Challenge

More than a decade ago, when Unilever approached the Future Factory team to redesign their flagship toothbrush, toothbrushes were a low involvement yet competitive and price sensitive category. To achieve a competitive advantage at the challenging point of sale, it became necessary to establish brand salience through design by storytelling.

Solution

Beginning with ethnographic research, the team documented the dental care user journey uncovering what it meant to users. They found that gum care was important but remained unaddressed in adequate measure. They then worked to enhance the design elements of the toothbrush to drive the gum care story, using the proprietary TPA methodology. A series of concepts addressed gum care, using different materials that interfaced with the basic product framework. All the while, ensuring a very tight cost brief.

The result was a toothbrush with enhanced design elements around gum care, helping craft storytelling through product design. The packaging too, was designed to exhibit/demonstrate this feature through an innovative 45 degree placement, a first in the category. Pepsodent was at that time a young brand, and this work was important towards its establishment as a serious player in a competitive category.