Latest Launches
Delicious Carton Design
Fans of personal care brand Lather are in for a treat! Lather’s new Chocolate Fix kit contains two products—Belgian Chocolate Body Whip and Dutch Mocha Body Buff. For the packaging, Lather designed a carton inspired by the bakery industry. The company worked with the Warneke Paper Box Co. to create the carton.
From the front, the package looks like a standard folding carton. The brown and blue graphics reflect the brand’s simple, modern style. “We wanted something that would stand out on shelves but still remain true to Lather values—clean, modern, etc.,” says Lori MacGregor, director of public relations for Lather. “We chose paper because it was a clean medium, and chose the blue and brown color palette to reflect the light blue of Lather, combined with the gourmand look of rich chocolate brown.”
What makes the carton unique is its top. It is die-cut to form two flaps, which, when folded down, form four petals. “We thought the closure was reflective of a gourmet bakery package. It is one of the most fun and original aspects of the packaging,” says MacGregor.
“The biggest challenge we faced in designing the box was mainly with the top,” says Jessica Renninger, product development manager for Lather. “Originally, it was a four-piece fold-down closure that looked much like the final version does today, but it was quite difficult to correctly fold down each of the four parts so that they lay flat and didn’t tear. The solution was to come up with a two-piece fold-down closure, which is what we ended up going with. We were able to achieve a very similar look with a much simpler design.”
Brand Protection
Kimberly-Clark recently freshened up the secondary packaging for its Depend and Kotex brands, giving them a more contemporary look. The redesign will help to ensure the packages are more appealing to today’s modern customer.
The Kotex cartons were redesigned with colorful, more-youthful graphics by UK-based design firm Coley Porter Bell. The cartons feature pictures of red flowers against a white background. A different type of flower distinguishes each product. The Kotex logo was also redesigned. To reach a younger market, the brand now advertises itself to customers as being “not your mother’s brand.”
For the Depend cartons, the goal was to make it easier for consumers to find which product was best for them. The new Depend cartons are green. Simplified graphics and descriptive statements make it easy for purchasers to select the right product. An easy-to-read product selection guide was added to the carton’s back panel to further help consumers find the right product for their needs.
The cartons were also designed to look more appealing and less embarrassing for customers to purchase. Research by Kimberly-Clark had found that 70% of the people under age 60 who have incontinence were embarrassed and confused about what to buy.
“By making the packaging more discreet, informative, and appealing, it allows consumers to quickly find the right products for their needs and to get in and out of the aisle quickly,” says Tim Lehman, president, Kimberly-Clark Adult and Feminine Care Sector. “Moreover, we’ve made the packaging more modern to appeal to baby boomers who don’t want to let incontinence get in the way of living a full and active life.”
Both redesigns were accompanied by a vast amount of advertising to help customers make the connection between the old and the new packaging.