<p><a href="http://www.cbx.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/u-by-kotex.jpg"><img src="http://www.cbx.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/u-by-kotex.jpg" alt="" title="u-by-kotex" width="500" height="375" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-560" /></a>
The packaging usually found in the feminine hygiene products aisle is not exactly earth-shattering. Characterized by dainty pastel color palettes and soft-sided poly packs, nearly every container's design is timid, rather than tenacious.


Enter U by Kotex. The Kimberly-Clark feminine hygiene product line breaks through the clutter with ﬁrm, upright paperboard outer cartons emblazoned with eye-popping color, a sharp contrast to the ﬁelds of frilly ﬂowers and soft-sided bags more commonly associated with the category. The innovative packaging design recently cleaned up at the 2011 New Jersey Packaging Executives Club Package of the Year Awards. Submitted by package design/production firm AGI, the packaging garnered a Market Innovator award, Gold recognition in the Personal Care category and top honors as Package of the Year.


"We are very happy that Kimberly-Clark chose AGI as the packaging manufacturer for some of its U by Kotex products. It's always great to play an instrumental role in helping bring design innovation to the marketplace," says Sharon Meeks, vp of sales at AGI.


In addition to attracting the attention of packaging pros, U by Kotex is engaging female customers by giving them something diﬀerent.


"The entire category has historically been ﬂooded with this sameness of soft colors, white packaging," says Jenn Westemeyer, brand design director with Kimberly-Clark. "We were missing out on opportunities to connect with consumers."


Study habits 



In 2009, Kimberly-Clark commissioned an online study (conducted by Harris Interactive) to gauge female consumers' attitudes toward feminine hygiene products and packaging, and to determine where the category fell short in serving the audience. The study polled more than 1,600 women in North America, aged 14-35. The research showed that 70 percent of women believe society needs to improve dialogue about feminine health; however, more than half of the respondents reported they didn't feel empowered to make a change in that area.

 

In reaction to the ﬁndings, the Kotex brand team threw themselves into getting to know consumers, inside and out, to determine how best to meet their needs.

 

"We soon realized that [feminine products] is a boring, boring category and desperately needed a facelift," Westemeyer says. "Since we're the leaders and inventers in the category, we were ready to blaze the trail."

 

According to Kristi Bryant, senior design manager with Kimberly-Clark, the Kotex team decided to take a consumer-centric approach when creating U by Kotex.

 

"We started really paying attention to what ‘she' [the female consumer] wanted," Bryant says. "We listened, and we identiﬁed behaviors and unmet needs."

 

Research supported the idea that rather than feeding into a sense of embarrassment about "that time of the month," female consumers would best respond to a package that "stood proud on the shelf, rather than fading into the background," Bryant says. The entire package-created in partnership with branding ﬁrm CBX-feeds into that desire for engagement, from the bold black background, to the paperboard carton that stands tall (rather than sagging), to the bright colors, to the cutout window oﬀering up a glimpse of the individually wrapped products inside.

 

Forging ahead

To test the bold new packaging, Kimberly-Clark ﬁrst launched U by Kotex in Australia. Consumers there share many behaviors and attitudes with their American counterparts, though the market tends to have a higher acceptance of bold messages and "edge."

 

"Australian consumers are somewhat bolder in their sense of style and body image," Westemeyer says. "We used that as a stepping stone to get to our consumer here. We did a lot of learning, and we realized that if we could succeed there, we could do it anywhere."

 

The U by Kotex packaging that U.S. consumers see on retail shelves builds upon Kimberly-Clark's success with Australian consumers. According to Westemeyer, an aim of the design is to "surprise and delight" the customer by incorporating elements of the unexpected. The package delivers in a number of ways: inner wrapping comes in an array of colors, enabling the user to select individual product according to her mood; informative text on the back of the package engages; and the carton is printed in matte and gloss for eye-catching contrast. Kimberly-Clark produces the inner product wrap; various partners across the country produce the outer carton.

 

Response to U by Kotex has been positive, from consumers shopping the item on the shelves, to retailers providing favorable feedback, to competition feeling the demand to deliver similarly innovative products and packaging.

