254. Is Your CPG Brand Converting Gen Z?

0:01Welcome to Startup to Scale, a podcast by FoodBevy. I'm your host, Jordan Buckner. Join me as I talk to aspiring entrepreneurs, seasoned industry experts, and everyone in between as we unlock the keys to growing from startup to scale.

0:18Gen Z is not shopping the same way millennials did, and they're definitely not responding to the same packaging design playbook. So I'm really excited to really talk through how Gen Z is discovering brands. They're doing it online first a lot of times. Some are doing it in retail, but they're forming opinions fast. They have a different design aesthetic. I've seen a lot of prioritization for maximalism over minimalism. And many of the signals that worked for millennials, like claims-heavy packaging and rigid design rules, just don't hit in the same way anymore. So to talk through this, I have invited on our food body branding expert, Sanders, who's the founder of Nuix Creative.

0:56And we're going to be breaking down how Gen Z discover products and how design can impact their purchasing decisions. Welcome back to the show, Sanders. Yeah.

1:05Sanders:Hey, Jordan. Great to be here. Thanks for having me. All right. So, you know, how Gen Z are discovering products for the first time from what you've seen in your research and just looking at branding, what does it take for a brand to get noticed amongst this younger consumer group now? Yeah, I mean, it's definitely evolved. Boomers were more of, you know, finding items in stores physically. Our generation started seeing things more online from analog to digital. Gen Z is a digital first approach. And a lot of them are actually using TikTok or Instagram in place of search engines. I think it was around 40 % estimated Gen Z consumers are actually using online social platforms like Instagram and TikTok instead of search engines.

1:52Sanders:I think that has evolved as well, right? If you go back, you know, our parents and boomer generations, they had real food. And so they trusted brands because they didn't have processed food, right? And then processed food was introduced in our generation. and you have things like McDonald's, which literally doesn't even decompose, right? The animals won't even eat it. And so now we had to start putting those claims to kind of call attention, like what is healthy? What is fake food? What's not? The problem is I think the transparency has also evolved for the Gen Z because there's that pendulum of when you start introducing things and it starts becoming healthy, you put those claims, but then marketers find a way to kind of cheat that and you still have workarounds like vitamin water having a ton of sugar, right?

2:37Sanders:or something that's advertised as sugar-free. But then when you read the back ingredients, you realize, hey, this has sucralose and it's got artificial sweeteners, which are even worse than regular sugar for mental health and brain and everything like that. So Gen Z started to see through that. So a lot of these big claims, they still have to check the back. They still have to check what are the ingredients inside. And so I think there's that transparency evolution of us using packaging design to kind of shortcut and go directly to that because they're going to have to check the back. They're going to have to check the ingredients.

3:11Sanders:They're not necessarily going to fully trust those claims unless they're third party certified. And that's where I think the evolution is even is changing is they're looking more for third party certification like USDA organic versus just saying these are all natural ingredients or using marketing language that implies it's healthy. But maybe when you check the ingredients, it's not right. RxBard is a great example of that. They changed their whole packaging design years ago, and they just listed what the ingredients were on the front. They made it very simple, very transparent, and it's used as a really great use case today as an example of showing full transparency.

3:49Sanders:So a lot of Gen Z is looking for what are the actual ingredients and not the claims. They want the proof over the promise. Another thing is like sustainability. You've probably heard the term greenwashing or some people call it health washing where you put a sustainability claim, but then you're really not a sustainable company or a sustainable product. And I think it was estimated that 88 % of Gen Z's consumers distrust brands eco-friendly claims. They're going to look into it. And if they discover that you're not truthful about the claims, then that can really hurt your sales. I think there's also somewhat of a protein bubble that's a little bit cracking and popping or certain ingredients that we have a bubble where we're over advertising them.

4:33Sanders:And two things are happening. Like one, culturally, maybe millennials, for example, might care a lot about protein. Gen Z, you know, you have a large demographic that maybe isn't exercising as much or care as much, but you're also being desensitized to it as well. Right. You're seeing protein in everything. then you start not trusting the brands that maybe don't have quality protein or the need for it. You know, it kind of reminds me of when I start seeing there are wines being labeled as gluten-free and vegan, right? And you're like, obviously, wine is gluten-free and vegan. Like, why do you have to say that?

