SPOTLIGHT: Pharmaceutical

An Asian Remedy Debuts in Very Western Packaging

For years, Solstice Medicine Company has been distributing heath and beauty care products to alternative markets through ethnic retailers. A few years ago, the company decided to introduce a number of successful foreign products to traditional U.S. retailers.

This "Westernization" strategy takes unusual but popular Asian products and dresses them up in well-designed Western packaging for new brand launches. Ice Taps® was first marketed in Japan in 1964 under the brand name Clara. Today, the Clara product is currently the No. 1 selling product for its category in Japan, helping to soothe, strengthen, and protect throats during cold season. Ice Taps is a unique, convenient, fast-melting granule taken without water to relieve, refresh, and rejuvenate throats.

Mapping out a strategy

Douglas Momii, national sales manager for Solstice Medicine Company, says the Solstice Medicine Company decided to market Ice Taps in the U.S. because the product offered a unique delivery system not available in the U.S., the retail environment and shelf space issues created opportunities for new products in the category, and there was strong support from the manufacturer.

Strategic Name Development Inc. in Minneapolis developed the name for Ice Taps, and the themes behind the name are "soothing," "cool (or icy) relief on tap," and "anytime, anywhere." The challenges in positioning Ice Taps against established sore throat spray and lozenge brands was its small facing size (only 2" x 3-3/8"), its unfamiliar granular character, and the new stick pack dosage packs.

"Developing the right packaging was crucial for Ice Taps because a new brand and a new delivery system were being introduced to the U.S. consumer," says Momii. "The new packaging effectively communicates what the product does (provide soothing sore throat relief), the Ice Taps brand name, how to use the product and its flavor designations."

The clever structural design of the packaging was taken from the existing product in Japan, developed by Ryukakusan Co. in Nagoya. The front panel hinges open along a score, the side panel pivots opens like a serving tray, and the package can be securely reclosed.

Hitting the key indicators

Indeed, designer Richard Bird felt that graphic illustration of the product in use was essential for a new product like Ice Taps. Bird is president of R.BIRD & Company, a New York brand identity and package design consulting firm. "We had to get right to the point on the front of the package," Bird says. "What is it, and what do you do with it."

R.BIRD performed a great deal of exploration into how consumers look at the category and how they might shop this new product. They identified three "areas of opportunity" for the brand positioning:

1. Caring, comfort, and relief
2. Performance, tech, and science
3. Cooling and warming

Bird knew that the key indicators had to be expressed efficiently. The R.BIRD staff developed about 30 logo and package concepts around these areas of opportunity. The process then becomes one of learning about what works, and "filtering" ideas into a presentation. Bird prefers this approach because, even after narrowing down to only a few options to pursue, clients can communicate their opinions easily by pointing to other already existing examples.

Bird likes the final Ice Taps design because of the visually direct way the illustrations indicates the key points of what the product is, how it is used, and the particular flavor. Simplifying these messages was key, and Bird believes the circle architecture helps the consumer shop the product. "It's a convenient way to compartmentalize certain messages," says Bird.