 

"Retailers are expecting differences and change, and they're putting pressure on our competition," Westemeyer says.

 

2011 NJPEC Package of the Year Awards


In addition to Kimberly-Clark's U by Kotex, these packages garnered New Jersey Packaging Executives Club recognition for packaging design: 



STUDENTS' CHOICE AWARD


Flight by Michael Jordan
For Five Star Fragrance
By Five Star Fragrance

 

GOLD AWARDS

 

Promotional

Sex and the City Ultimate Collection
For HBO
By Napco Inc.


Food and Beverage
Sarabeth's Legendary Cookies
For Sarabeth's Bakery
By O.Berk Co.


Health and Beauty
Kate Somerville Clinic-to-Go
For Kate Somerville Skin Care LLC
By Padtech AS


Household/Industrial
Electric Wand Retail Packaging
For Hyde Tools
By Bruce Alexander, MNA/BAX


Color Cosmetics
Almay Intense I-Color Smoky-I Kit
For Almay
By Topline Products

 

SILVER AWARDS
 

Promotional
YSL Opium Sample Mailer
For L'Oreal
By Color Optics Inc.


Personal Care
Channoine Sun Collection Tube
For Channoine
By Neopac


Food and Beverage
Earth's Best Pop Snax
For the Hain Celestial Group Inc.
By Smith Design


Color Cosmetics
Lancome Juicy Tubes Gift Set
For Lancome
By Color Optics Inc.


Health and Beauty
Body Drench Quicktan Instant Self Tanner Bronze Lotion
For American Intl. Industries
By Viva Healthcare Packaging


Fragrance
Beyonce Pulse
For Coty Inc.
By Curtis Packaging Inc.


BRONZE AWARDS


Food and Beverage
XXX Shine White Whiskey, Philadelphia Distilling
For Piramal Glass USA Inc.
By Piramal Glass USA Inc.


Promotional
The Vanilla Collection
For Bakto Flavors
By O.Berk Co.


Personal Care
Pampers Kandoo ‘Corner Buddy' Hand Wash
For Nehemiah Manufacturing
By Berlin Packaging


Health and Beauty
Estee Lauder Cooling Eye Illuminator
For Estee Lauder
By Albea

 

Fragrance
Burberry Body
For Burberrry
By FiberMark

 

Color Cosmetics
Mally Evercolor Endless Eyeshadow
For Mally Beauty
By Topline Products

 

TECHNICAL MERIT AWARDS

 

Fragrance
Reb'l Fleur by Rihanna
For Parlux Fragrances Inc.
By SGD North America Inc.

 

Keith Urban Phoenix Mens Fragrance
For Mass Retailers
By Boom! LLC

 

Calvin Klein Beauty
For Coty Inc.
By Curtis Packaging Corp.

 

STOCK PACKAGING AWARDS

 

Fragrance
A Dozen Roses
For 360 Degrees Inc.
By Standwill Packaging Inc.

 

Health and Beauty
Soft Whisper by Powerstick Body Wash
For A.P. Deauville LLC
By A.P. Deauville LLC/Berry Plastics

 

Food and Beverage
Sarabeth's Preserves Gift Set*
For SBK Preserves
By O.Berk Co.

 

SUSTAINABILITY PACKAGING AWARDS

 

Fragrance
Rolled Edge Paperboard Containers
For MCMC Fragrances
By Chicago Paper Tube & Can Co.

 

KD11 Twist
For Rexam
By Rexam

 

OTHER ENTRIES

 

Personal Care
Diadermine Lift and Ultime Tube
For Henkel
By Neopac

 

Just in Case Conﬁdential
For Just in Case Inc.
By Worldwide Packaging

 

Tokyomilk Dark
For Tokyomilk
By Pak Enterprises Inc.

 

* also received Sustainability Award

 
<a href="http://www.packagingdigest.com/article/520116-Standing_out_from_the_pack.php" target="_blank">http://www.packagingdigest.com/article/520116-Standing_out_from_the_pack.php</a>