PB Creative – Carex

The UK’s original hand-gel range, Carex, is relaunching with a holistic 2D and 3D redesign by brand and packaging design agency PB Creative. Ever since Carex pioneered everyday antibacterial hand gel more than 20 years ago, the sector has experienced astounding growth. But a proliferation of me-too brands had resulted in a bland, generic category, with little attention given to enhancing consumer experience and creating desirability. Carex felt it was time to shake up what had become a very functional category and ensure the brand remained centre stage.PB Creative’s strategic, innovative response to the brief cements Carex’s position as a premier sanitiser, sets it apart from its ubiquitous competitors, and substantially improves look, feel and functionality. A real gemCarex approached PB Creative with the challenge to develop a new 2D and 3D design that would communicate its caring, trusted brand ethos, boost branding, on-shelf stand-out and range navigation, and give the consumer better functionality and portability.  PB Creative made the strategic decision to take a brandmark-inspired approach to the design. An integrated closure means that the new elliptical silhouette seamlessly embodies the curves of the logo and creates a much bigger canvas on which to express the key brand qualities of product efficacy and care. The new structure fits perfectly in the hand, with a top-down orientation that makes it easier to dispense from the bottle in one swift manoeuvre. Ultimately, it achieves covetable stand-out in a sea of generic bottles and has an almost jewel-like appeal. Achieving brand synergyWhile the pack volume has remained the same, thanks to the innovative label area, which extends over the cap, branding has increased by almost 50% and is positioned proudly at the heart of the pack, delivering prominent consistency across the whole range. PB Creative devised a key-message hierarchy to create maximum impact and improve range navigation and brand clarity, while freeing up significant space for flexibility of expression with each variant. Each SKU in the core range has been given its own unique design to elevate that particular variant’s special qualities. And the personality of the Fun Editions bottles, Love Hearts, Bubble Gum and Strawberry Laces, has been dialled up using playful imagery and typography – making hygiene fun for sticky little fingers.Pete Hayes says: “Delivering a holistic 2D and 3D design means that we can take the reins over the whole concept and achieve the most potent branded solution. We have created an ergonomically satisfying, functionally superior packaging mix that has genuine consumer appeal, while stretching the boundaries of what’s possible on such a small canvas.”Ian Henderson, Carex Global Head of Brand, says: “We wanted Carex’s leadership in the category to be reflected by a significant step forward in look and function. The new structure is stronger on shelf, easier to use and better to store on the go. The updated graphics strengthen Carex’s branding and clearly communicate the ‘Kills 99.99% of Bacteria’ and ‘Quick Dry’ benefits. PB has delivered a consumer-focused design that meets exactly the challenge we set them, and the trade and consumer response has been amazing.”