01.29.10
Online Exclusive: Proactiv Reformulates Packaging
User-friendly redesign maintains brand identity and educates consumers
By Steve Katz, Associate Editor
Fifteen years ago, doctors Katie Rodan and Kathy Fields introduced an acne treatment system called Proactiv, a daily skin care regimen with the main ingredient, benzoyl peroxide—a prescription-grade, anti-microbial medicine. Marketed by direct-response television company Guthy-Renker, Proactiv grew behind the strength of its highly successful series of infomercials. It has since become a big success and a leader in acne treatment products.
Today, Proactive is at a crossroads. While the company has recently introduced a revamped, improved formula, there’s also been an increase in competition. For example, Johnson & Johnson and Neutrogena have both recently thrown their hats into the infomercial ring promoting acne treatment products. In response to this, Proactiv is using the launch of its new formula as an opportunity to also update its approach to its marketing and packaging. The innovation of the active acne-fighting ingredient designed to penetrate even clogged pores quickly is the first change to the original Proactiv since its initial launch. Current Proactiv customers report faster and gentler results with a new formula, the company says.
New Proactiv was made available on January 18, and it coincided with a new marketing and packaging campaign. There’s a new cast of Proactiv celebrities and there have also been enhancements made to the Proactiv customer experience—which the packaging is a part of. Pop music stars Katy Perry and Avril Lavigne, and actress Jenna Fischer are following in the footsteps of Vanessa Williams and Jessica Simpson in touting Proactiv as an acne remedy. TV spots featuring Perry, Lavigne and Fischer will launch this month, and this year, Guthy-Renker is spending some $200 million on ad time worldwide for Proactiv, primarily on one-minute, two-minute and 30-second commercials.
Packaging Plays Key Role
To go along with the new celebrity endorsers, Proactiv’s new packaging is playing a key role in not only promoting brand identity, but also in educating customers.
“Some of the things that we tried to achieve with the re-launch are maintaining brand identity and brand integrity. We’re incorporating some additional colors and making it easier for the customers,” says Stacy Tanner, senior vice president of global product development, package design. “One of the challenges we’ve had in the past is getting people to understand that it is a three-step system, and how to use it. The new packaging gives us an opportunity to incorporate steps one, two and three into the actual design of the package and bring in a second color without losing that brand identity that we’ve established over the years.”
The Proactiv kit consists of the three steps of the process in three separate bottles, each with a flip-top cap. Additionally, customers also receive two complementary tubes—a Refining Mask and a Green Tea Moisturizer. All five products are fitted into a tray in a corrugated shipper, which has also experienced an upgrade.
Scott Kestenbaum, VP marketing for Maesa Group, the packaging design firm that collaborated with Guthy-Renker on the relaunch, says that the new Proactiv's packaging is crisp, clean and to the point. "We had to come up with a design that was easily scalable that could be translated across hundreds of individual products kits and special promotions. We also needed to reinforce that the product inside the bottles is a seriously effective anti-acne solution," he says.
Tanner points out that the new packaging isn’t very different from its predecessor, but leans heavily toward education and ease-of-use for the customer. “Those three bottles have become sort of a Proactiv icon, so the redesign centered on ‘how do we give them something new that’s not too different, but looks different from the one they received previously.’ The old packaging was similar, but it was one color. We adjusted the fonts on the Proactiv logo and on ‘Rodan and Fields.’ It was a solid green package but the same bottle. We adjusted the fonts because we wanted it to be easier to read. We’ve invested so much in brand identity over the years, and a lot people just call it Proactiv as opposed to referring to it as Proactiv Solutions. So we’ve put a bigger emphasis in calling out ‘Proactiv’ with a slightly heavier font and just used more current fonts to develop ‘Solutions’. Also, we tried to incorporate steps one, two and three without making it so obvious and spelling it out,” she says.
Adds Kestenbaum, "Proactiv is an $830 million a year business, so there is quite a bit of brand equity in in the current packaging. The main challenge was to enhance what is already there without possibly alienating current and potential customers. We felt the best way to accomplish this was to use some fresher, brighter color choices and a more modern approach to the packaging typography."
The three bottles are printed using two-color silk screens on all three steps, but Tanner says the screening gives the illusion of it being three colors. The Step 2 bottle is tinted green.
The caps and closures are also designed to meet customers’ needs, while maintaining brand identity. “Our customers were asking for something that’s easier to use in the shower. So we designed this tooling a couple of years ago, giving it an easy, flip-top feel while maintaining the similar look, with the domed cap, that’s become part of the Proactiv brand. This is a look a lot of our competitors have tried to emulate, so we took it a step further and embossed our logo into the cap,” she says.
The new Proactiv kit focuses on consumer education, while maintaining brand identity. |
The inside of the shippers has also received treatment, with a focus on education. Tanner says, “We’ve updated the graphics within our shippers, so that we can use the space to also help our customers understand how to use the product. It reinforces the need to use all three steps. By incorporating the three steps, we’re hoping to eliminate the guesswork in what order to use the products. The previous packaging didn’t have this.”
The inside of the shippers also includes detailed directions on how to use Proactiv, a message from the doctors, as well as how customers can get round-the-clock support.
“It has been estimated that 85 percent of the 40-50 million Americans suffering with acne attempt to self-treat their condition,” says Rodan, co-developer of Proactiv.“We created Proactiv to help people effectively manage this chronic and often devastating problem. From the beginning, Proactiv offered education about acne through our infomercial, and now we're expanding that education with innovative online support and trained skin care advisors available 24/7. We want our customers to know we care about them and are dedicated to their success.”
Ben Van de Bunt, co-chief executive officer of Guthy-Renker, notes that Proactiv’s packaging has been modified to give a “clearer picture of the brand on the bottles. Inside the bottles, Proactiv’s key ingredient—benzoyl peroxide—has been refined into microcrystals designed to quickly enter pores. Select Proactiv products will also be recommended for different skin types, and Proactiv skin care advisors will offer 24-hour product guidance starting Jan. 29.”
Van de Bunt projected Proactiv would register double-digit global growth this year. He said it experienced flat growth domestically in 2009, but saw an uptick abroad. Proactiv’s sales were around $830 million last year, accounting for more than half of Guthy-Renker’s estimated $1.5 billion in 2009 revenues. Proactiv is carried in 58 countries, and about 40% of its sales are from outside the U.S.