5:05It'd be like labeling like, this steak has 32 grams of protein, right? Like, it's steak. Like, of course it has protein in it.

5:13Sanders:Yeah. And so they're really looking for that proof over the promise, right? For millennials, the front of the package was kind of our resume for the health claims. And it worked really well. And I think it's still very valid and very beneficial. But for Gen Z, the front of the package is more of a vibe, more of an aesthetic. The proof of health has to be moved to the back of the pack to some extent and into the ingredients list, like I mentioned, or just having transparent ingredients. And then on to the third party certifications. They're going to value that a lot more than just an ad hoc claim.

5:47Sanders:And brands need to stop shouting those claims and start building trust through transparency, tangible benefits that support like the modern holistic view. You know, I'm kind of interested in seeing if creator approved labeling makes it on the packaging. There's a person by the name of Bobby Parrish. And I'm not sure if you're familiar with him. He's coming to FlavCity. But he basically started going to like Costco and all these stores reviewing products and has his list on products that are approved. And then he has this thing called Bobby Approved. There's an app. I'll use it sometimes like scan products in the store as a quick check.

6:21And I'm curious to see, I don't think I've really seen it much, but like if products start physically putting like a Bobby approved stamp or seal on their packaging as a shorthand. Whereas people would trust more nonprofit kind of third party certifications if there's going to be any movement towards creator certified or recommended products. notes or if that just changes too much for it to physically show up on the product packaging?

6:47Sanders:That's actually a really good question. I mean, in general, I haven't seen a ton of that. And I think that was definitely an opportunity for that. I could definitely see that coming, although most things are more nationwide versus cultural. So I think there's some risk and mitigation there that it might not blow up as much as like a USDA certification, for example. But at the same time, Gen Z trust online reviews or even influencers substantially at basically at the same level as a personal recommendation. Like that paradigm has shifted. And as going back to earlier, we said we wanted to do digital first.

7:20Sanders:They're looking for user-generated content. They're also looking for like user-generated approvals and recommendations as well. And it's definitely growing in popularity, like you mentioned. You know, I'm curious how you think that might affect things because I was just reading a survey from I think you two where 65 % of Gen Z that they surveyed see themselves as influencers or content creators. And it almost creates this self-cycle where when you search a brand or a product, a lot of those people might be either paid or attempting to build a profile or a brand to get paid in the future. And so I wonder if that arose trust or if it's like people just already, like they can easily see you through which things are maybe more like actually paid ads or sponsor kind of influencer pros versus authentic reviews?

8:12Sanders:I think that's a good question as well. And I think the pendulum will continue to kind of swing each way, right? If you look at when influencer marketing first came in, everyone trusted all influencers. And then the bigger you got, you know, like now we know if Kim Kardashian is posting something, she's getting paid millions of dollars. And that where that shifted is the micro versus macro influencers, right? The macro influencers use for brand awareness, not for trust and not for sales conversions. There's a big misconception there, right? Because you're going to get that big influence and the big brand awareness, but they don't trust them.

8:46Sanders:They don't trust the Kim Kardashians of the world. They're going to trust those micro influencers that are like more in root, more connected to their audience. And I think the same thing is going to happen and evolve with with you know even at the micro level i think consumers will start to start seeing through what is what is paid for what is not but i think they're still going to have gen z in general has a bigger connection to online trust than we've seen from previous generations so when it comes to branding and packaging right some of the physical elements as they show up in the brand identity what kind of design changes are you seeing coming into the market that's signaling a different type of product pack or maybe like the brand names are just really large or bright and colorful packaging or things like that yeah so there's like a few you're talking about like like the design language yes yeah so with the design languages there's multiple trends that are coming in one one kind of set the stage a little bit i will say is that a lot of the design language and trends with gen z looked at as almost like pieces of a puzzle like you can have overlapping design styles and design languages and you can use components from each.

