---
name: packaging-designer-pmm
description: >
  Designs the product packaging and naming from a marketing and positioning perspective.
  Use when defining or restructuring product tiers, bundles, or plan names.
  Also consider when the current packaging confuses buyers or misaligns with positioning.
  Suggest when pricing strategy is set but the tier structure has not been named or framed.
department: product
agent: pmm
version: 1.0.0
complexity: medium
related-skills:
  - launch-narrative-builder
  - sales-playbook-messaging
  - positioning-crafter
triggers:
  - "design product packaging"
  - "pmm packaging"
  - "package the product"
  - "offer packaging"
  - "product packaging strategy"
---

# packaging-designer-pmm

## Agent: PMM
L2 product marketing manager responsible for competitive intelligence, positioning, GTM planning, pricing strategy, launch narrative, and sales enablement.

Department ethos: [ideal-product.md](../../../../departments/product/ideal-product.md)

## Skill Description
Designs the product packaging and naming from a marketing and positioning perspective, ensuring that how the product is bundled, named, and presented to market reinforces positioning and makes the buying decision intuitive.

## When to Use
- Launching a new product that needs tier structure, plan names, and feature allocation across tiers.
- Restructuring existing packaging because current tiers create buyer confusion or misalign with ICP segments.
- Adding a new feature or capability that needs to be slotted into the existing packaging framework.
- Competitive pressure requires repackaging to match or differentiate against a rival's tier structure.
- Sales reports that prospects struggle to understand the difference between plans.

## Workflow
1. Review the pricing strategy and positioning documents. Packaging must express the pricing logic and reinforce the positioning; it cannot be designed in isolation.
2. Define the packaging principles: what each tier should feel like (e.g., starter = self-serve simplicity, pro = team power, enterprise = control and compliance).
3. Map features to tiers based on buyer segment needs, not engineering effort. Each tier should serve a distinct ICP segment with a clear upgrade trigger.
4. Name each tier. Names should be intuitive, memorable, and signal the intended buyer (avoid internal codenames or abstract labels). Test names against the "can a buyer self-select?" criterion.
5. Define the upgrade triggers between tiers. Each tier boundary should have one or two obvious reasons a buyer would outgrow the current plan.
6. Write the packaging copy: a one-line description per tier and a feature comparison table. Highlight the differentiating features at each tier, not every feature.
7. Review with sales to validate that the packaging matches how deals actually close and that tier boundaries do not create friction in the sales process.
8. Review with product to confirm feature allocation is technically feasible and does not create unintended usage constraints.
9. Publish the packaging framework for use in pricing pages, sales decks, and enablement materials.

## Anti-Patterns
- **Designing tiers around feature count rather than buyer segment.** *Why: Packaging exists to help buyers self-select; tiers stuffed with features do not signal who each plan is for.*
- **Using internal or abstract tier names.** *Why: Names like "Alpha" or "Tier 2" mean nothing to buyers; names should immediately communicate the plan's intent and audience.*
- **Creating too many tiers.** *Why: More than three or four tiers introduces decision paralysis; simplicity drives conversion.*
- **Allocating features to tiers without sales input.** *Why: Sales knows which features close deals and which create upgrade conversations; packaging without that input misaligns with the selling motion.*

## Output

**Success:**
- A packaging framework with named tiers, one-line descriptions, feature allocation, and defined upgrade triggers.
- Feature comparison table suitable for pricing page and sales deck use.
- Validated by sales and product before publication.

**Failure:**
- Tier names that require explanation or do not signal the intended buyer.
- Feature allocation that creates awkward sales conversations because key deal-closing features are in the wrong tier.
- Packaging published without sales validation, leading to immediate field pushback.

## Related Skills
- pricing-strategy-pmm
- pricing-finaliser-pmm
- positioning-crafter
- gtm-planner
- [`launch-narrative-builder`](../launch-narrative-builder/SKILL.md) — sibling skill under the same agent — combine with launch-narrative-builder for end-to-end coverage
- [`sales-playbook-messaging`](../sales-playbook-messaging/SKILL.md) — sibling skill under the same agent — combine with sales-playbook-messaging for end-to-end coverage
- [`positioning-crafter`](../positioning-crafter/SKILL.md) — sibling skill under the same agent — combine with positioning-crafter for end-to-end coverage