Package Design | packagedesignmag.com

(July 2008) posted on Wed Sep 30, 2009

By Ron Romanik

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Though not a household name, Creative Nail Design Inc. is a leading professional nail care company founded in 1979. Now owned by Barcelona-based Colomer Group, the company has over 100 employees, markets over 600 SKUs in 80 countries, and has a reputation for product innovation.

In 2005, Creative Nail Design management realized that the time had come to revitalize its product packaging, which had evolved on a somewhat ad hoc basis over many years. After a lengthy agency review process, they hired MiresBall, a brand consulting and visual design firm in San Diego, to help steer the process.

The majority of Creative Nail Design products are sold through professional hair and nail care "distributor stores." These stores present a quasi-retail experience where nail technicians can mix and match their favorite products. Gaining attention and position in distributor stores can be every bit as difficult as any other retail environment, and brands stake out their territory carefully on shelf. Furthermore, nail technicians tend to be very brand loyal and reluctant to accept changes in products and packaging.

John Ball, partner and creative director at MiresBall, and a core team of strategists and designers, worked closely with Creative Nail Design to plot a successful path of revitalization. "They came to us with a packaging problem, but we really found out it was a branding problem, " explains Ball. The project eventually became a comprehensive brand repositioning and image makeover that the company is phasing in over this calendar year.

A new starting point

Looking at the previous disjointed array of Creative Nail Design packaging, MiresBall immediately recognized that the master brand was not prominent enough and not applied with consistency. From a strategic standpoint, the Creative Nail Design name was also a limitation, especially as the company evolved beyond nail care products.

MiresBall recommended that Creative Nail Design be abbreviated to "CND" and that the company adopt a more confident, forward-looking brand identity—starting with the logo. "A new logo was a huge move for them from a strategic standpoint," Ball recalls.

Offering the company's internal perspective, Kim Natale, v.p. of marketing at Creative Nail Design, explains the existing name could be confusing to audiences who were not familiar with the brand and product lines. Furthermore, it did not have the ring of a truly global enterprise and limited the scope of what the company could offer.