Package Design - April 2012 - 22

Q& A
PrescriPtion

Meghan Labot
Vice president of strategy, Spring Design Partners

for Profits
Taking on challenging medical-packaging applications can reap rewards.

harmaceutical and healthcare markets represent tremendous opportunities for packaged-goods companies. Industry research firm Business Monitor International pegs the value of the 2011 U.S. pharmaceutical market at $331.3 billion and the medical device market at $133 billion. More importantly, the researchers say both markets grew last year and are expected to keep on growing, thanks to an aging population and unregulated pricing for pharmaceuticals. These markets present several challenges for package designers, who must navigate projects through a plethora of regulations. Designers also need to meet the marketing needs of brands that want to appeal to patients and healthcare providers (HCPs) alike. Package Design sat down with Meghan Labot, vice president of strategy at Spring Design Partners (New York, NY), who’s acutely aware of the perils and promise of designing for these profitable markets. One of Labot’s most recent healthcare-packaging projects involved creating a new visual strategy for medical-device products sold by Abbott—one of the world’s largest medical and pharmaceutical brands.

PD: What are some of the top design trends in healthcare packaging?
Meghan Labot: Recently, we’ve seen many pharmaceutical brands shift to a more consumer-centric approach. Previously, many companies saw packaging as a functional requirement and approached design to simply explain what’s inside the box. Competition is forcing companies to differentiate their brands and build relationships with patients. Increased attention is being paid to packaging design, and increased interest in consumer insight is driving visual strategy and design execution. Brands also want to elevate the user experience while ensuring compliance (correct dosage and usage). Consumer research is helping brands understand how patients and HCPs engage with the product, whether it’s a drug or a healthcare device. This is resulting in package design that includes instructional panels on how to use a device, or blister pill packs with the correct dosage visually cued as “Day 1, Day 2” and so on. There’s also a greater emphasis on sustainability. Specifically with healthcare devices, we’ve seen a movement toward using less packaging. The many

other priorities of healthcare-device packaging continue to make sustainable design a challenge, though.

What challenges do package designers face when working on pharmaceutical and healthcare projects?
The biggest challenge is navigating the legal requirements, especially when dealing with global brands. Every country in the world has different mandates. Coupled with this comes the challenge of maintaining a powerful design aesthetic. Design compromises will need to be made, and the challenge is determining what those compromises should be. Consumer insights can help prioritize a visual strategy to ensure that the design works hard to build a relationship with the patient or HCP, while at the same time adhering to legal mandates. Unlike many other packaged-goods categories, healthcare and pharmaceutical packages have two major decision makers. The HCP is often the most influential person in the purchase process. Compliance and functionality are major priorities for an HCP, who usually is less concerned about the emotional connection between the brand and a patient.

april 2012

Package Design - April 2012

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