Package Design | packagedesignmag.com

(February 2005) posted on Tue Dec 08, 2009

By Ron Romanik

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Turtle Wax is renowned the world over, a brand recognized and respected for its heritage and iconic brand signature. By the end of the ’90s, however, intense competition in the car care category forced Turtle Wax to reconsider its future market strategies. As it turns out, what the robust brand lacked in sophistication it more than made up for in consumers’ perception of durability and staying power.

When asked directly last year, some consumers familiar with the brand thought—erroneously or not—that Turtle Wax may not have been quite as innovative as its competitors, yet nearly all consumers said they were sure the brand would be around forever. Also, most consumers assumed that Turtle Wax was now part of a large consumer goods conglomerate like Procter & Gamble, when in fact it is still a family-owned enterprise.

Part of that family is Tom Healy, vice president of marketing at Turtle Wax and nephew of the brand owners. Healy was only slightly surprised by the undeniable reactions that the brand name or logo by themselves often produced in consumers. Not only do over 90% of consumers immediately recognize the brand, but the turtle himself triggers positively good feelings in consumers as a rule.

Dennis Furniss, vice president of strategic branding and design for BrandScope in Chicago, explains that initial findings of the consumer response research were very encouraging. “There was definitely an emotional territory surrounding the brand,” Furniss says. It seems that though the brand had certainly been diluted over the years, there was an undeniable strength below the surface that begged to be buffed up to a new luster.

BrandScope was given 12 weeks for the first phase of Turtle Wax’s comprehensive makeover—refine the brand image by rethinking the icon and product labels. The first move was extensive qualitative category and consumer research programs, often performed by BrandScope’s own brand research team, strategists, and designers, to determine whether a significant break from the past should be considered seriously.

Research findings were definitive: The Turtle Wax brand already stood apart from the crowd—it was cherished, respected, and trusted. The brand was valued for innovative solutions and products, preferred for its Hard Shell Finish™ added value, and thought to be nearly invincible.