Unilever
Re-imagining the supermarket
detergent aisle
2016
Industrial Design
About
Hindustan Unilever (HUL), a giant in the FMCG space, was facing a problem: Indian customers are used to using only a single product for their laundry needs. HUL already had a strong player in the market in the form of Surf Excel. But for years, fabric conditioner wasn’t available in India, and even after HUL’s introduction of Comfort fabric conditioner, customers didn’t see the need for an additional fabric care product.
In addition, while they had distinct products for hand washing and machine washing, most customers didn’t realize the difference and used them interchangeably.
HUL approached FITCH to come up with a solution that would effectively communicate the differences between the products, as well as the advantages of a “post-wash” fabric conditioner; all while reducing clutter in the detergent aisles of supermarkets.
Design process
While shopping for staples such as detergent, most customers are in an “auto-pilot” mode, going through the aisles and picking up products they are familiar with. The goal of the design was to break this “auto-pilot” (aka System 1 Thinking) and ensure customers would stop, and take notice, so the brand could communicate with them.
We re-designed the entire detergent shelf to emphasize the multi-step washing process. In addition, we designed a number of in-shelf displays that would catch people’s attention, and quickly and effectively communicate the need for, and advantages of, using a combination of Surf Excel detergent and Comfort fabric conditioner.
