Earth Friendly Products is a family-owned manufacturer of household cleaning products based in Addison, IL. As its name suggests, the company’s focus is on producing products made from sustainable, plant-derived ingredients that are safer for families, pets, and the environment. In business since 1967, Earth Friendly Products is recognized as an eco-pioneer with a compelling story to tell. However, around two years ago the company realized its package labels were bogged down with the details of that story while neglecting to convey the emotional benefits of the brand to consumers.
In January 2014, Earth Friendly Products embarked on a top-to-bottom, 150-SKU packaging redesign project that also included bringing all of its cleaning lines under its ECOS label, leveraging the brand recognition of its top-selling ECOS Laundry Detergent.
To design the new packaging and create a cohesive brand strategy, the company worked with global brand agency MetaDesign. After conducting a competitive audit, ethnographic research, and consumer focus groups, MetaDesign determined that a deeper, more concise brand story was needed—one of green science innovation and love for people and the planet.
Modern and ergonomic bottle
As part of the project, MetaDesign was tasked with creating a more modern, sleek, and consumer-friendly package structure. Beginning with the company’s Dishmate dish detergent packaging, MetaDesign replaced an existing PET squeeze bottle (used by Earth Friendly Products since 1990) with a custom PET container featuring a tall, rectangular, tapered silhouette.
“While the form factor is unique and has long facets along the sides to reflect light, is it also designed to be ergonomically functional; the bottle is the perfect width to hold in the hand and helps with ease of use,” explains Jenna Arkin, Product Development Director at Earth Friendly Products. “The same facets that make the bottle reflective also help the bottle from slipping out of the hand when wet.” Also adding convenience, the new bottle uses a flip-top cap, rather than the push-and-pull closure previously used for the dish detergent packaging.
From a marketing and sales perspective, the bottle’s narrower footprint allows for more shelf facings per square foot at the store, Arkin adds.
Fresh and vibrant graphics
When it came to label graphics, MetaDesign completely refreshed the brand to help it stand out on shelf and engage both new and existing consumers. Featured prominently on the Dishmate label is the new ECOS logo, which contains a water drop icon. “The water drop signifies the importance of our most precious resource and our commitment to protect our planet’s resources,” says Arkin. Water imagery is also used in the background of the label. Each ECOS Dishmate fragrance—there are six in all—has its own background color and icon to help consumers find their favorite scent on-shelf.
One element that MetaDesign retained from the previous label is the Earth Friendly Products logo—a circle with the company name on the outside and an illustration of an orange and a lemon inside. MetaDesign says the logo was preserved, albeit in a much smaller size, as a seal of approval, as research indicated strong consumer identification with the logo.
The label material is a white biaxially oriented polypropylene that is flexo-printed by an unnamed supplier in seven or eight colors “to produce vibrant and fresh branding that pops off the shelf,” says Arkin.
After redesigning the Dishmate label, MetaDesign carried the new ECOS logo and imagery over to the four-fragrance ECOS Laundry Detergent line. In time, all of Earth Friendly Products’ 150 SKUs will use the new label graphics. Says Arkin, “This consistency will increase the overall brand visibility, developing brand loyalty in new product categories.”
ECOS Dishmate and ECOS Laundry Detergent in the new packaging were rolled out to select stores around the country in August 2015, with a wider release in the fall. Eventually, the new ECOS packaging will be available in mass-market supermarkets and specialty health food stores throughout the U.S. and in 60 countries.