9:55Sanders:It's not necessarily just minimalism or just like a vintage style. So right now, like dopamine design, or I always butcher the name, it's like dopaminergic, but I always just say dopamine design. That's a huge trend that I really love. And it's about like having instant joy and kind of like riots, the mood altering colors, contrasting colors, things that you normally wouldn't see, but it still lives in the world of minimalism to some extent. It really builds a unique brand experience that's what customers are looking for is they're looking for experiences so with every design language we're seeing like dopamine design for kind of instant joy bold minimalism which just elevates the existing direction of of minimalism but a little bit louder we're seeing things like the neo vintage style that future retroism is is is pretty big and growing even more you see that like in video games a lot like arc raiders distorted realism is another one that you're starting to see even like in cultural brands that does a really great job um and then like freak design where you're actually trying to make the ugly is cool like an example that would be liquid death where they've hyper nation to say we're going to make kind of a rock rock metal type design into their packaging or another one for like building trust is like indie aesthetics where it looks almost like do-it-yourself authentic overall they're looking for audiences not just great design they're looking for something that does release dopamine that gets them excited you know almost like i don't know if i'm allowed to say on podcasts like the design porn you know they want things that they're that get them excited when they're scrolling when they're seeing on digital screens because that's where they're seeing it first or that they could take photos with and they're basically trying to see authentic like authenticity in design as well as build out more of an experience yeah and there's very much a artistic bent to a lot of this and i think those feelings of like make me feel something as you mentioned from the product and even looking at designs from um you know like fish wife the hen seafood brand like it's a very artistic aesthetic on the packaging it looks like a hand-drawn or uh and there's a brand rotten the candy brand is kind of like a gross kind of grotesque uh aesthetic to it But it's very much like working with an artist to actually hand draw the packaging, right?

12:15And bringing in some of that aesthetic, which is really interesting because I think it lends itself into people either like, yeah, I love this. This connects with me or it doesn't. But it makes people feel something one way or the other.

12:26Sanders:Yeah, absolutely. And I will say like for brands, the key for brands is not to just pick a design language off a trend list. Because like I said, a lot of these trends, you're not just living and breathing individually. They're key components, right? If you take in like the Cyrillus design, a lot of times that's on the logo, but that could be matched with bold minimalism or with dopamine design. But they're looking to understand the why behind the trend. And that's where the authenticity comes in, because the design style that you pick needs to match both your brand, your brand narrative, as well as the product and the product experience.

13:02How important is it for existing brands and market to adjust their design aesthetic to match something that might align more with a Gen Z aesthetic? Like, is that seen as potentially coming off as like inauthentic to be like, oh, wait, why did you like make this change? Or like, can brands do it? And if so, what are the steps that you need to take?

13:22Sanders:So that's a great question. I mean, one of the reasons I wanted to be on this podcast is this is a hot question that we get asked constantly. I think any business that's trying to stay relevant is going to try to target Gen Z and ask that question, how do we target them? Because you have to, you have to target the next, the next demographic and the next generation coming in. Otherwise, as your demographic and your current audience gets older, and they retire or die in the future, you're going to run out of customers, right? So you have to go into but you need to be authentic. If you try to just follow trends, for example, it's not going to work.

13:57Sanders:And so that's where I said that you have to match the style of your brand with your brand narrative and with your brand message. They can see through if it's not authentic. And I think if it doesn't match, then sometimes that boldness or trying to follow a trend or trying to target Gen Z will actually hurt you because you're not going to be authentic, right? And there's a couple of things that can hurt you there is if you have like boldness that sacrifices clarity. You should still have clarity of your product, of what it is, who it's for, and how it helps them. That is one of the key things. You also need to be authentic.

14:36Sanders:And your design needs to feel authentic versus deceptive, right? It needs the taste versus the design. If the product look one way and has, you know, let's say, just for example, if it's very bold, if it's loud, or if you use like freak design like liquid death, but it doesn't match the target audience or the product, then you're going to have some confusion or misalignment with the target audience, right? Everything has to align with the target audience. What's anything to do? You have to look at the target audience and then the market, look at the problem, the solution, and then you can create the product that matches that.

15:11Sanders:But the design has to match that and the authenticity behind it. And if you try to be, follow the trend of, you know, one of the trends is that freak designer or even like the dopamine or bold minimalism, for example, if it doesn't align, if you do random just to be random, then it won't have that personality. You can't just make things to fit into the mold of Gen Z because then you won't be authentic and that can really hurt your sales as well. Yeah, I think that's so interesting because I think then a lot of the brands I know who are existing in market, they're like, how do I start adjusting?

