Kimberly-Clark has designed smaller cartons for the relaunch of Kleenex, its leading UK facial tissues range, a move designed to “improve the experience for retailers and consumers and reduce the environmental impact of the brand”.
In a process spanning three years, the US-headquartered personal care brands group has reviewed the entire Kleenex portfolio and overhauled the packaging to make the range “easier to recognise, open, display and dispose of for retailers as well as easier to shop for consumers”.
Regular cartons of the brand’s Original, Balsam, Balsam Fresh, Ultra Soft and Anti-Viral variants are being reduced by 33%, going from 69mm to 46mm high, making the product easier for the consumer to transport and house while reducing out of stocks, storage costs and waste for retailers.
“We have been able to retain the number of tissues by compressing them slightly and effectively taking the air out of the box,” says James Hallam, brand manager Kleenex UK, and initiator of the project.
“In order to avoid the tissues being too tightly compacted and at risk of tearing when removed, we had to increase the size of the opening of the box, moving from an oval to a rectangle shape,” he says.
“This in itself was a complex task, as we had to ensure that the opening was large enough to allow optimum dispensing and avoid tearing but small enough to support the tissues as they are removed to avoid them falling back into the box.”
The company also factored in the shelving of the Kleenex range, standardising and colour coding SRPs (Shelf Ready Packaging) across all formats, with product information on three sides of the packaging and a red flash to indicate pack count in a standardised location.
“This makes the product easier to identify in the warehouse, recognise on the shelf and helps retailers to manage stock levels through more efficient use of shelf space,” says Hallam.
The reduced pack size and the case counts are designed to maximise shelf fill, thereby reducing out of stock risk.
For the consumer, benefit-led messaging will also feature on the front of the packaging, while the smaller size means that the box easily fits in numerous places around the home, overcoming this barrier to purchase.
Kimberly-Clark says the initiative also offers significant environmental benefits, reducing packaging by 30%, with 29% fewer truck miles a 28% reduction in carbon emissions.
“This is a big deal for us,” says Hallam. “Whilst consumers will benefit from the more convenient, smaller boxes with the same great tissues, the real winners are our retailers.
“We hope to see this programme driving category consumption and, through a more engaging fixture, even penetration.”
The new Kleenex packaging was rolled out into UK Morrison’s and Tesco stores in early June, with other retailers to follow throughout the summer.
Kleenex has a 51% MAT share of the UK facial tissue market (Nielsen), and the Kleenex brand in the UK was the first of Kimberly-Clark’s global product ranges to become Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) accredited, with the FSC logo showing on packs (January 2008).
Kleenex is relaunching in smaller packs (foreground)
