2026 PackPower Awards: Easter Edition

Celebrating 12 High-Impact Designs That Turn Seasonal Joy Into Conversion

Easter is one of retail’s most visually expressive moments, but the best-performing packs across chocolate, candy, snacks, and pet food show that seasonal success does not come from abandoning core brand identity in favor of decoration. Across this year’s winners, the clearest pattern is that the strongest designs kept the brand recognizable first, then layered in Easter through color, iconography, product form, and a few playful details.

That balance is what drives performance. Easter shoppers are often moving quickly through crowded seasonal displays, whether they are buying for baskets, gatherings, gifting, or a small treat. In that environment, packaging has to do more than look festive. It has to signal the occasion instantly, communicate the product clearly, and make the brand easy to recognize and trust.

The most effective Easter packs did exactly that. Across categories, they used spring palettes, bunnies, eggs, and limited-edition cues in ways that felt fresh and occasion-ready without sacrificing familiarity. They turn seasonal joy into fast and confident purchase decisions.

What are the PackPower Awards

PackPower Awards recognize packaging that combines creative excellence with measurable business impact. Powered by the PackPower Score™, the awards spotlight designs that do more than look good. Ones that are built to perform at shelf.

PackPower Score is a single-number prediction of packaging effectiveness, designed to quantify a pack’s likelihood to drive sales in market. Behind that one number is a deeper diagnostic system grounded in 23 detailed KPIs and Behaviorally’s 4S Framework (Seen, Shoppable, Seductive, and Selected).

2026 PackPower Awards: Easter Edition

This year’s winners show that strong Easter predicted performance is driven by a clear balance of brand recognition, taste appeal, and higher shelf visibility. Across chocolate, candy, snacks, and pet food, the top packs stood out through bold color, prominent branding, clear product visuals, and intuitive layouts that made them easy to find and easy to understand.

Seasonal cues such as bunnies, eggs, and spring palettes worked best when they felt integrated into the brand rather than added on as decoration. The most effective designs paired standout seasonal graphics with familiar brand elements, creating packs that felt fresh, recognizable, and compelling in the moment of choice.

Winners

Chocolate

1. Oreo Easter Colored Crème

PackPower Score - 62

The primary cue is the seasonal twist on a familiar product, using bright Easter colors and playful cookie embossing to signal occasion. The bold, centered Oreo logo keeps the brand instantly recognizable, while the product imagery highlights the colored creme to communicate novelty. Clear “limited edition” and Easter messaging make the purpose easy to grasp at a glance. The design adds a sense of fun and collectability without overcomplicating the layout, and the strong visual hierarchy ensures the core brand remains dominant while the seasonal elements enhance shelf appeal.

2. Lindt Gold Bunny

PackPower Score - 67

The rigid heart-shaped box in deep red with gold foil typography leverages premium structural design as the primary behavioral cue. The embossed gold Godiva wordmark and heritage seal reinforce luxury credentials and quality assurance. Multilingual “I love you” scripts subtly printed across the surface create a sense of global romance while adding texture and visual depth. The box format elevates the product into a keepsake object, increasing perceived value and gift-worthiness. The design signals thoughtfulness, which reduces perceived social risk in gifting decisions.

3. Ghirardelli Bunnies

PackPower Score - 50

The rich caramel color palette paired with indulgent product visuals immediately signal flavor and premium quality. The Ghirardelli logo sits prominently at the top, reinforcing brand authority and trust, while the detailed bunny and flowing caramel filling highlight taste appeal. Subtle floral accents and Easter cues add seasonal relevance without overwhelming the design. The structured layout and refined typography create a sense of craftsmanship and superiority, supporting a higher price perception while making the product feel more elevated than everyday chocolate options.

Candy

4. Haribo Happy Chicks

PackPower Score - 58

The bold purple background creates strong shelf contrast, helping the pack stand out and improving speed of find. The large, centered Haribo wordmark anchors brand recognition, while the bright “Happy Chicks” callout clearly signals seasonal relevance. The transparent window showcasing colorful gummies enhances visibility and makes the product easy to identify at a glance. The playful character and Easter cues reinforce approachability, while the simple layout and clear hierarchy ensure quick comprehension, supporting easy navigation in busy retail environments.

5. Peeps Marshmallow

PackPower Score - 56

The large Peeps logo anchors brand recognition, reinforcing familiarity and trust, while the clear window showcases the marshmallow texture to highlight taste and softness. The bright blue color palette and bunny-shaped product immediately signal Easter while creating strong visual appeal and relevance on shelf. The clean layout and bold color blocking also support quick identification, ensuring the product is easy to find in busy retail environments.

