Not every product needs a dazzling pack. In fact, some of the most effective packs out there are the least flashy. Simple, familiar, easy to spot and use, these are the qualities shoppers are gravitating toward. More and more, functionality is winning over flair, argues Dr. Will Caruso, senior marketing scientist at Ehrenberg-Bass Institute.
The idea that people are drawn to “ugly” packaging has been popping up in industry conversations. But the reality is this: people aren’t choosing ugly, they’re choosing practical. They want packaging that fits into their life, helps them find what they’re looking for, and doesn’t make things harder.
And research backs it up.
People Don’t Want Different, They Want Recognisable
We often hear that great design “stands out.” But in retail environments packed with options, standing out isn’t enough, being easy to find again is what matters. In Byron Sharp and Jenni Romaniuk’s book, How Brands Grow Part 2, they explain what really drives consumer choice is distinctiveness, not difference. Shoppers rely on shortcuts like colour, shape, and layout to find brands they know. When these elements change too much, even if they’re more creative, they can cause hesitation—or worse, go unnoticed.
“The goal of branding is not to be different, but to be distinctive… to be seen and noticed quickly, and to be easily linked to the brand.” Byron Sharp and Jenni Romaniuk – How Brands Grow Part 2.
Functionality Is What Actually Gets Noticed
A pack that’s hard to open, confusing to navigate, or awkward to use will be forgotten, no matter how pretty it looks. In my 2021 thesis, Evolution, Not Revolution, I found that the redesigns that succeeded weren’t the boldest or most aesthetic, they were the most familiar. Packs that helped people find the right variant, read key information faster, or just made more sense in context were the ones people preferred.
“Consumers don’t reward creativity for its own sake. They reward clarity, fluency, and confidence at the point of purchase.”
This reflects what we all know instinctively: when you’re in a rush, grabbing groceries, wrangling kids, or standing in a chemist aisle, you’re not admiring fonts. You’re looking for the right product fast.
Looking Too Different Can Actually Hurt
There’s a sweet spot between being eye-catching and being recognisable and that’s especially true when it comes to colour. In a study by Labrecque and Milne (2013), researchers found that deviating from category colour norms can confuse shoppers. A pack that uses unexpected colours might grab attention, but it can also delay decision-making or trigger mistrust if it doesn’t align with what people expect to see.
“Deviation from these norms may be misinterpreted or ignored altogether.” Labrecque & Milne, 2013
So, while it might feel tempting to zig when others zag, sometimes zigging just makes you harder to find.
Mini-Experiment: Which Pack Would You Buy?
To examine how consumers respond to different levels of packaging simplicity and functionality, I ran a between-subjects study in both the United States and the United Kingdom (n = 400 per country, nationally representative by age, gender, and location, 18+). Respondents were recruited via PureSpectrum’s panel and shown four distinct mint packaging designs. They were asked a single question: ‘Which one would you buy?’ with only one pack allowed to be selected. The four designs varied in visual style, as shown in Figure 1.
What Was Found!
Some designers believe minimalist packs should be the most popular. They look clean and honest, like award-winning packs such as RxBar that equated their redesign alone helped drive a 300 per cent approx. 160-million-dollar sales increase. These designs feel modern, simple, and easy to understand especially in busy categories. In the test, the Really Minimal pack did well. It was chosen more than expected in both the UK (37.4 per cent) and US (33.8 per cent). But it wasn’t the top choice. The Half and Half pack which mixes clear layout with a bit of visual design was the most preferred overall (36.3 per cent) and the top choice in the US (39.1 per cent).
Table 1: Percentage preference for unbranded mint pack designs in the UK and US, showing significant deviations from expected frequencies
So, while people do like simple designs, most prefer a balance, not too plain, not too crowded.
How about branding?
The next step tested how branding affects pack choice, helping us explore how brand memory and design interact at shelf. To isolate the effect of branding, we simplified the test to a binary choice – again using PureSpectrum’s panel and the same question, ‘Which one would you buy?’ Respondents chose between a Minimal pack and a Branded pack (as shown in Figure 2), allowing us to clearly observe the influence of branding on preference.
In the UK, 74 per cent of respondents chose the Trebor-branded pack, while only 26 per cent chose the minimalist version. In the US, 87 per cent chose the Mentos-branded pack, and just 13 per cent selected the minimal design. In both countries, the branded pack was overwhelmingly favoured, showing the strong influence of brand recognition, even when the alternative design was clean, modern, and previously well-liked.
These results show that branding has a strong influence on pack choice. In earlier unbranded tests, the Really Minimal design was one of the most preferred. But once branding was added, most people chose the branded pack instead. This shift suggests that brand recognition and familiarity matter more than design alone even when the unbranded option looks clean, modern, or premium.
So what does all this mean for marketers, designers, and packaging teams?
Here’s what the evidence says:
- Make it easy to find your brand: use your distinctive assets consistently, colours, shapes, logos, layout.
- Design for the real-world occasion: think about how the product is used is the packaging intuitive, quick, and comfortable to handle?
- Keep it simple: let the shopper navigate the pack easily. Highlight the variant. Make the functional benefits clear.
- Don’t overdesign or under design: a beautiful pack that confuses people at shelf is worse than a traditional design that gets picked.
So… Is It Really Ugly? Or Just Doing Its Job?
What some call “ugly” is often just practical, familiar, and refreshingly honest. In a world flooded with trends and visual noise, the packs that truly stand out are the ones that keep it simple. They make shopping easier, not harder, and help people choose with confidence. A strong brand identity, built through consistent use of colours, shapes, and layouts, makes your brand easy to find and trust. You do not need to shout or overhaul your look to get noticed. Just be recognisably you. You know me. That’s branding done right.
And no, that’s not ugly. That’s smart.
Dr Will Caruso is a senior marketing scientist at the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute of Marketing Science the world’s largest centre for research into marketing.
