Colgate has always been a global leader when it comes to oral medication. They have extended their portfolio further by creating a toothpaste for the people having diabetes. Research shows that increase in blood sugar level has a terrible impact on the oral health of the sufferer. The brief was simple and easy. Colgate required a package for its new product. The packaging was supposed to be kept premium, clear and absolutely straight-forward for the diabetic patients. The design of the package should be able to convey the message while not being too pharma driven at the same time.
To understand what routes to take in order to design packaging for the new toothpaste by Colgate. We took are Science C approach, at the same time tried to understand the emerging trends, pain points of diabetic patients and its effect on oral health in order to convey the message precisely on the packaging.
The target audience for this product includes people in the 30–50-year age group, diabetes patients living in urban areas. The targeted customers believe in the goodness and healing properties of Ayurveda, they shop at convenience stores and our regular mom and pop stores and while they might be suffering from some oral niggles, they do not link it to their diabetes.
They include the availability of diabetic toothpastes which are available in pharmacies and can be bought at the prescription of a dentist. Colgate aims at getting this toothpaste in the walk-in stores so its an easy purchase of the targeted segments.
In the fast-moving consumer goods range, there are no such competitors for the new diabetic toothpaste by Colgate as it’s a new product launched in the market. However, there are certain toothpastes which fall under the Ayurvedic, clinical and diabetic category which would compete with the new Colgate. The Ayurvedic toothpastes include Dabur Red and Auromere. The clinical toothpastes are usually from Oral-B and Sensodyene and the diabetic ones including Cortizone, Dent Yucral are available on the prescription of the dentist and cannot just be purchased across the counter. Colgate aims at providing a premium solution for the oral care of diabetic patients.
In order to design packaging for the Colgate toothpaste many routes were taken, keeping in mind the ingredients, category and target customers. Earlier design routes showed the ingredients of jamun and gurmar which Is used in the toothpaste itself.
the packaging designs of the competitors as well as the cross categories were studied meticulously. Insights were gathered from the same in order to provide an impressive solution. It was observed that the toothpastes which were already available for diabetes were usually packaged in red or blue color as it’s the color of diabetes. Being a specialist solution for diabetes, the packs focus on depicting the end result as a smiling mouth or a happy face rather than making the ingredients the hero. The clinical toothpaste packaging generally showed white color base, Cues of silver and iconic representation of chemical formulas. The Ayurvedic toothpastes highlight the ingredients and colors used for the pack vary from golden, brown, green, red and others. Images of actual ingredients are preferred over illustrations/ line drawings.
Later designs took to show a premium Ayurveda packaging and some packaging on the lines of scientific and Ayurveda combinations. Simple clear colors were used. White being in majority in order to show the elite look.
The final design used was a stark white background of the package with the logo of Colgate shown on the top left side. The name of the same “Diabetics” shown on the right side in shades of blue with a scientific design of the gurmar leaves, as studies show gurmar is good for gum care. The toothpaste however was made completely white with the use of the toothpaste mentioned on it respectively.
