PB Creative – Imperial Leather Foamburst

London-based design agency PB Creative gives Imperial Leather Foamburst an exuberant new lease of life with a fresh brand and packaging identity.

Foamburst arrived on the market with its completely unique gel-to-foam formula just over 20 years ago, with the most recent redesign in 2013. Its innovative product and packaging meant that it made a big impact on shelf. Since then, other brands have followed suit, so Imperial Leather felt the time was right to push forward with a new identity to rejuvenate the range, reinvigorate that initial sense of excitement and set it apart from regular body-wash brands.

Imperial Leather approached brand and packaging specialist PB Creative with the challenge of embodying Foamburst’s upbeat, experiential USP as part of the new identity, using the existing 3D structure. The new look needed to celebrate Foamburst’s formula, give it a contemporary look and feel and cement its position as the premier foaming body-wash product on the market.

Making a big splash

Central to PB Creative’s strategic approach was to communicate Foamburst’s fragrance and transformative nature on pack. Unlike many of its foaming competitors, only a small amount of gel is decanted from canister to hand, before it develops into a luxurious, abundant lather like no other.

To communicate this magical transition, the background colour of each canister graduates from rich at the base, representing the gel, to shimmering white at the top, depicting the foam.

The Foamburst brandmark progresses from light to bold, amplifying the transformational messaging, and bold pack claims reinforce that this is a truly lavish, rich product.

‘Scentient’ approach

Fragrance has always been central to the Foamburst story, and the PB Creative team were keen to convey each of the aromas as indulgent, sensorial experiences. The bold colours represent the intense scent in each variant, and beautiful images of the various fruits, flowers and herbs used can be seen bursting out on pack in an explosion of ingredients that brings everything to life.

A new brand ‘lock-up’ made up of a vertical black panel housing the brandmark and ‘Bursting with Fragrance’ brand message has been devised to ensure that the range can flex, grow and tier-up without losing cohesion. Using metallics and changing Imperial Leather’s iconic red flag to silver for the first time gives Foamburst primary-brand status and the everyday-luxury look that it deserves.

Pete Hayes, Managing Partner, PB Creative, says: “Foamburst is all about fragrant ingredients and a sense of abundance and luxury, but this had become a lost on the more regressive black canister that preceded our rebrand. Our approach has created strong, premium brand-blocking on shelf in a way that complements the expressive and vibrant product proposition.”

Caroline Reynolds, Global Head of Brand, Imperial Leather, says: “PB Creative has reawakened this iconic product and now there’s no mistaking that it’s all about a unique, luxurious, sensorial showering experience. We’re looking forward to cementing our position with consumers new and old and seeing the brand thrive as we develop it further with the new brand lock-up at its heart.”