi when it comes to packaging and design?

Design Cues and Brand Elements

With Zappi, you can test specific design cues to understand how visual elements are perceived by consumers. This includes things like:

• Color palettes
• Fonts and typography
• Imagery and iconography
• Logo placement and size
• Layout and white space usage

This kind of visual identity research helps teams confirm whether design choices align with brand values and elicit the right emotional response from consumers.

Packaging Reactions and Shelf Impact

Packaging is often the first physical interaction consumers have with your product. Using Zappi, you can gather automated consumer feedback for packaging to test how noticeable, appealing, or trustworthy a design appears on a digital shelf. Fictional examples might include:

- A natural food brand testing if using kraft paper textures communicates “organic” better than vibrant colors.
- A CPG startup exploring whether minimalist design resonates more with Gen Z or appears too generic.

In both cases, packaging insights collected through the Zappi platform help brands make design choices with confidence.

Comparative Testing Across Concepts

Another strength of Zappi is the ability to test several design options side by side. Through A/B or multivariate testing, brands can identify which packaging concept performs best on key metrics like purchase intent, shelf standout, or brand fit.

This comparative design testing is especially useful during early-stage development, when multiple creative drafts are still being explored. Zappi helps teams avoid guesswork by indicating clear consumer preferences with statistically backed data.

In short, Zappi enables quick and reliable packaging design testing for CPG brands and many others. By focusing on individual elements and full-pack experiences, teams can validate whether their creative execution is helping or hurting the brand experience.

Automated market research platforms like Zappi are revolutionizing how teams collect insights. But while the speed and efficiency are impressive, using these tools in isolation can sometimes lead to missed opportunities or misinterpreted results. That’s where expert input makes a major difference.

Data Without Direction Can Fall Flat

DIY tools deliver quick results – but interpreting what those results mean for your brand strategy requires experience. For example, Zappi might show that Concept A has stronger packaging appeal than Concept B. But what about nuance? Are there specific design cues driving that preference? Is it resonating differently with sub-segments that matter most to your growth strategy?

Without a trained research eye, it’s easy to fall into the trap of surface-level learnings. As insights teams grow more DIY-savvy, pairing tools like Zappi with seasoned insight professionals ensures that research remains actionable and on-target.

DIY Doesn’t Mean Do It Alone

The appeal of DIY platforms isn't just their autonomy – it's in empowering teams to work smarter, not harder. But even the smartest platforms benefit from human interpretation, especially when it comes to

• Framing the right research questions
• Segmenting audiences for better accuracy
• Turning data into business storytelling
• Translating visuals into strategic design decisions

These are areas where insights experts shine. They help teams go beyond “what the data says” to understand “why it matters.”

Balancing Speed with Strategy

Quick access to consumer feedback is a huge advantage. But speed can sometimes encourage reactive thinking. By working alongside professionals who understand broader brand goals, you ensure each round of visual identity research or packaging design testing supports the long-term vision, not just today’s sprint.

In short, the value of DIY tools like Zappi is amplified when brands also invest in the strategic layer – the expert interpretation that turns datapoints into direction. Used well, this combination creates a lean, high-impact insights function that meets today’s need for speed... without compromising quality.

As research teams lean into platforms like Zappi to run automated packaging testing and visual identity research, many discover they need more than just tools – they need the people who know how to use them strategically. That’s where SIVO’s On Demand Talent makes a lasting impact.

Expertise That Hits the Ground Running

SIVO’s On Demand Talent are not freelancers or temporary hires. They’re experienced consumer insights professionals who bring a deep understanding of brand strategy, research design, and innovation testing. Whether your team is short on time, gaps in specific skills, or navigating a hiring freeze, On Demand Talent can step in within days to:

• Design high-quality research using tools like Zappi
• Help interpret and activate findings effectively
• Teach your team how to get the most from DIY platforms
• Ensure data remains aligned with business and brand goals

In practice, this means turning a quick test into a meaningful insight story – not just data.

Scaling Without Sacrificing Quality

One common pitfall of adopting DIY research tools for brand packaging is believing they can fully replace expert thinking. While Zappi streamlines testing, great results still require smart hypotheses, sharp analysis, and strong communication of findings. On Demand Talent ensures nothing slips through the cracks during fast-paced cycles of test-and-learn.

For example, perhaps you’re launching a new product and running parallel packaging tests. An On Demand expert can manage setup, synthesize results, and advise how findings should be shared across marketing, product, and design teams – all without hiring full-time staff or overloading current team members.

Building Long-Term Capability

Beyond short-term support, On Demand Talent also helps you strengthen internal skills. Think of it like having a mentor embedded in your team: someone who not only delivers outcomes, but also helps your team build confidence and capability in using platforms like Zappi moving forward.

Whether your company is just starting its Zappi journey or looking to scale usage across regions, SIVO’s flexible insights experts can be the partner you've been missing. You get the horsepower of a seasoned researcher – without the cost or time of headcount expansion.