Projects to do

A new brand has little money for ads, so it must give shopkeepers a good reason to stock it and keep it visible.

Quick-delivery apps and neighbourhood shops stock different mixes of products, and brands must decide where each pack belongs.

Demand for some drinks swings with the weather and festivals, and a brand that stocks and advertises at the wrong time loses sales.

A small brand cannot afford big stars, so it must pick small creators wisely and tell them clearly what it wants.

A brand may look strong in one kind of shop and nearly vanish in another, and the shelf is where that difference shows.

Shoppers hear health words in ads all the time, but it is hard to tell which claims are specific and which are only a feeling.

Toothpastes sit in different positions in shoppers' minds, and a brand that is vague about its place gets squeezed.

Brands guess what customers care about, while thousands of public reviews already say it in the customers' own words.

A festive season has a short run-up, and a brand that starts late or says the same thing every week wastes its moment.

A direct-to-consumer brand has only a web page and a few reviews to win trust from a stranger who cannot touch the product.

A brand sees a sale at the till, but the real decision begins with a craving and ends with whether the person buys again.

Pack sizes are priced so that moving up looks like a bargain, but sometimes the large pack is not cheaper per gram at all.

A juice brand has to balance cost, shelf life, weight, shop breakage and what shoppers think of each material.

A product passes through several hands before it reaches a rural shelf, and each hand adds time, cost and the chance of running out.

Brands choose English, Hindi or a regional language for the pack front, and the choice may attract some shoppers and put off others.

A trusted brand can stretch into new products, but each stretch risks confusing shoppers and weakening what made it trusted.

Brands want to cut packaging waste but worry that a new wrapper will cost more, spoil the product or confuse shoppers.