6. Hi-Chew Mystery Flavor

PackPower Score - 53

The oversized Hi-Chew logo stands out against the bright blue background, creating strong shelf visibility. Playful Easter eggs and pastel accents clearly signal seasonal relevance, while the “Mystery Flavor” callout adds intrigue and a sense of uniqueness. The product window and flavor cues reinforce taste appeal, highlighting variety and chewiness. The clean, bold layout feels modern and energetic, balancing fun with clarity while supporting a perception of quality and differentiation versus other candy options.

Snacks

7. Pillsbury Chick Shape Sugar Cookies

PackPower Score - 66

The large Pillsbury Dough Boy sitting in an Easter egg cues instant brand recognition while reinforcing seasonal relevance. The simple, cheerful layout makes the product easy to spot and understand, supporting quick decision-making and purchase intent at shelf.

8. Rice Krispies Treats Hoppin’ Minis

PackPower Score - 53

The Rice Krispies Treats branding anchor recognition, while the “Hoppin’ Minis” callout and Easter egg imagery deliver clear seasonal context. The product visual with colorful sprinkles reinforces taste and uniqueness, making it feel more fun and differentiated. Playful characters add personality and relatability, while the structured layout keeps information easy to scan, supporting both ease of find and strong shelf conversion.

9. Stitch Sprinkled Shortbread Cookies

PackPower Score - 51

The Stitch character create immediate standout and emotional appeal, especially for fans of the franchise. The clear product visuals highlight the sprinkled shortbread cookies, reinforcing taste and perceived quality. premium feel. The clean layout and simple hierarchy ensure strong visibility, making the product easy to notice and appealing at shelf.

Pet Food Category

10. Milkbone Peeps Biscuits

PackPower Score - 64

The bold red lid and bucket format create strong shelf impact and signal value, while the Milk-Bone logo anchors trust and recognition. The Peeps co-branding and pastel Easter visuals introduce a playful, seasonal twist that feels unique and eye-catching. Product imagery clearly communicates the marshmallow-inspired flavor, making the offering easy to understand at a glance. The combination of familiar brands and limited-edition cues elevates perceived quality, balancing fun with a slightly more premium feel.

11. Bonkers Surprise

PackPower Score - 59

The egg-shaped format and bright pink color create immediate shelf standout. The large “Surprise” callout and toy-plus-treat proposition clearly communicate a unique, added-value experience that goes beyond standard dog snacks. Playful graphics and the expressive dog image reinforce excitement and emotional appeal, increasing purchase intent. The simple, high-contrast layout makes the concept easy to understand at a glance, while the collectible element supports a more premium, worth-paying-more perception.

12. Blue Buffalo Bits Easter

PackPower Score - 51

The Blue Buffalo badge anchors strong brand trust and quality cues while the Easter-themed background and bunny imagery cue seasonal relevance. The “Bits” wordmark and clear product descriptors make the offering easy to understand at a glance, supporting quick findability. The clean, balanced layout delivers a calm, premium feel while maintaining clarity and ease of navigation at shelf.

Untitled design (10)-1

Untitled design (11)-1

What Makes an Effective Easter Design?

The most effective Easter packs do more than look seasonal. They make the product feel right for the moment and easy to choose. That can mean stronger appetite appeal, a format that feels giftable or basket-ready, or a playful twist that adds novelty without creating confusion. Just as importantly, the design has to reduce shopper effort. In a fast, crowded seasonal environment, the best packs communicate what the product is, why it feels special, and why it is worth picking up, all in a matter of seconds.

Test Your Seasonal Designs Testing Matters

Easter, like many other seasonal retail moments, gives brands a very short window to win. In crowded displays, packaging has to work immediately, and even small weaknesses in visibility, communication, or purchase motivation can limit performance.

So how can brands improve seasonal packaging performance before launch? Through packaging testing that shows not just whether a design looks right, but whether it will work at shelf. PackPower Score helps identify what is driving attention, what is creating friction, and where communication or emotional engagement can be strengthened.

That is why seasonal packaging is too important to rely on intuition alone. By testing packaging early, brands can optimize designs with greater confidence, reduce barriers to conversion, and improve the odds that their seasonal packs will stand out, connect quickly, and succeed in market.

Ready to Maximize Your 2026 Seasonal Impact?

Seasonal packaging is too important to leave to intuition. Test your upcoming event, or holiday designs with the PackPower Score. Identify where emotional resonance can be strengthened, where clarity can be sharpened, and where conversion barriers can be removed. The brands recognized in this year’s PackPower Awards demonstrate that disciplined, insight-led design drives performance. Make your next seasonal launch one that wins at shelf and in market.

THE AUTHOR

Untitled design (13) Angelina Cirovic is an Insights Associate at Behaviorally with a passion for integrating her marketing background into her analytical work. She enjoys bringing a creative, consumer-focused perspective to insights analysis. Outside of work, Angelina loves traveling, spending time outdoors, and practicing martial arts.