2023 | Professional

MUSE Design Awards Gold Winner

Colgate Plaque Pro-Release

Entrant Company

Colgate Palmolive

Category

Packaging Design - Beauty & Personal Care

Client's Name

Country / Region

United States

Plaque, often considered cold, unsexy, embarrassing, and a chore, presented an opportunity to be made modern, relevant, and addressed in a meaningful and impactful way. The concept for addressing this unmet need originated from Colgate’s internal innovation accelerator team, which uncovered the white space and tested the concept, receiving a super star rating. The early research identified four distinct pain points related to plaque: it is hard to see, hard to reach, hard to remove, and inevitable. Plaque Pro Release effectively addresses these pain points, making it an ideal solution. The concept of Plaque Pro Release was highly regarded, showing mass market potential and offering distinct advantages over current toothpaste options. The inclusion of the "Smart Foam" benefit played a crucial role in driving concept appeal, believability, and differentiation.



To create a visually appealing and premium product, the Colgate team faced a unique challenge from the retailer: the toothpaste needed to be displayed horizontally, whereas top-tier pastes are typically positioned vertically. To overcome this hurdle, the team used a flex pack : one side vertical and one side horizontal, made of rainbow board material instead of standard SBS white board. We opted to use our most premium metallic tube with a luxury 2-piece translucent cap to elevate the experience once unboxed. The outer-carton featured two hits of soft touch matte white, elevating its appearance and creating a super-premium, elegant, and cosmetic-looking experience. The logo letterforms and key elements are embossed and combined with gloss and matte effects to fully express the fusion of luxury, science, and beauty.



The rainbow board was purposefully visible in specific areas, emphasizing our unique dissolving ball feature and iconography for a captivating brand story.The distinctive "dissolving ball," symbolizing the toothpaste's mode of action, featured a debossed effect with the rainbow board beneath it and vibrant CMYK overlays. This created a mesmerizing, ethereal and transformative blend of colors, communicating the idea of dissolving and lifting away harmful plaque. (our mode of action visualized via this abstract effervesce)





This colorful spectrum within the dissolving ball also connects seamlessly with the Colgate Total overall brand strategy and codes symbolizing "multibenefit" while elevating this product as an individually specialized ultra-premium tier offering. Meticulous attention to these packaging details aimed to boost the perceived value and upscale look of the Plaque Pro-Release toothpaste - transforming an unpleasant issue into a showpiece worthy of display on any countertop.



Plaque Pro Release has achieved a 4.6 rating, Best in Class on Amazon, and has seen consistent growth in market share each week since its launch earlier this year.





Credits

Global Strategic Design Manager, OC - Colgate Palmolive
Maria Rega
Senior Global Design Strategist , OC - Colgate Palmolive
Gerard Rizzo
Senior Design Innovation Manager , NAIA - Colgate Palmolive
Kayla Risch
Global Design Integration, OC - Colgate Palmolive
Ed Corey
Director, OC Innovation & New Ventures - Colgate Palmolive
Parul Bharadwaj
Assoc Director Marketing, NAIA - Colgate Palmolive
Victoria Mah
Global Dir, Consumer Experience Insights, NAIA - Colgate Palmolive
Helen Wolf
Senior Manager Insights, OC - Colgate Palmolive
Vicki Hugh
Co-Founder & Creative Director - United DSN
Lawrence Haggerty
Co-Founder & Creative Director - United DSN
Andy Johnson
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