15:43Like if I should do anything, I think they're coming from a place where it feels, I think, you know, this is a heavy word, but it feels performative in a way a little bit, right? Like I want to target this demographic and whenever you think that, it's already not authentic, right? And so how do you then start to manifest that for your brand? And I don't think, I mean, do you think every brand should look to change or do you think that not every brand needs to adapt one of these design aesthetics? No, I don't think every brand needs to change.

16:13Sanders:I think if you're changing just to fit a mold or just to align with Gen Z, then you're going to miss the point and you're actually going to miss Gen Z altogether, right? They're looking for authenticity. And the short answer is don't follow the trends. Be who you are as a brand. Now, you might need to update your designs so they don't look outdated and they look more contemporary. But that's a reimagination of and a continuous evolution of your brand that all brands need to do. But you shouldn't be, hey, we're going, you know, we've been A, B, and C, and I want to now change and pivot to X, Y, Z just to get that consumer base.

16:47Sanders:They're going to see through that, right? They're going to see through that authenticity or that lack of authenticity. And it's better to actually first identify who your brand is, what your brand narrative is, what is the style that you're looking for. And you can make those updates and you can try to pivot and align with Gen Z. But if you just chase trends or try to get them without being authentic to the brand voice, the narrative and the experience, they're going to see through that. And that's actually going to hurt you even more. Yeah, I think that's so important. So don't just jump into something without having a clear strategy behind it.

17:19Sanders:So if you are working on a limited budget, how do you go about approaching this? That is a really great question, especially for startups, right? Because you're on a limited budget, you're looking at everything and you're asking yourself, what do I do? What are the biggest high impact? And I think the two biggest high impact changes that you could make that are evergreen, that doesn't have to do with Gen Z, it has to do with any demographic that you're trying to target. and it's probably first color and topography because that's the first thing that's gonna grab your attention. Whether you're doing peripheral selling and trying to grab their attention on the shelf or trying to stop them online when they're scrolling, you can use contrast and other tactics, but the color and topography are immediately gonna set the tone.

17:58Sanders:They're gonna set the stage. And then after that is clarity. The visual hierarchy, the message hierarchy, the customers have to know exactly what the product is, who it's for and what the benefits are. And if you make the design too busy or too loud, you're going to lose them. You only have about 3 to 12 seconds to really identify if you're going to purchase the product or even pay more attention to the product. And you need to convert them quickly. And there's usually about three things on a packaging design that you can have as the primary elements to grab their attention before they dive deep.

18:30Sanders:Those are probably the two I would start with first. And then do you see just within there, like if you're taking one of these designs, you're like, hey, I want to find an artist to design some really cool packaging. Have you worked with any designers to kind of create custom illustration? You know, how do you kind of go about doing that? Yeah, on my team, we have expert illustrators that we do custom illustrations. We can do all types of custom designs. And so we can make every flavor unique to the brand. We can create custom illustrations for the brand or marketing material or motion graphics or 3D animation.

19:04Sanders:And so we have all of that in-house that looks amazing, but also is very strategic. And we design everything to actually convert and increase those sales for the customers, for the clients. Yeah, if you're making packaging design changes, do you expect that to impact sales? And how do you think about the ROI from it? Yeah, absolutely. Your packaging is going to, you're not there to demo a product at a store. You're definitely not there to demo a product online. I mean, there are marketing ways that you can do that. But your packaging has to tell your brand story. It has to inform the customer what the product is, who it's for, what the benefits are, what the value is for them specifically.

19:46Sanders:And it has to do that quickly. And it has to tell your brand story and your mission behind it. And so that canvas has to be the narrator, even if you're not there in the store or online. And when you optimize your designs, you can optimize it to one, stand out from a competition. You can optimize it so that it actually speaks directly to your ideal target audience and your customers, not the wrong audience. And so that's how you build more loyal customers. And then it has to tell enough information to help increase those conversions. And so it becomes a sales tool when done properly, because especially in a digital first approach, not only can it help you go viral, help you spread your product aware more visually, but it also can help increase those sales for you as well.

20:32That's awesome. Sanders, thanks so much for joining me today and talking through this new approach to packaging. If you're listening and you're either creating a new product or a new brand or have an existing one and you want to understand how your branding may adapt to be more accessible to different demographics, definitely reach out to Sanders. He's happy to talk about how NUX Creative can help you. So check out the details in the show notes. Sanders, thanks for being on today. Thanks for having me, Jordan.