Objective

As part of its largest design overhaul in over a decade, Birds Eye set out to optimize packaging across its portfolio. The goal was to make products easier for shoppers to locate in the freezer aisle, increase on-shelf stand-out and attract more shoppers to the category. 

Challenges

  • Frozen aisles are visually crowded environments where shoppers make fast decisions. 
  • Birds Eye needed to ensure its new pack designs would cut through competing products, clearly communicate key information and outperform previous designs on shelf. 
  • The team also required robust, data-driven evidence to support design decisions and demonstrate category leadership with retail partners. 

Method

Birds Eye partnered with Dragonfly AI to optimize packaging throughout the design process.
Using Dragonfly AI’s predictive visual attention technology, the team tested packaging concepts in realistic in-store shelf environments.

The platform analyzed how shoppers would naturally view and navigate the aisle, enabling the team to optimize designs before launch.

Key metrics

Attention Power Factor

How strongly a pack attracts attention relative to its shelf space

eye-1 Share of Attention 

Visual attention captured versus competitors

Visibility Visibility

Likelihood of the pack being seen 

Digestibility Digestibility

How clearly key information is communicated 
This enabled the Birds Eye team to refine designs that were easier to find, easier to understand and more competitive on shelf.
metrics-img

Results

Dragonfly AI helped Birds Eye optimize packaging designs to significantly improve on-shelf performance across key product ranges. 

shelves Shelf performance

+65%
Visibility for Birds Eye Fish vs previous design
+45%

Share of attention vs competitors

+13%

Attention power factor for Potato range and Peas & Steamfresh vs previous design

+15%
Digestibility for Birds
Eye fish range vs competitors

chart-mixed-up-circle-currency-1 Business impact

The packaging optimization contributed to measurable portfolio growth
+1.9%

 year-on-year volume growth

+0.7%

year-on-year value growth

For a £700m brand, 1% growth represents approximately £7m in annualized revenue, highlighting the commercial impact of improving packaging visibility and shopper attention.
“Our Masterbrand project was the biggest design overhaul in over a decade. With our partnership with Dragonfly AI, we optimized our new packaging from creation right through to execution, testing our new designs in store and on shelf as a consumer would find them. The tool gave us confidence in our design decisions and allowed us to demonstrate category leadership with our customers, resulting in a design that makes it easier for consumers to shop Birds Eye”.
Mike Sowerby | marketing director, Birds Eye UK & Ireland