The short version
Every CPG design organization is climbing the same curve, from a function that reviews work to a capability embedded deep enough in the business to set direction. Across 250-plus brands and the comps they order, the same six stages show up: Brand-Led, Innovation-Framed, Category-Distributed, Mandate in Transition, Embedding, and Compounding. Most leaders can feel which stage they’re in. Naming it’s what changes the next decision, because the stage you occupy decides what you should build next.
The brands where design visibly sets direction, a Liquid Death or an e.l.f., didn’t get there with prettier work; they climbed the curve until design sat close enough to the business to decide what got built. For a brand manager, that explains why the same budget lands differently in two companies. For a design leader, it’s a map of the mandate you’re trying to earn.
What’s the embedded design curve?
It’s the path design travels inside a CPG company as it moves from a service that reviews work to a capability that sets direction. The stages are visible in the order flow long before they show up on an org chart.
What are the six stages?
Brand-Led, Innovation-Framed, Category-Distributed, Mandate in Transition, Embedding, and Compounding. Each one changes what design is allowed to touch, how fast decisions get made, and what design delivers to the business.
How do we tell which stage we’re in?
Most leaders can feel it. The tells are who calls, how often, with how much urgency, and whose budget. Naming the stage honestly is the move, because it decides what to build next.
Bob Jennings is the CEO of 3D Color, where comps, prototypes, and sales samples are 100% of the business. This essay is part of Pack Futures, 3D Color’s ongoing series on the future of packaging and design.