An A brand dishwasher detergent must be given the same new name on the packaging throughout the world. How can you achieve this without losing any customers?

Why does TV advertising for cleaning agents have such a high “irritation” factor? "For something that seems to be inherent to this category of products", says Carolyn Zorg, Director of ZDSGN.
“A lot of research has been done on this. The expression that leads to a slight irritation with the consumer is remembered. This does not apply for such categories as food and luxury products."
TV advertising for Calgonit is, by the way, not her problem, because that is not part of the assignment. ZDSGN has been given the assignment of designing and carrying out the worldwide rebranding strategy on the packaging. In the Netherlands this means a transition from Calgonit to Finish, and in the United States a transition from Electrasol to Finish.

Account Director Robert van Langeveld: "The consumer is usually not emotionally involved with the name of his cleaning product, especially if the product itself does not change. Nevertheless, one does not want to lose any consumers through such an operation. That is why great care must be taken. This rebranding operation was preceded by a lengthy process of bringing all graphic designs of the various brands into line, which means that only the name change still has to be accomplished today.

The client
You can opt to make this transition in a single go (sudden death), but this contains risks for your market share. It fits into the corporate culture of the brand owner of Calgonit, Reckitt Benckiser, for whom ZDSGN has already been working for 20 years, to make a decision for carrying out this transition in phases. Reckitt Benckiser is a multinational with the British-German roots: Both families had been active in England and Germany in the early 19th century, producing mustard, laundry blue (later known throughout the entire world as Reckitt Blue) and water softener. Down to the present time, mustard continues to be one of the food products of the group, which is, however, primarily known for its personal care and cleaning products, with such well-known brands as Cilit Bang, Harpic, Clearasil and Strepsils. The dishwashing machine products are good for 12% of sales.

The designers
If one, like ZDSGN, designs packaging for companies that are active at a global level, then the margins for creative innovation are often extremely narrow. With 500 different packaging solutions (Calgonit exist in gels, powder and tablet form) throughout the world, and with approximately 20 locations where this packaging is produced, the rebranding of Calgonit to Finish is, besides the job of designing, primarily a logistical exercise. Because Reckitt Benckiser gave ZDSGN the assignment to provide instructions for the pictorial language of the packaging, which all local markets must observe strictly. At a practical level this means that the artwork for each of the 500 packaging solutions is entirely supplied by ZDSGN, and in such a manner that every printer can go to work immediately. Besides designers that have been recruited from the academy and DTP specialists for the layout, our agency also has ‘pre-press’ experts on its staff, ICT experts that maintain contacts with the printers, all of this saving the client extensive work and many headaches. “Most agencies are not capable of this”, says Van Langeveld, “and that comes down to an added value”. He thinks that possibly this could also be one of the reasons, why the relationship to Reckitt Benckiser has continued for so long. As a business administration specialist, he is well aware of what large international clients need. ZDSGN has developed a system, whereby clients have a 24/7 online overview of their projects. What is also important: All designs are securely stored at two different locations. This means that clients can easily dispose over the originals of earlier designs, for possible reuse. A very innovative aspect of our service is a system that makes it possible for clients to view their products (and those of their competitors) in the sales racks of supermarkets throughout the entire world. From the very beginning, this company has focused on innovation.
The owner of ZDSGN, Carel Zorg, started his career as a photographer. Quite soon, he began to do all kinds of work for Proctor & Gamble.
At the start of the 80s, in the pioneering phases of the computer age, he surprised everyone by investing enormous amounts in an Aestedes. Van Langeveld: "You must remember that in that time, the average design office invested primarily in pencils, felt-tip pens and paper, and every once in a while in a drawing table. It was a choice worth its weight in gold; the Aestedes appeared to be excellently suited for designing packaging. As a consequence, the company became active in brand and packaging design at the end of the 80s, and it has built up an excellent reputation in the market since that time. The design of packaging is perhaps not the hippest part of the designing profession. But there is a lot of satisfaction to be gained, if one thinks about the fact that one's work will be seen, bought and touched by hundreds of millions of consumers throughout the world.
For the Dutch market, the first phase of the rebranding of Calgonit has just started up. On the packaging, the consumer gets acquainted with the new name in small print. In the second phase, the new name Finish is printed in large letters and Calgonit is banned to the background. Phase 3, a packaging with only the name Finish, will be launched at the end of the 2010.
So that will be the definitive Finish for Calgonit.

Source: Items #2 2009