Clean & Clear brings in swag, changes its packaging to appeal to teenagers

How does changing product packaging affect brand recognition? We attempt to find out...

The packaging of Johnson & Johnson's glycerine-based face wash Clean & Clear has undergone a makeover for its limited edition range. The face wash's formula remains the same, but to celebrate the different types of young women who use the product, the brand launched a campaign called #UnbottleApnaSwag. It didn't matter whether a girl was nerdy, a chatterbox or a foodie, Clean & Clear's campaign implied that each has their own unique kind of 'swag' and the ads show how each girl was proud of her identity.

Clean & Clear celebrates nerdy girls in this TVC

Clean & Clear celebrates adventurous and fun loving girls

This ad celebrates girls who have 'bindass swag'

Clean & Clear celebrates chatterboxes and girls who love to talk in this TVC

DDB Mudra conceptualised the campaign, but beyond the TVCs, we noticed that Clean & Clear went the extra mile and modified the packaging of the product to reflect the different kinds of young women typecast in the ads. Design Bridge ideated and executed the new packaging.

A look at Clean & Clear's limited edition packaging

The new packaging is a part of the Unbottle Apna Swag campaign
Click on the image to enlarge

To understand product packaging and the impact that it has on brand identity and recognition, we spoke to Alexander Robertson, an executive creative director at Landor. To begin the conversation, we shared before and after photographs of Clean & Clear's original packaging and the limited edition packaging for the #UnbottleApnaSwag campaign. We asked him if the new packaging would interfere with brand recall/recognition.

Alexander Robertson

He replied saying, "It's quite a leap between the two; it seems like these illustrations are primarily targeted at the youth market. When one is looking at brand recognition, there is a range of things which need to be taken into context. In this case, the shape and the form of the pack have remained consistent. With one straight side on the bottle, the cap, the colours, the placement of the logo and the overall brand identity remain the same. I think most consumers will realise at a glance that it is the same product."

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He pointed out that for Clean & Clear's youth target segment, they probably needed to do something that connects the brand with the audience better and make them want to try the brand and engage with them. "There are lots of younger products on the market. Maybe they thought that they're looking quite old and residual in a sense. Maybe they asked themselves - 'what can we do to make our customers want to try us again or try us for the first time, as opposed to all the other competitors in the market?' There are definite reasons why a brand would want to evolve its packaging. But I think what's critical is that the brand found out where its equities are; it needs to understand what's helping their image and what's not and the way to determine that is to understand the brand's strategy," he told us.

Robertson also stated that the original packaging does a fairly good job in communicating the brand's intent. He highlighted that it's transparent, with simple typography, no clutter, it's readable, but that perhaps the brand thought that it falls a little flat. "There's more exciting stuff in the market, but the brand's positioning is all about 'clean' and 'clear'. They could have asked themselves - 'what can we do to send that message in a stronger way without radically changing what we do?'"

He added that it is important not to downplay style and aesthetic when addressing a particular audience and that the new packaging was definitely eye-catching and felt quite young. "You don't want to appear too childish when you're talking to young people. I can see how the agency has made efforts to resonate with the target market (teenagers) and I think that's a good thing," he said.

We also asked Robertson about how a design agency could strike a balance between brand familiarity and experimentation when it came to product packaging. He explained, "To strike a balance between the experimental part and familiarity, this is how we do it - we start with the strategy. We have to understand what the positioning of this brand is and in the process, the brand strategy shouldn't change. You have to understand how your audience has been conditioned; every visual asset is based on that positioning - and then you need to take decisions accordingly. Is it supporting this positioning? Do I need to change and evolve the typeface? Do I need to add some key messaging? Or should I create a new asset that helps position that in the minds of our customers in a stronger way?"

He elaborated using Coca Cola as an example, "Their strategy is about happiness; it has been for at least 30 to 40 years. You can line up coke cans or bottles over the last 30 years and you see there's been a slight evolution. Irrespective of the ad campaign, the brand communication has always been about happiness. With other brands, you can see modernisation in how brands have, maybe, placed their logo more boldly or simply. I think it's important that brands stay relevant and a current expression of their time. We need to understand why we (as a brand) exist and we need to be very clear about this."