Product marketers often ask this question: How can we validate the
value of package design for senior management? For Unilever's Suave
brand, the answer comes by letting the new design pull itself into the
market through quantifiable cost savings and consumer benefits instead
of the marketing department pushing a design that fails to link
anticipated benefits to the overall business strategy.
Unilever succeeds by meeting two internal objectives in restaging its
Suave Naturals shampoo and body wash lines and its Suave Professionals
shampoo line. The company communicates each line's price-value
relationship more effectively to consumers while also reducing
production costs. Input from a cross-functional team guided the
process, and Unilever has achieved the following results:
- The company increased dollar sales volume for the Suave
Professionals line by 51% and unit volume growth by 12%, even with a
retail price increase for the line.
-Dollar sales volume for the everyday Suave Naturals line
increased 3% and unit volume grew 2% during the new packaging's first
12 weeks on the shelf.
-Unilever achieved these results in part by integrating visual cues of
shape, color, and texture, yet avoiding frivolous decoration, to
communicate Suave's niche as a quality product at the right price.
Unilever switched to a wider cap and lighter-weight materials to
deliver visual impact while also reducing costs.
"Not only is the major redesign of our relatively generic bottle a
major win for our consumers, but the added production efficiencies and
cost savings for Unilever made it a true win-win situation," says Eric
Yoch, senior brand development manager at Unilever. "The growth in
sales volume has exceeded our expectations and solidified our
leadership of the value segment."
Yoch explains that the success of this project owes in large part to
early internal discussions among multiple departments at Unilever that
also included an outside design firm and packaging vendors. It was
essential, he says, for everyone involved to understand not only
Unilever's business and consumer needs, but also its manufacturing
capabilities prior to launching the creative stage.
The results of the package redesign for Suave Professionals and Suave
Naturals show what can be achieved when all interests are considered
upfront in package redesign and development. When the right design with
the right materials can also produce a cost savings, it's logical for
everyone to support the redesign.
For the complete Suave story, see the June issue of Packaging World.
