Bright Colors, Clean Design, and Shrink Sleeve Embolden Lip Balm

The refreshing Mentholatum Natural Ice design and rotogravure-printed shrink sleeve labels break out of the expected lip balm mold.

Not only do small products like lip balm often get lost in crowded drug-store aisles, these products often find themselves in catch-all bins tossed in with other small products. To outshine everyone in this hostile environment, the Mentholatum Company launched its Natural Ice line in a package with eye-catching elements and effective communication.

Mentholatum decided early on that they would not be supporting this product with an advertising campaign, so design was paramount. Bob Campbell, president of Campbell Associates in Orchard Park, NY, designed the graphic and type elements on the category-defying label to express many things. Each word is thoughtfully and artfully placed to maximize the effect of that word in the overall design scheme.

Though awareness of Mentholatum's Ointment and Deep Heating Rub brands is strong, the company wanted the Natural Ice brand with their cooling menthol flavors to stand on their own. The word "Mentholatum" on the label is above "Natural Ice" but tiny, serving to subtlely reinforce the brand's heritage equity.

Natural Ice is a quality medicated product that does not break down in high heat or freezing temperatures. To appear as ready for harsh conditions of both summer and winter, the "sun" on the Original and Cherry flavors is a cool white. For the more intense conditions, the SPF 30 Sport variety has a more oppressive yellow sun. "These products are what they appear to be—a quality lip balm," Campbell says.

Campbell is content with the result because the brand continues to gain market share without the benefit of an ad campaign. The Mentholatum company has another lip balm product line, Soft Lips, whose design is targeted specifically at female consumers, therefore the Natural Ice design tends to lean more masculine. To their surprise, however, both genders seem to appreciate the Natural Ice experience, even the Sport SKU.

The 360-degree sleeves are desirable because they provide design freedom and maximum space for information, bar codes, etc. The brand name can cover as much real estate as possible, and there is plenty of room for the remaining requisite product information. The full shrink label also secures the cap, curling slightly over the top edge, while adding tamper-evident protection. A horizontal perforation at the cap line is breaks easily when the consumer opens the product the first time.

Small size is no longer a limiting factor with shrink sleeves, as pencils are now being adorned with sleeves. Seal-It Inc. prints these PVC labels, which are sold on rolls for automatic application on high-speed equipment. The Natural Ice labels are rotogravure reverse-printed with five colors. One other benefit of using shrink sleeves is that the Mentholatum company has only to buy and stock one color of the stick body package, instead of silk-screened tubes of different colors.