DATE
2019
ROLE
Brand & Product Designer, Strategist
TECH STACK
Adobe Creative Suite
Blender
Designing a better dishwashing experience for modern consumers
Brand Design, Brand Strategy, Product Design, Innovation
I studied brand strategy under the Global Chief of Design of General Mills and the VP of Design of Panera Bread Teman and Teran Evans at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. We were tasked with repositioning and redesigning Palmolive Dish Soap.
Step 1: Brand & Product Audit
First we audited the business at a high level and identified Palmolive's 3 biggest brand challenges: 1) Dawn was squeezing Palmolive out of the dish soap market. Dawn's effective ad campaigns over the years had eroded market share. 2) The dishwasher itself was expanding as a household appliance, and that was changing user behavior when it came to hand washing dishes. 3) Palmolive's long-standing strategy of more scent varieties was not working to attract new users and retain customers in the crowded marketplace.
We got our hands dirty, literally. I tested out every dishwashing liquid on the market, studied their design features, and determined that they were all functionally the same, although some marketed certain features like "eco-friendly" or "tough on grease" more than others.
Step 2: Competitive Audit
We conducted a competitive audit on all facets and found that, though Palmolive had a long legacy, its messaging was becoming increasingly muddled in a crowded market. Palmolive's true differentiator was its 221-year history of in the beauty product market, which stood out in a sea of "tough on grease" competitors.
Shelf Audit: We analyzed the competitive set, price, selling points, and current positioning.
Step 3: Define the Target & The Need
We identified our target consumer, the "self-caring essentialist", as those between the ages of 25 and 35 who live in cramped urban spaces, are single, and care about their own wellbeing, the environment, and the quality of their products. This population segment is growing as we found from our analysis of trend data.
User research surveys with target segment.
Competitor analysis.
Step 4: Create Brand Strategy & Product Design
Our solution solved the needs of this segment by offering a more sustainable product, in a convenient single-use format, that helps create a comfortable home environment. The product's natural self-care ingredients ensure that customers take care of their hands while taking care of their space.
Sketches of different product formats.
How to use our solution: Palmolive Pearls.
Step 5: Deliver the Pitch
In our final pitch, we presented Palmolive Pearls, a revolutionary pod format of dish soap with essential extracts for hand care. Palmolive Pearls takes the original functionality of Palmolive and elevates the boring dish soap to a ritual lifestyle-oriented product that resonates with young consumers.
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