New Kotex brand: Discreetness makes a bold statement

Kimberly-Clark identifies a feminine care products ‘language’ among young women and launches fashionable U by Kotex cartons and tins that reduce the embarrassment.

FASHION FORWARD. U by Kotex cartons take their bold visual cues--a rich black background accented with bright colors--from fashi
FASHION FORWARD. U by Kotex cartons take their bold visual cues--a rich black background accented with bright colors--from fashi

Packaging for the line is bold because it accents bright colors that appeal to teen girls and young women. It’s transparent because it focuses on the visual essence that attracts the target audience. Finally, the design is attention-grabbing yet discreet—a major plus for toning down the embarrassment factor as the package sits in the shopping cart, in a purse, or at home.

This last point was confirmed in several recent Shelf Impact! Package Design Workshops. When the packages were shown on-screen to attendees, the designs drew thumbs-up as an attention grabber, yet the audience didn’t immediately know what was inside the cartons.

U by Kotex is all about surprise and delight. Your mother’s feminine care products, in traditional pastel hues and floral patterns, this brand definitely is not. A new category direction

The result, Kimberly-Clark believes, is a visual positioning for U by Kotex that redefines the feminine products category. “The challenge in doing so was pinpointing the exact visual territory for the brand,” explains Gregg Lipman, managing partner at CBX, which created the design and branding. “The idea is to help girls and women feel empowered by providing them with opportunities to express themselves.” “She wants truth and honesty and high energy, with products that reflect her style and substance,” adds Jennifer Westemeyer, Kimberly-Clark brand design director. “Other products in the category hide the truth.”

Bold designs, influenced by fashion and the fragrance aisle, give U by Kotex consumers both the delight and the discreetness they want from the 19 SKUs in the product line. The brand’s range of products—tampons, liners, and pads—is packaged in either SBS cartons or tins (Kimberly-Clark declined to identify the suppliers). The predominately black-colored cartons are offset-printed in six colors, plus a spot varnish that highlights the logo, product type and absorbency variety, and an illustration of the product. The illustration is a small, secondary element on the front panel’s visual hierarchy, positioned near a bottom corner.

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