Marvel Mystery Oil Targets Hispanic
Shopper with Bilingual Extended Labels

The Marvel Mystery Oil brand, owned by Turtle Wax®, has done well over the years with a strategy of using packaging to present product and usage information up front. However, the desire to actively pursue the Hispanic market posed a problem. The addition of bilingual copy required a lot more label real estate, but the label still had to tell the story without compromising the brand identity.

WS Packaging Group, headquartered in Algoma, WI, stepped in to help Marvel Mystery Oil leverage its 85-year-old brand into the growing Hispanic market by deploying an extended-text label that puts bilingual information directly in the hands and eyes of the consumer. To solve the problem, WS Packaging recommended its EasyTab ® extended text label. The labels are produced through its MultiVision® line of labels. EasyTab holds three patents and is engineered to meet the regulatory requirement that allows consumers to open, read, and reseal the label. The label avoids edge lift and wrinkling when machine applied, and features a consumer-friendly "peel tab" that protects the overall packaging integrity.

Panels and panels of info

"Our strategy is to support the brand with a strong shelf presence, combined with training of the trade sales people, " says Marc Okicich, brand director for performance and professional products at Turtle Wax. "When it comes to engine, oil, and fuel additive products, a lot of people make their purchase decisions after they've had time to browse the aisles. So when someone picks up a bottle of Marvel Mystery Oil, we want to make sure they have all the information they need to make a purchase decision. "

The new back label, with the same "closed" size as the original, was launched nationally in January 2008. The front panel label is very iconic looking, so the design remained intact aside from the addition of "Vea Atrás Para Español"—to let consumers know product information and instructions were now also in Spanish.

The back label is now a three-panel configuration. The base label component is a white 55# semi-gloss, pressure-sensitive paper stock. The top panel is a white 60# C2S stock that contains 30% post-consumer waste. The top panel also has 1.4-mil polypropylene over-laminate that helps protect the label from the product.

Turtle Wax has used hangtags as a way to communicate additional product information to consumers, but the tactic was less than ideal because it couldn't be 100% sure every bottle retained its hangtag. Okicich said initial feedback and support from buyers has been good. He added that other products in the Turtle Wax line are under consideration for extended-text labels.

"There's a lot of opportunity to tell the product story in both English and Spanish," Okicich says. "From our perspective, the nice thing about the extended text label is that it stays with the product. It's also a cost-effective tactic. When I priced out the cost of our traditional back label with the addition of a hangtag, the EasyTab label was the same. "