Souldrops: Revolution In The Detergent Industry [presentation image]

Credits & Description:

Entrant: Republic Group, Budapest
Brand: Souldrops
Corporate Name of Client: Monsun Kft.
Client Marketing Director: Richard Bona
PR Company: Republic Group, Budapest
Packaging Manufacturing Company: Monsun Kft., Budapest
Marketing Company: Monsun Kft., Budapest
Agency Account Director: Kinga Kotsis
Agency Account Managers: Fiorella Szilagyi/Reka Baranyi
Business Director: Andras Furak
Agency: Republic Group, Budapest
Creative Director: Szabolcs Marton
Senior Copywriter: Matyas Onodi Szabo
Senior Art Director: Zsolt Mago
Design Company: Republic Group, Budapest
Photography Studio: Republic Group, Budapest
Illustration Company: Republic Group, Budapest
Release Date: 01.02.2017
Synopsis:
The laundry detergent market is congested and stagnant. New entrants are rare. Locals are even more rare. Multinational brands thematise and shape the sector, making it static: common shapes, colors and designs have been dominating for decades.
We were tasked with the creation of the shape, image, design and visual world of a new, Hungarian line of laundry detergents and softeners, which are progressive, revolutionary and bold. We were also tasked with launching the products in the Hungarian market, through the Tesco chain.
Our objectives were raising awareness of the new line of products; motivating consumers to try them and buy them again; generating sales; grabbing a bite from the market; challenging multinational players and showing the power of locality in the 21st century.
Whenever the words ‘laundry detergents’ are said, nearly everyone thinks about the same image all over the world. As a true game-changer, that’s what Souldrops revolutionises. The iconic shape and cutting-edge style are in fusion with Hungarian thinking and international trends: the creators re-imagined a bottle shape typical in the local culture, painted it in pastel colours, and made them the trendsetter. Globally. Souldrops is not a rare handicraft product of a small, family manufacturer – however, it still appears artisan in the mainstream environment. It is produced as a uniquely designed detergent brand for the general market that breaks all existing rules and conventions, and will appear in every bathroom in the region.
The design symbolizes the philosophy of purity and simplicity, and the one-of-a-kind shapes and colors make them stand out from the mass. Our goal was to create products that customers will instantly recognize, but with Souldrops consciously rejecting the communication clichés everyone is tired of. With the dogmatic International Typographic Style, where lettering and lines are design elements themselves, we concentrated on comprehensibility, transparency and clarity. We’ve opted for labeling the bottles with screen-printing instead of using vinyl stickers. Furthermore, the bottles became matte, and were given mellow pastel colors. Numbering on the bottles further emphasizes transparency, as all numbers indicate the product’s subcategories.
As the line has only been in stores for 2 months, relevant data are not available yet. However, there are promising signs. No communication campaigns have been conducted, however, Souldrops still earned significant unpaid PR publicity. Although the brand has not started any social media activities yet either, many users tag their pictures of the products on social. Self-proclaimed ambassadors and prominent women’s magazines promote the products, all for free, while the most acclaimed design websites (Packaging of the World, The Dieline, etc.) published articles about the cutting-edge design. The factory had to increase its capacity to serve the orders of the Tesco chain. The product line will be launched in 3 more countries in 2 months.